May Day

[thebellman]

A little known fact is that every year before dawn on May 1st (which is this Sunday), all around the world Morris Dancers don their bells and tattercoats and gather to dance up the sun. This is a vitally important ritual, as without their selfless sacrifice the world is doomed to be lit only by the hellish radiation from an enormous (mainly)

Comments

[gillpolack]

I did that ritual once, at Parliament House. Our esteemed leader forgot to get clearance and the results were drink, more drink and not much dancing. it is *not* a good idea to say to the parliament House security bods "This is an ancient tradition - our faces are blackened because of that ancient tradition - we didn't need to get permission to dance in a high security area. Really."

[thebellman]

I do wish you'd been able to dance there though, it would have surely bought the sun up in a place where the sun, generally, does not appear to shine :-)

[gillpolack]

We did dance there - just not for long. And we had sticks, not hankies.

[draquin]

Mt Coot-tha... Before dawn... on a Sunday... ... ... ...
The Weeman wakes up daily at 5 for a feed... I'd be awake...
...I don't know if he'd enjoy eek!! Morris dancing with his breakfast...
[Morris dancers used to freak out my Russian folk dance teacher. Every folk festival we'd be there, they'd be there. She didn't get them.]
...It's toasty warm in bed at that hour...

[sister_michael]

So how was it?
I'll bet it was a beautiful morning.

[thebellman]

Cold before dawn, but bright and clear. There was a good turnout of dancers and musicians, and a reasonable number of random punters. Breakfast after was bbq in Slaughter Falls park, involving a vast array of sausages and bacon. And cider.

I did take whistle and recorder up the hill but don't really know the tunes yet, so also took the drum up and spent the morning drumming for them.

And the sun came up.

[sister_michael]

Yay, and the sun came up.
Thanks to their awesome ritual.
I don't mind the odd ritual that gets lots of like minded people together and if there's music and dancing, food and cider involved all the better.

I wish I could have been there.