A very special appearance at The Butcher's
(© Vicky Berry)

Monday 14 May saw the start of Priston Jubilee Morris’ Grand Diamond Jubilee Tour at the Butcher’s Arms in Farmborough with a very special royal visitor dropping by for an impromptu photo opportunity to mark this very special occasion.

The locals were dazzled with the dancing skills as we performed outside the front entrance, with many being stirred from their TV dinners by the sound of bells and clashing sticks. Two locals even requested to learn a dance and within minutes were mistaken for new members of the side – such is the pull of the Morris…

With the weather holding clear, a good night of dancing and festivities was had by all both inside and out, and as the bells came to a halt the evening continued with some music in the bar. It was certainly a night to remember, with the landlady (Vicky Berry) inviting us back for some more dancing and music later in the year.

The Diamond Jubilee Tour is set to run throughout the summer on Monday nights at various pubs around the Southwest, with guest appearances from additional Morris sides at each venue. Check out our events list for more details of where we’ll be and who will be joining us, then come and celebrate our 35th anniversary and the amazing feat of remaining ‘Alive and Sticking’ after all these years. You could also learn some Morris too!

Barely dawn...

Plan A: a quick hill climb and a spot of dancing on top of Pressbarrow Hill, between the cow trough and newly planted Oak tree. Such a devastatingly simple plan in celebration of the dawn of May 1st that had worked for years, what could possibly go wrong?

With provisional figures from the Met Office suggesting that Britain has endured its wettest April since records began in 1910, Plan B was brought swiftly into play: a slightly later time to rise, ready to meet and dance at Priston Village Hall at 5.30am.

With the grim weather closing in outside and the tempting smells of breakfast being cooked in the kitchen, bells, wavers and sticks were duly jingled, waved and, er…sticked!

Is our Squire too hot to handle?

Not having to climb the hill meant there was extra time to kill and the dry, warm hall leant itself to a lot more dances, especially with such an eager (and soon-to-be steaming!) Squire. With a break in the weather around 5.40am (dawn), a brief moment was taken outside to grab a group photo for the records and to prove we actually did get up that early.

This year four members of Somerset Morris came along to watch too (although we suspect they were mainly tempted by the breakfast!), and with our festivities restricted to the hall, they couldn’t resist contributing a dance before it was time to get ready for the Full English: sausage, bacon, eggs, tomato, black pudding, mushrooms, beans and toast! One of our members, being unfortunate enough to have been born on May Day, also brought a cake – thanks Ian, we hope you had a good birthday…at work…

All in all, it was one of the soggier May Days, but thankfully, we made good our celebrations while not having to hope that someone was constructing the Ark for our getaway…we’ll just have to wait until 2013 to fall in the cow pats again. Hoorah!

Priston Morris support Frome Folk

Not content with a rather nice piece in the Somerset Guardian about the Priston Wassail, Priston Jubilee Morris are in the paper again!

This time we’re helping to advertise the brand new Frome Folk Festival that will be taking place at the Cheese and Grain and other venues around Frome on Saturday and Sunday, 18-19 February.

Priston will be dancing around the town on Saturday and may be seen alongside Rag Morris, Somerset Morris, Hips and Haws, Bathampton Morris, City Clickers, White Horse Morris, Mr Wilkin’s Shilling and Billy No Mates – the one-man Morris side!

Expect all the usual fun and festivities that Morris dancing brings, as well as a few famous folk peeps you might have heard of and a ceilidh on the Saturday afternoon…

More details of our whereabouts will be published on the festival’s website and our events page as and when we know. We’d love to see you, so come and say hi!

IN THE PRESS! Priston Morris are featured in the Somerset Guardian, published on 2 February 2012. In the printed edition, the article can be found on page 31, the front page of the leisure supplement ‘Your Time’.

Dancing the Monkey's Fist at the Priston Wassail 2012 (Photo: Richard Bottle )

The annual Priston Wassail began on Priston Village Green for a spot of Morris dancing at 2.45pm, swiftly followed by the crowning of the Wassail Queen at 3.00pm, before the congregation processed to the orchard at Barnstables, lead by the musicians of Priston Jubilee Morris.

Once at the orchard, the ceremony began in earnest, with the Wassail queen putting some cider-drenched toast in the branch of an apple tree and then pouring cider around its base, as gifts of good health and a bountiful crop in the coming year.

Mulled cider began to circulate amongst the crowd while the Wassail Incantation was read by all, to further encourage the tree:

Old Apple Tree, Old Apple Tree; We’ve come to Wassail thee; To bear and to bow apples enow; Hats full, caps full, three bushel bags full; Barn floors full and a little heap under the stairs.

Beating the apple tree to scare away evil spirits (Photo: Richard Bottle )

Finally, loud noises were made with sticks and pans to scare away any lurking evil spirits, and shotguns were fired into the branches.

With the ceremony complete, the crowd walked back to the village hall for tea and apple cake, while a charity raffle in aid of Children’s Hospice South-West was held. First prize – an apple tree!

Then, at 4.00pm, came the entertainment everyone had been waiting for…The Priston Mummers play, performed by Priston Jubilee Morris. It wouldn’t be the same without it! Here’s to a good harvest in 2012.

Update, 6 February 2012: IN THE PRESS! Priston Wassail 2012 was featured in the Somerset Guardian, published on 19 January 2012. In the printed edition, the article can be found on page 6.

Priston Jubilee Morris wave in the dawn with hankies, sticks and bells on (Photo: Mark Swabey )

Bleary eyed we congregated in the darkness of Priston’s village green at around 5am, before setting off up Pressbarrow Hill for the ceremonial dance overlooking the village of Priston (amongst others).

The morning of 1 May 2011 was a rather dull and grey affair, but we didn’t let the weather dampen our intentions as fleet-of-foot we did our best to convey something that loosely resembled Morris dancing while ably dodging the tussocks and cowpats on the brow of the hill.

Five or six dances later and the dawn was well underway, with the sun just beginning to fight its way through the clouds. One last stop for a group photo to prove that we we’d made it and savour our annual event and then we staggered back down the hill to the village hall for a full english breakfast to really get the day started.

Will we do it all again next year? Of course we will!