Merrie England and the Morris 1881–1910

Abstract

DURING these three decades, 1881 to 1910, the use of the word 'Morris' could have conjured up several different kinds of image. Curiously enough, the least likely of these to come to mind would have been a version of what we might term the 'real' village morris, the kind of thing that Keith Chandler has recently dealt with so capably.' Far more probably the image would have been of what we might call 'Merrie England' morris, whether it was an abstract literary concept deriving from the antiquarian's study, or an entertaining diversion at the theatre. Then, from 1906, there came the competing revival movements of Mary Neal and Cecil Sharp, drawing their inspiration from both these sources, and combining reality and romance in different ways. Finally, for us today, there is the fact that Sharp's vision of the morris came to dominate the revival so completely that it is difficult to have a clear perspective of what was there before him. It is not surprising that a certain amount of confusion has arisen concerning the character of the morris during this period, and about the general background of the revival. My aim to day is to dispel some of the confusion by giving an account of 'Merrie England' morris during these years. In doing this I hope that we may gain a further benefit, namely a better understanding of what the term 'Morris' would have meant to reasonably well-educated people of the period. In particular I want to focus on what the word would have meant for Cecil Sharp. By reading Keith Chandler's pages we can better understand what it was that Sharp encountered when he met the Headington Quarry Morris Men for the first time on Boxing Day 1899. I am now concerned to look more closely at the other side of the matter, that is, to examine what Sharp might have taken to the encounter in terms of cultural presuppositions. Time and space impose certain limitations, I can omit a preliminary discussion of the idea of Merrie England, since I dealt with this two years ago in the context of May Day, but I am sorry not to be able to give an introductory survey of earlier theatrical morris.2 It is also a pity not to include the fascinating story of how Sharp's vision of the morris developed to its maturity. However, this article may be seen, I hope, as a preliminary step to a proper understanding of Sharp's attitude to the morris. Since all morris dancers share to some extent or another in these 'Merrie England' roots, it is also a first step to an understanding of morris today. Let us begin with the popular scholarship of the 1880s concerning the morris. Ideas and material had come from Tollet (1778), Strutt (1801), Douce (1807), Brand (1813), Drake (1817), Hone (1826-32), Chappell (1838-40), Knight (1845-46), Gutch (1847), Chambers (1863-64), and many others, some in more than one edition, culminating in Strutt (1876) and Brand (1877).3 It must now suffice to say that this had been a complex process of transmission, embodying genuine scholarship at some points and pure plagiarization at others.