Repertoire of Dances

Rag Morris dance a vast array of dances from several different traditions. Have a gander at the details below.

Bampton Tradition
Left foot dances

Dance	Implement	Features and Advice!
Chasing Chickens (Highland Mary)	Hankies	Gathering and scattering to the corners in the chorus. Chicken noises on the whole gyp!
Shave the Donkey (Step and Fetch Her)	Hankies	Lots and lots of foray capers. Donkey noises (or shaving noises) on the whole gyp!
The Rose Tree	Hankies	Corner dance. Everyone remember to windmill caper in the chorus. Rose bush noises in the whole gyp! (No, we don’t know either).

Adderbury Tradition
Left foot dances

Dance	Implement	Features and Advice!
Shooting (The Beaux of London City)	Stick	All single steps. Shoot the musicians at the end!
South Australia	Stick	Starts with winding the capstan. Double steps and capering back.
Three Musketeers (Skirmish)	Stick	Sword-fighting chorus and the sudden appearance of Ode to Joy. Double steps and single steps back.
Lads a’Bunchum	Stick	Complicated sticking chorus – including behind-the-back, over-the-head! Stay alert.
Sweet Jenny Jones	Stick	Watch out for your fingers! Unusual heel-toe stepping.
Black Joak	Hankies	Screwing up the- no wait. The screwing down chorus.
Quaker	Hankies	All change before each figure! Practice your heys.

Fieldtown Tradition
Outside foot dances

Dance	Implement	Features and Advice!
Balance the Straw	Stick	Short Fieldtown.
Blue-Eyed Stranger	Hankies	Short Fieldtown. Side-step half-hey.
Old Molly Oxford	Hankies	Walking backwards slowly. Sidestep half-hey dance.
Dearest Dickie	Hankies	Long Fieldtown, corner dance. Chorus has introductory long sidesteps.
The Old Woman Tossed Up	Hankies	Corner dance: double-stepping across and slows all together in a circle. Chorus has introductory short sidesteps. Middles go downwards for the half-hey.
The Banks of the Dee	Hankies	The Banks of the Dee??
Lass of Richmond Hill	Hankies	Progressive dance. Middles need to be happy to leapfrog over others.
Trees (Shepherd’s Hey)	Hankies	Danced slowly and solemnly without calling or bells. Extra spins during the hey every chorus. Danced every year for the Summer Solstice.

Sherborne Tradition
Outside foot dances

Dance	Implement	Features and Advice!
Cuckoo’s Nest	Hankies	Jump to face down at the start of the chorus. 5 and 6 begin the capers/galleys/slows.
Orange and Blue (Orange in Bloom)	Hankies	Figures are all small rounds.
The Old Woman Tossed Up in a Blanket	Hankies	Sidestep and half-hey dance.
Over the Hills	Hankies	Join in gradually. Trick the audience into thinking it’s a jig. Loiter subtly when not dancing (but not so subtly you wander off).
Travel By Steam	Hankies	Chorus is walking in a circle, showing off one by one. Everyone has to be happy to leapfrog and be leapfrogged over.
Monck’s March	Hands	Look, no hankies! Unusual rock-back stepping. “How do you do sir?” in a suitably genteel voice. Handy tip for callers: the Restoration was in 1660.

Ascott-under-Wychwood Tradition
Under what wood?
Outside foot dances

Dance	Implement	Features and Advice!
Valentine	Hankies	Corner dance, with blowing kisses or consensual variant.
Black Joak	Stick	Jump, spin and clash with opposite half-way through the rounds. Someone will tell a joke during the whole gyp. Laugh anyway.
Stick Chucking (Young Collins)	Stick	If you drop them, don’t collect whilst others are throwing. Don’t throw whilst others are collecting. No pinwheels, no javelins. Be safety-conscious. Final chorus corners throw to each other one-by-one.

Oddington Tradition
Left foot dances

Dance	Implement	Features and Advice!
London Pride	Hankies	Foot up and face – a lot. Lots of long sidesteps in the chorus.
Old Frog (Swaggering Boney)	Hankies	One of the corners is dancing ‘cheek-to-cheek’. Left-Right-Right-Left-Right-Galley. Everyone has to be happy to leapfrog and be leapfrogged over.
Constant Billy	Stick	Ends on the OOH. Yell constants in the whole gyp (death, taxes, pi…) or if anyone nearby is called William, yell at them.

Bucknell Tradition
Right foot dance

Dance	Implement	Features and Advice!
Queen’s Delight	Hankies	Snappy hankies! Triangular hey.

Lichfield Tradition
Right foot dances

Dance	Implement	Features and Advice!
Vandals of Hammerwich	Stick	Eight person set, remember the Lichfield hey! Side-step and present, side-step and clash chorus.
Ring o’Bells	Sticks	Eight person set, remember the Lichfield hey! Two sticks! No hitting the floor in the chorus, you’re meant to be ringing bells.

Chingford Tradition
Right foot dance

Dance	Implement	Features and Advice!
Upton-upon-Severn Stick Dance	Stick	WITH VIGOUR. Scream, bellow and otherwise terrify onlookers in the Allemand. “YA BOO SUCKS TO YOU!”

Rag Tradition
In true Rag fashion, uniformity is not a feature we tied ourselves in knots over here. Or really considered more than fleetingly, in the pub. Our tradition is a hodgepodge of moments from our history and some interesting ideas we’ve liked along the way. C’est la vie.

Dance	Implement	Features and Advice!
Red Arrows	Hankies	Perhaps our truest attempt at our own tradition. Progressive chorus. Final figure and chorus both danced in the round. Make NYAAAAO aeroplane noises on the Red Arrows figure. Try not to sound too much like an indignant cat.
Brightside	Hankies	Based on our Olympic Closing Ceremony dance! Danced to ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ in a Bampton style.
Bad Boys of Dunkirk	Stick	This is as Border as it gets… For us. Eight person set, danced in rotating circular and cross formations. Try to look at least slightly Border. If you want. Think fierce thoughts.