The Breinton Morris - A History

(Originally written by Tony Locock, the first Bagman)

Once the idea of forming a new side was mooted, there was never any other thought that Cliff Ball should be Foreman and Tony Locock Bagman. The side would be called Breinton, as that was where the practices would take place and where – incidentally – the Bagman lived. Not an ideal place for a Morris side as there was no centre to the village and no pub. One of the very first decisions was that the side should be known as "The Breinton Morris" and not "The Breinton Morris Men", which was the usual collective term for members of revival sides. A small close-knit group of no more than ten men was envisaged. Each man would have a fixed position in the set, and the smallness of the group would ensure that the resulting inter-dependence attracted men willing to be seriously committed to the side. In the beginning there was no point in just waiting for people to turn up and therefore ruthless but discriminating poaching from Hereford Morris Men and accostings of individuals in pubs made up the numbers.

It was always the intention that Breinton should be outstandingly individual and unlike any other side. It would not be going too far to say that from the outset it aimed to be almost a demonstration team to show other "clubs" how it should be done. Breinton would be as traditional as possible with its kit, dancing, musical instruments and it would be almost arrogant in its attitude to criticism and take its dancing very seriously indeed. The behaviour of the men when on show would be impeccable. The Foreman would keep a tight grip on discipline, and there would be no arguments during the stand as to what should be danced and by whom. When the official dancing was completed, the men would be encouraged to be themselves, although it was hoped that where there was one member, the others would not be far away.

The kit was to be something special, containing many traditional features – whites, arm bands, ribbons, baldrics, large white handkerchiefs and top hats. Smartness and presentation would be very important, and men would be encouraged to always maintain their kit, press it when necessary and polish well their lace-up black shoes. It was decided to use painted sticks: blue, white and green to complement the kit. Hardly any Morris team known to Breinton took so much trouble with their sticks, as the maintenance in keeping them in good order was prohibitive.

Cliff Ball, after agreeing to help form the side and after absorbing everything of use from Hereford went on to discover all he could from written sources. He decided eventually to limit Breinton to four "traditions", although this was subsequently reduced to two. Longborough was the first, although Border dances were performed throughout the first season until the decision was made to restrict them to the Wassailing - a later development along with the change from Whites to Breeches as the winter kit.

The organisation within Breinton was also unique at the time. Most Morris sides had three officers – Bagman, Foreman and Squire, and these were replaced or re-elected every year at the AGM. Breinton decided not to have a Squire, mainly because there was no one who had enough experience to hold the post, and because it suited the side to have one all-round instructor – the Foreman. Breinton has never been a democratic side; there did not seem much point in the beginning when only two people knew what they were doing, and voting would not have produced the best results for the side. A consensus of opinion was found the natural way of settling policy questions. The annual blister of most sides – i.e. the AGM – was also outlawed and replaced with a friendly meeting loosely called "The Review". There would be no election of officers as they remained until natural degeneration or ambition swept them away.

The decision to have a Fool was easy, and so surprisingly was the decision to make it a Green Man – it seemed to fit Breinton perfectly. Green Men were and still are uncommon in Morris sides. The suit (made by the Bagman) and the masks (constructed by Jim Nock, the first occupant of these highly-effective habilements) remain longer in people’s memories than the name "Breinton". This side was formed as a reaction against weak-minded and sloppy Morris. Cliff Ball eventually took the opportunity to help form "another" side, and with great enthusiasm and skill produced in his mind the Ideal Team – Breinton has too much against it to match up to this, but occasionally it has very nearly made it.

(End of Tony's bit. The rest is all my own...)

By the end of 1981 Cliff Ball – unemployed – was becoming increasingly discontent with the problem of day-to-day living in Hereford. Housing and job prospects were poor. Many of his friends had moved away. He developed a bad case of Pedus Irritatus. It was really only Breinton which kept him in poverty and in Hereford. However, despite having established a reputation for inspiring dancing (amongst other things!) the side itself had started to lack a certain something – a joie-de-vivre. Cliff felt that maybe his leaving would force the side to pull itself up by its well-ironed bootstraps. Consequently, at a certain practice evening whose date is too painful to remember, he resigned.

In an atmosphere of doom, the side set about electing a new Foreman. Cliff had not only taught the dances but had been the driving force behind Breinton, his vision shaping the character of the side. A tough act to follow. John Podmore – longest serving non-officer of the side – was proposed. He declined. Tony Locock – founder member – was proposed. He declined. Cliff proposed Phill Lister. They had shared a room in a hostel when The Breinton Morris was born. Phill had been privy to the ideas behind The Breinton Morris before it even began. He had later been dragged kicking and screaming into the side, where he’d ended up as The Green Man. Cliff thought Phill was suitably mentally unsound to carry-off "Being Foreman". There being no alternative but the demise of the side - and the consequent lack of opportunity to legitimately upset children, older people, members of clergy, and sloppy so-called Morris Sides – Phill accepted. A consensus was achieved, Breinton-style.

Cliff left to be a binman in Cambridge, and to form The Milton Morris with some other once-dwellers of the same hostel. Having danced Fieldtown for two years, Phill researched the Bucknell tradition, worked on it with the side, and on May Morning 1982 they danced it out. Already, other changes had been made – Sean Podmore had been promoted to dancing in the set, bright new kit was made to the same pattern as the old, the Green Man had a new mask. Breinton lived on…    

By this time (winter 1983) Breinton had spent the last two years dancing out more than ever before, even dancing Border throughout the winters instead of just featuring it at Wassailing in Breinton Village. Wadard was our only weekend spent away from the county, and we were pleased to find our monomaniacal approach went down rather well with the other sides there. But we were geographically split – the four members who lived north of Hereford proposed that a Morris side based in Leominster would thrive better than Breinton. They knew of interested parties who would join a Leominster-based side but who wouldn’t travel to Hereford for regular practices. After a couple of months of rumours and threats, an Extraordinary General Meeting was called in Leominster. An unexpected visitor was Cliff Ball, who was on a cycle tour from Land’s End to John O’Groats. Phill thought that this was too coincidental to be other than an omen, and invited him to the meeting.

It was proposed to move the whole location of the side to Leominster and renaming it "The Leominster Morris". The side was split 50/50. Hours of discussion (and drink) led nowhere. Phill eventually stated that his heart lay with The Breinton Morris, and with the reputation we’d built up. If The Leominster Morris wanted a Foreman, it wouldn’t be him. A Foreman for the new side was sought, none offered. Breinton continued, but as time went by the Leominster people developed a bad case of Pedus Irritatus – the second time this disease had fatefully struck. In November 1983 they left. Their kit was returned. Breinton were left in a decidedly delicate condition – no musician. Jim and Andrew Laycock, who had been to a couple of practices in our past, came on board as musicians. The Breintom Morris was now Jim, Andrew, Phill, John and Sean Podmore, Bill Castle, Kevin Ingram, and Alan Brookes, who returned to the side after a couple of years’ break. With the help of Dave Richards – home from University – The Breinton Morris did their annual Wassailing tour. We’d survived!    

For many years following, we continued to live up to our reputation of dancing well after a previous evening of debauchery (Note: this means singing folk songs, eating kebabs, and drinking thirstily). We became regulars at the Gorton Rushcart in Manchester, where we were the only Cotswold-style team to have an annual invite from the Gorton Morrismen (a lovelier bunch of blokes you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley!). Bill and Alan both turned their hands to The Box and reached unexpected levels of proficiency. But Master Melodian-Player Graham Wood later joined and became our regular Box-player. We also gained Steve Mitchel who was on a Blacksmithing course in Hereford. He’d always wanted to be a Morris dancer and we were the only side he’d seen who he wanted to join.

Over the course of time, Phill’s work commitments made it difficult for him to be able to be there for every practice evening. Eventually we had a meeting where Steve was promoted to the exalted position of Foreman of The Breinton Morris. His Squaddy history gave us an added patriotic boost, and the principles established by Cliff weren’t alien to his background. But eventually - as before - lack of employment opportunities led to the new Foreman’s relocation and those of us remaining had a painful decision to make - should we carry on regardless, having come back from regular setbacks, or was this a good time to time to draw a line under The Breinton Morris Project?

To meet commitments to dance with sides elsewhere, we’d found we were too often having to turn up with a reduced side and some adaptations to the dances (which proved interesting – at one gig the Green Man had to dance in two positions simultaneously as well as doing some Fooling. Years of practice and experience helped there!). Did we want to be thought of as a side who usually turned up with less than a full complement, but still did a good show? But we were almost becoming one of those sides who just do it cos we’re there. We decided to quit while we still had a good reputation.

I remember a conversation with Cliff when he let on that The Breinton Morris was originally more of an experiment to see if The Morris could be done properly than an attempt to set up an established team. I think we found that it can be done properly, but that there’s a time where you need to consider the balance between what you can add toThe Morris and what you’re just getting out of it by going through the motions. We're gratefull for the support of friends and ex-members in helping us make that decision. It certainly wasn't comfortable to let it go. But we hope this website will contribute to the keeping-up of some of the values of The Breinton Morris -  beyond tourist entertainment, the "Heritage" industry, and other folky pitfalls. We were there, we did it for 20 years, now we're in cyberspace... (P.S. the rumour that we quit because we were turning into those balding paunchy old folkies we used to laugh at is completely untrue!)

And A Special Thanks to...

Lord Conyers Morrismen of Wales, Yorkshire for being good mates in our earlier years

Gorton Morrismen of Manchester for many many mad Rushcart weekends

Ivor Allsop, archivist of The Morris Ring, for immeasurable help in providing materials for researching the traditions we went through over the years

Mr. and Mrs. Wall of Breinton Manor for providing an orchard, cider, food and company every Twelfth Night for wassailing

Mr. and Mrs. Boyden of Breinton (American cousins gone native) for providing wonderful breakfasts and company every May Morning after we danced at sunrise on Breinton Tump