It was a North West clog side based in Thornbury, founded in 1986 and re-started in 2000 after a short pause. It was originally founded as a ladies morris side, but after it's reforming was a mixed side with a repertoire beyond "just" North West morris.
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Turnberrie Castle at the Sidmouth Folk Festival in the Summer of 2004. |
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The name of the group is taken from an old name for Thornbury which does indeed boast a castle. There has been a castle on the same site since 930 AD in the reign of King Athelstan, when Aylward "held Torneberrie". The castle passed unchanged through the succeeding generations until Edward Stafford started extensive building work before losing his head in 1521. For 53 years King Henry VIII kept the castle and visited it with his second wife Anne Boleyn. The castle is now a successful hotel and restaurant. The then owner giving permission for the use of the Castle in the group's logo.
North West Morris
Our main style of morris dancing originated in the north west of England, in Lancashire and Cheshire. Female participation in the North West Morris has been recorded since the early nineteenth century. The dances were performed at fetes, festivals and rush-bearing ceremonies and many were processional. Often dances were associated with and named after particular village teams and spread as people moved to other areas.
North West Morris is however just a small part of England's rich variety of ritual dance. The origins of the morris are vague. Some believe that the dances seen today are derived from the French Moresque or Spanish Moresco dances of the 15th century. Others believe that the dances are the remains of pre-Christian fertility rites for crops. Certainly by the end of the 16th century morris dancing was an established form of entertainment, especially at seasonal festivals. After this time, distinct variations in the dances developed in the different regions of England.
Border and Cotswold Morris
We also danced two other styles of Morris - namely Border (from the counties at the southern end of the border between England and Wales) and Cotswold (named for the range of hills that pass through the area - which itself stretches from Oxfordshire to the areas abutting those in which Border Morris prevailed). These dances are often grouped into "traditions" which like the North-West dances, come from particular towns and villages. Some of these traditions have a large number of dances (e.g. Headington and Litchfield), some a very small number (e.g. Upton-on-Severn). Whereas North West Morris dances wear brightly coloured uniforms and wear clogs, Cotswold dancing is typified by waving handkerchiefs and bells on the legs.
Costume
Our costume - blue, yellow with white and red (for the women) and black, white and blue (for the men) was designed to combine eye-catching colour with traditional styling. Variants of the costume include red, white and blue rag waistcoats (used when dancing Border Morris) and blue and yellow baldrics (or cross belts) when dancing Cotswold Morris. The clogs, normal footwear of working people in many parts of England around the turn of the nineteenth century (but especially in the north west of the country), serve to emphasize the beat of the music. Sticks, garlands, slings and handkerchiefs are used to accentuate the patterns made by the dancers.
Photographs from across the years can be seen in our Picture Gallery
Dances
Our dances come from a variety of sources. Some come from purely traditional sources (e.g. Horwich Girl's Dance, Upton-on-Severn Stick Dance, Nutting Girl), others we have learned at festivals and workshops (e.g. At a workshop given by Basingclog Morris as part of the Chippenham Folk Festival we tried out the Horbury Polka) or from former members of the group (e.g. Lancashire). One dance is however our group's own invention - Turnberrie Castle. Our repertoire reflected the wide spectrum of morris dancing and it's nature as a living English tradition.
How to contact Turnberrie Castle
Whilst we are no longer dancing, the web-site will be maintained, and if you have any pictures, memories or information whether as a former member or a spectator that you would like to see here, please get in touch. Similarly, we will try to answer any questions that you might have on the history of Turnberrie Castle or of folk in the area. We'll even try to put you in touch with other morris sides in the area.
You can still contact us by email < Turnberrie Castle email>
[Folk in Thornbury HOME PAGE] .
