What is Morris?

If you visited the recent Wimborne Minster Folk Festival you’ll have seen morris dancers at every turn. Like us, you may wonder about the origins of the style. Well known local dancer Judith Proctor explains all…

As a morris dancer I’m often asked about the history of this quintessentially English dance.

There tends to be a general assumption that it’s Pagan in origin – a belief for which we can blame over-enthusiastic Edwardians.

We now know that morris is old, not prehistoric, but still a good 600 years or so. It started out as a very expensive entertainment in the courts of the Tudor monarchs. Henry the eighth might well have had morris dancers performing for him. (Account books may be dull reading, but from them we can see what the dancers were paid and even get clues as to their costumes.)

Fashions change… When the courts looked for new entertainments, the morris dancers moved a little downmarket and were paid to dance in processions for the Guilds.

A century or so later, their wages were falling, but they were popular in the countryside performing at church ales. The church would tithe the parishioners wheat and barley, bake bread and brew beer for a party, pay the morris dancers to perform and charge people for the food and drink.

When the Puritans came along, dancing and merrymaking, especially on a Sunday, were heavily frowned upon. Morris dancing, along with a whole host of other things, was disapproved of. Morris went downmarket again. In the Cotswolds, it became a way of preserving local identity and of getting an annual purse from the Lord of the Manor.

In other regions, such as the Welsh borders where people were really poor, it became little more than begging with music and a few dance steps.

Morris might have been lost altogether, but for the enthusiasm of those who collected and taught the dances to new generations.

‘Tis the season

With thanks to Vetsmiths, Wimborne

Who doesn’t enjoy a bit of warmer weather? But for our cats it can be a different story!

Cats are seasonally induced ovulators, meaning they come into ‘heat’ during the warmer months, but don’t release their eggs until they have been mated.

During this period, the queen (un-neutered female) can become flirtatious, reaching sexual maturity at four months. Behaviour changes can include rolling and rubbing on the floor, marking and ‘calling’ (making a demanding rising and falling pitch noise) – all of which can be confused with signs of illness.

Boys, Toms (un-neutered males) will be on a mission, quite often with plenty of local competition, all wanting the same end goal. They’ll search out a queen well before owners have even noticed what’s going on. This can lead to several Toms hanging around your home, spraying (once smelt never forgotten), as well as ‘calling’ and fighting other Toms. This unsociable behaviour can also happen around neutered females, causing them a lot of stress and potentially not even wanting to venture into their own garden.

Kittens are cute fluffy little things, but with the population of cats everincreasing with unwanted pregnancies, re-homing centres are often full to the brim in the Spring/Summer months.

The stray population can also carry diseases, parasites and health conditions causing increased risk of our own feline friends contracting these conditions.

We advise:

• Neuter – from four months old.

Spay for girls, castration for boys • Vaccinate – important to protect your pet from diseases • Keep up-to-date with parasitic treatments • Microchip – always ensure your details are kept up-to-date • Provide a safe place for them at home and in the garden, including hidey places, easy get aways and access back into the house if they feel scared • Report any strays to your local

RSPCA/CPL who are helping to capture and treat the population • Always seek veterinary advice if you are concerned about your cat.

www.vetsmiths.co.uk