Not ranting on May Day!
It's the first of May, and it's a bank holiday in France. I have no lessons, it's a miserable day and I'm going to spend the day crafting, I think...
Mr FD suggested I should Morris dance around the village - I've forgotten every Morris step I used to know, except one, called "ranting". Here is a link to a video of Northumbrian rant step -
Blogger doesn't want me to upload it, but you can go and watch it if you're interested. It's quite an easy step, but it gets exhausting very quickly!
It might come as a bit of a surprise, but I used to be a Morris dancer.
This is a photo of my old team, Old Mother Redcaps from Stony Stratford. This is more recent than my sojourn with them, but it's good to know that the group is still going. I had to give up because the dancing wasn't very good for my back unfortunately.I really enjoyed it, although I wasn't that good at it.
My sister also dances with a Morris team up in Leicester, called Black Annis, pictured above. Big Sis is 5th from the left.
Her side is named after a witch, and although the site says a Mother Recap was the name for an alehouse keeper, I thought it was actually the name for a brothel "Madame"...I rather liked the idea that both our teams were named for women of rather-less-than-good repute! I always thought her side were more raucous than mine - we wore pretty frocks, bells on our shoes and carried bowers of flowers; hers wear Suffragette colours, trousers, big sticks - and beards (!)
Anyway, with the rain that's pouring, I'm not doing any dancing, ranting or anything else around the village! I'm staying firmly indoors with Thea Gilmore playing on the computer and a hot water bottle at my back!
I also wanted to say a huge Thank You to Rachel of Blue Finch Jewellery who, after Vicki's "Grow Your Blog" event generously (and slightly madly!) offered to send everyone who commented on her blog a pair of handmade earrings. Mine arrived on Monday, beautifully presented in a silver gift box. What a treat! I'm wearing them now, but will take them out to take a photo. Which I have duly taken, but which Blogger is being snippy about. People have complained about Blogger not uploading photos, but I've never had problems - until now! Sigh. I will show off my earrings another time.
Mr FD suggested I should Morris dance around the village - I've forgotten every Morris step I used to know, except one, called "ranting". Here is a link to a video of Northumbrian rant step -
Blogger doesn't want me to upload it, but you can go and watch it if you're interested. It's quite an easy step, but it gets exhausting very quickly!
It might come as a bit of a surprise, but I used to be a Morris dancer.
Her side is named after a witch, and although the site says a Mother Recap was the name for an alehouse keeper, I thought it was actually the name for a brothel "Madame"...I rather liked the idea that both our teams were named for women of rather-less-than-good repute! I always thought her side were more raucous than mine - we wore pretty frocks, bells on our shoes and carried bowers of flowers; hers wear Suffragette colours, trousers, big sticks - and beards (!)
Anyway, with the rain that's pouring, I'm not doing any dancing, ranting or anything else around the village! I'm staying firmly indoors with Thea Gilmore playing on the computer and a hot water bottle at my back!
I also wanted to say a huge Thank You to Rachel of Blue Finch Jewellery who, after Vicki's "Grow Your Blog" event generously (and slightly madly!) offered to send everyone who commented on her blog a pair of handmade earrings. Mine arrived on Monday, beautifully presented in a silver gift box. What a treat! I'm wearing them now, but will take them out to take a photo. Which I have duly taken, but which Blogger is being snippy about. People have complained about Blogger not uploading photos, but I've never had problems - until now! Sigh. I will show off my earrings another time.
I miss seeing Morris dancers. There are a few groups in Ontario based in the big cities,so it's nice to know it's alive and well even in the 'colonies'!
ReplyDeleteJane x
What a fun dance and the team names are a riot!
ReplyDeleteToo bad it's raining on May day :( but happy crafting!