The origin of the Morris in Canberra was largely the result of a coincidence of two factors: the arrival of Tony Jowett in Canberra in March 1977, and the performance of the Sydney Morris Men at the Adelaide Folk Festival in that same year. Tony therefore found a reasonable level of knowledge and interest in the Morris among the Monaro Folk Society, and the folk society found itself a teacher albeit a somewhat idiosyncratic one.
The first practice of Morris took place appropriately on the 1st of May 1977 at Duncan Grylls' place in Kaleen.
In the early months the main problem was finding suitable music as Tony is not a musician and at that time had no collection of music. In the early weeks musicians struggled with Tony's attempts to hum tunes, and so tunes from other sources were adapted to at least allow some basic practice.
The turning point came when Bob McInnes and a copy of Morris Dance Tunes came on the scene. Subsequently other sources were pursued, including the Journal of the EFDSS in the National Library.
Initially, Tony was prepared to teach both men and women, but as the possibility of a public performance started to approach, his prejudices started to assert themselves, resulting in a degree of tension within the group. Eventually a core of six men and a musician prepared to commit themselves to some hard practice were found and an all male side formed and migrated to the ANU union to practice.
The next few months were an interesting study in male bonding, with much drinking and singing as well as Morris dancing, and marked the start of the side's most vigorous (not to mention lecherous) era.
The first public performance of the side was in Garema Place in the Canberra civic centre on the last Saturday in October, followed by a performance at the Yarralumla Woolshed dance that night.
The dances performed were from the tradition of Brackley. Baldricks had been hastily constructed a few days previous, and indeed some were still held together with safety pins. Bell pads had been made by pulling apart bell sticks intended for school bands and attaching the bells to leather pads with pot rivets, and hats were at best sparsely decorated.
The dancing was not of the highest quality but at least it was a start and resulted in some new recruits. Inspired by this success, Tony applied for and obtained an Arts Council Grant to dance Morris in a number of venues around Canberra in early December.
The day was an absolute scorcher, with temperatures pushing the 40° mark, and with only seven dancers, it was tough going. By mid-afternoon the men were more than happy to accept the generosity of a group of picnickers in Weston Park and, after a brief performance, helped them to drink their beer supply.
The following year the side went from strength to strength. The Sydney Men were encountered for the first time at a wet Numeralla Folk Festival and some healthy rivalry developed which has persisted ever since. Three of the Canberra side went on the infamous Sydney bus to Perth for the National that Easter and met up with the Perth Morris Men and Fair Maids of Perth. Many are the tales of the debaucheries of that trip (buy Tony, Tim or Duncan a drink some time if you want to hear more).
The side grew significantly that year, with the recruitment of an accomplished Morris accordion player, an experienced fool (of the Morris variety, we already had several of the common or garden sort) and several enthusiastic beginners. Other notable activities were extensive travel to folk festivals in Carcoar, Newcastle, Wagga, Forbes, Hill End and sundry other venues plus an ale with the Sydney men and Maids-of-the-Mill.
From 1979 until the mid-1980s was very much the heyday of the Canberra Morris Men with a plethora of invitations to dance at town festivals and folk festivals across much of country New South Wales, with full sides at most National Folk Festivals and several men visiting Morris sides overseas.
Since then many of the side have moved away from Canberra, although all members with whom we are still in contact, are invited back for the Morris Feast in May of each year. Others have found their time and ability to travel severely curtailed due to family commitments.
Thus, in the absence of any significant influx of new blood for some years, the side has struggled somewhat of late, although the standard of dancing is still high when we do manage to field a side.
The Early Years
(Click here for The Early Years at a higher resolution)
