The churchwarden’s accounts for the parish church of St Helen’s Abingdon record that in 1560 one shilling was paid for 24 morris bells, and in 1566 eighteen pence was paid for “setting up Robin Hoodes bower”. We don’t have any further details, but it seems that morris dancing and similar customs were being done in Abingdon at that time.
In 1700, the story goes that there was an ox roast on the Bury (Market Place) and a dispute occurred between the men from Ock Street and those from the Vineyard at the other end of town as to who should have the horns of the beast. A fight between the two factions took place and eventually the Ock Street men managed to take the horns past the Cock and Tree pub in Ock Street, and claim them for themselves. These horns are still in the possession of the present morris dance team, and since that date the people of Ock Street have the right to elect their own mock mayor. This story, including the date, is first reported in an 1825 newspaper.
On 11th October 1722, the Abingon MP visited the town and was met at the bridge by ‘the Morrice-Dancers and several young Maids dress’d in White with Garlands of Flowers’ who then led the procession into the town. Afterwards ‘several Barrels of Strong Beer were given to the Populace in the Market-Place’ [reported in the Daily Post, 13 October 1722, p.1].
In 1783, morris dancers from Abingdon, together with a fool carrying a bladder, were seen in Richmond, Surrey on their “annual circuit,collecting money from whoever would give them any”. In 1781, morris dancers were seen in Wallingford, and these too may have been the Abingdon dancers on tour.
Reports of the election of the mayor of Ock Street at the time of the June fair, and the accompanying morris dancing and procession, can be found in several newspaper reports from 1825 to 1900. However, in some years during this period the local newspapers reported that there had been no election or dancing.
There is little or no record of morris dancing in Abingdon outside of the June fair in these early days, but a report from a Berkshire Womens’ Institute book of 1951 states that they would visit Northcourt (at that time a separate village) on May Day up to the early 1900s:
On May day, until the early years of this century, Northcourt used to have a visit from the Morris Dancers of Abingdon; four or six men dressed in cut away tail suits and bowler hats, with ribbons tied round their legs under the knees, would bring a tall pole with an ox’s horns on the top of it; this they would set up before their dance; at the end of the dance they would produce a large wooden bowl, which was filled with beer; they then drank the beer and departed. On Christmas Eve or Boxing Day there was also a visit from the Mummers; performing the traditional Mumming Play; this continued up till 1939.
It seems that the election of the Mayor of Ock Street and the dancing at the June fair did not take place after 1900 for a few years. In 1909 Mary Neal contacted the brothers William and James Hemmings in Abingdon and collected some dances and tunes from them that would then be taught to the Esperance Club girls in London. The Hemmings brothers went to London to teach the dances, and in May 1910 they took part in a concert in Kensington Town Hall. Mary Neal published the ‘Esperance Morris Book’ which included three Abingdon dances. In April 1910, Cecil Sharp visited the Hemmings brothers but did not at that time get enough information to publish any Abingdon dances in his first edition of the Morris Book (maybe he did not buy enough beer).
In 1910 the local newspapers reported that the morris dancing at the June fair was again seen, together with the Horns. There was no election of the Mayor of Ock Street, but William Hemmings was recognised as still being Mayor. There is a photograph from about this time which is thought to be the earliest one of the Abingdon morris. It is generally thought to date from 1910, though some have suggested it might be 1912 or even 1902. The 1912 date was apparently written on a copy of the photo but the fiddler in the photo (Tommy ‘Gypsy’ Lewis) died in August 1910.
No dancing took place during World War One as far as we know. Three of those in the 1910 photograph died in the war, and another 2 or possibly 3 were wounded [more details here]. Cecil Sharp visited James and William Hemmings again in 1922, and this time managed to get enough information to publish one dance in his 1924 revised second edition of the Morris Book. Sharp arranged for the English Folk Dance Society to donate a new concertina to William Hemmings in 1922, the money being raised from the audience at a meeting in London where Sharp presented the dance he had recently collected in Abingdon.
During the 1920s and early 1930s there were no public appearances of the morris dancers or the Mayor of Ock Street, though there was a series of posed photos taken in 1929 in the yard of the Cross Keys, some of which appeared in the national press. William Hemmings died in 1930 and James Hemmings died in 1935. There are photos from the mid-1930s of the Hemmings brothers Tom and Jim, sons of James, Ray, his grandson, and Henry Hemmings (brother of James and William) dancing in the back yard of the Happy Dick in normal clothes but wearing hats and bells. In 1935 they paraded through the town with the Horns and Mayor’s regalia for the Silver Jubilee celebrations.
The Morris Ring was founded in 1934 as a confederation of morris teams and held regular meetings. In 1936 a Ring Meeting was held at Wargrave, at the home of Major Francis Fryer, and they visited Abingdon one afternoon, where they met Henry Hemmings and discovered that there were still morris dancers in Abingdon. On 29th May 1937, a complete team of Abingdon morris dancers danced at Wargrave Hall and on 21st June 1937 the Abingdon team danced in Abingdon once again. Major Fryer was invited to be their President and the Abingdon Herald reported that in addition to the team’s officers there were 12 dancers. Later in 1937 they were seen dancing in other locations in Berkshire, and on August Bank Holiday took part in a show in the Abbey grounds along with the newly-reformed Eynsham team and a ‘scratch’ Ring team led by Kenworthy Schofield. They now called themselves the Abingdon Morris Ring Dancers as they had become members of the Ring, and took to wearing white shirts and white trousers. In 1938, they added a sash with a chequered pattern to the uniform. They danced at the 1938 Ring Meeting in Stow-on-the-Wold at which Mary Neal was a dinner guest. In 1938 and 1939 they danced regularly in Abingdon and other Berkshire towns.
During the Second World War, the team danced to raise money for the war effort, and the dog of the bagman, Percy Hemmings, wore a collecting box round its neck. The musician during the war (and the late 1930s) was Harry Thomas, who died in December 1947.
The dancing started again in earnest in 1949, with Major Fryer as the musician, Tom Hemmings as Lead Dancer and Jack Hyde as bagman. The election of the Mayor of Ock Street resumed as an annual event in 1950 and ‘away fixtures’ included Windsor Festival of Britain celebrations (1951), the Oxford Ring Meeting (1951) and the Royal Albert Hall Folk Dance Festival (1952). In the early 1950s, the team included some dancers from the Wargrave morris men. Abingdon hosted Ring Meetings in 1952 and 1956. In 1956, the team changed their uniform from a sash to the green and yellow crossed baldricks worn today, these being the main colours of the town flag and crest. These were worn on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the granting of Abingdon’s town charter and the visit of the Queen, but they had first appeared on Mayor’s Day that year. The team continued to thrive, attending Ring Meetings and dancing outside the town as well as in it during the late 1950s. In November 1960 Tom Hemmings died and Major Fryer died in January 1961, and the team lost its two main leaders.
Ray Hemmings replaced Tom as Mayor in 1961, and Len Bardwell, who was also a member of Oxford City Morris Men, had already taken over as the musician in 1957. By 1963, Ray Hemmings was too ill to be Mayor and there was no election that year. In 1964 Charlie Brett was elected Mayor of Ock Street – he had been a dancer since 1937. From 1964 for some years the team did not have enough dancers who lived in Abingdon, and various ‘outsiders’ from Oxford and elsewhere were welcomed as dancers and musicians to keep the tradition going. One of these was Roy Dommett, who frequently came to practices even though he lived in Hampshire and his journey involved two changes of train. In spite of the shortage of local dancers, the team went on its first overseas trip, to the twin town of Alençon in France, in 1966. During this lean period, the team was held together by the ‘three old boys’: Charlie Brett (Mayor), Jack Hyde (bagman and sometimes Fool) and Johnny Grimsdale (Hornbearer) who had all danced since the 1930s, plus Les Argyle, who had danced since the early 1950s.
In 1967, the Faringdon District scouts (based in Longworth) approached the team and asked to be taught the Abingdon dances so they could perform something ‘quintessentially English’ on a trip to France. This went very well, and on their return the scout leader, Ray Applegate, together with his brother Tony and four or more of the young scouts (including his son Chris) joined the Abingdon team. Suddenly the team had a nucleus of younger dancers, and in the years that followed, this attracted a lot of other younger members as dancers. In 1969 the team paid its first visit to the twin town of Sint-Niklaas in Belgium and in 1970 performed at the Royal Albert Hall in the EFDSS Festival.
In 1971, Jack Hyde retired as bagman and was replaced by Colin Corner. In 1973, Mayor’s Day guest sides were Bampton, Chipping Campden and Headington and it is believed that this was the first time that these four traditional Cotswold teams had danced together. In 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1978 the team paid further visits to Sint-Niklaas. In 1975 Abingdon danced at the Royal Albert Hall and also at Sidmouth Folk Festival. In 1976 the Boerke Naas folk group from Sint-Niklaas visited Abingdon as part of a large international celebration weekend and in 1978 and 1979 they performed on Mayor’s Day. From the 1970s onwards, Abingdon were regular visitors to Oxford May Morning celebrations. In 1978 the team was awarded the Europa Prize for Folk Art by the Stifftung FVS Foundation of Hamburg, and this was presented in a grand ceremony in the Abingdon Guildhall. Members of the team still wear the silver badges that commemorate this award. Jack Hyde died in 1978 and 1979 saw the deaths of Johnny Grimsdale and Charlie Brett. All three had danced since the 1930s.
1978/9 also saw the departure of some members to help form Mr Hemmings Morris Dancers.
In 1981 Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers performed at Dancing England in Derby, travelled to Floroe in Norway for their Folk Week, and to Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing. Sint-Niklaas was visited again in 1983. 1984 saw another Abingdon performance at the Royal Albert Hall and in the same year the team also danced at the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Morris Ring. In 1985 Abingdon danced at the Folklore Festival in Sas van Gent in Belgium, and in 1986 at the National Garden Festival in Stoke-on-Trent. Saddleworth Rushcart was visited in 1987 and Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing in 1988. “La Gigouais” dance group from twin town Argentan in Normandy visited Abingdon in 1988 and three members of ATMD paid a return visit in the same year. There were further trips to Sint-Niklaas in 1988 and 1989, and the Folklore Festival in Sas van Gent was revisited in 1989.
A visit to Monkseaton in 1990 saw the team dance in Whitley Bay. In 1991, ATMD joined Gloucestershire and Chipping Campden Morris Men on a day tour of the Cotswolds, went on short tours to Shongau (Germany) and Grimbergen (Belgium) and were guests at Handsworth Day of Dancing (Sheffield / N. Derbyshire). 1992 saw trips as guests of Ilmington (Warwickshire) and Manley (Cheshire), a visit to the Folklore Festival in Sas van Gent (Belgium) and an appearance at the Mock Mayor Making in Old Woodstock (repeated in 1993, 1994, 1995). The Boerke Naas dancers and flagwavers from Belgium visited Abingdon in 1993 and in the same year ATMD visited Argentan (France). Winster Wakes (Derbyshire) and Sint-Niklaas (Belgium) were visited in 1994. In 1995 the team danced at an Abingdon Bun Throwing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of VE Day, in Whitley Bay as guests of Monkseaton and in London at the Putney Bridge Festival. ATMD visited Rotenberg (France) as part of a twinning anniversary celebration in 1996, and in the same year were guests at Westminster Day of Dancing and hosted the Gigouais dance group from Argentan. There was a short trip to Belgium as guests of Boerke Naas in 1997 as well as a visit to Nottingham. Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing and Colmar (France) were visited in 1998.
There was a special Abingdon Bun Throwing on Mayor’s Day in 2000 which jointly celebrated the Millenium and the 300th anniversary of the Ock Street Horns. The Mayor’s Day programme was altered so that the Mayor’s Day procession arrived at the Market Place at 5pm to a huge crowd. Guest teams that year were Bampton, Chipping Campden, Headington and La Gigouais. Also in 2000, ATMD performed at Sidmouth International Folk Festival. In 2001, the team danced at Moulton May Festival, Chippenham Folk Festival and Haddenham Ceilidh. 2002 saw a visit to Folkart in Belgium and an appearance at Wallingford Bunkfest (which has been repeated every year since). In 2003 ATMD were guests at Winster Wakes and in 2004 danced at the first Oxford Folk Festival (and every year since then, even though it’s called Folk Weekend now). In 2006 the team was featured on BBC TV’s Culture Show and also danced at the visit of Princess Anne to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Abingdon’s Royal Charter. Saddleworth Rushcart was visited in 2007 and in 2008 the team visited Winster’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of Cecil Sharp’s visit. In 2009 ATMD danced at Cecil Sharp House for Mary Neal Day. Mary Neal’s great-great-niece Lucy Neal visited Abingdon in 2008 to personally invite ATMD to London for this event – a wonderful recreation of what had happened 100 years earlier. 2009 also saw another visit to Saddleworth Rushcart. Sint Niklaas (Belgium) was visited in 2010.
In 2011 ATMD danced at Long Crendon Walkaround and Chippenham Folk Festival. Moulton Maycart Festival was visited in 2013. On Saturday 13th September 2014 to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of World War 1, there was dancing on the Market Place by ‘The Morris Men of Abingdon’ with ATMD and Mr Hemmings dancers in the same set, wearing no baldricks, sashes or ribbons, just white clothes, hats and bells. Two sets of dancers, four musicians, 2 fools and a large crowd to watch. In 2015 ATMD appeared in the music video ‘Apparition’ with the girl band Stealing Sheep. This involved creating dance movements to fit the song’s tune, many rehearsals and two days filming on location. In 2016 the team was invited to dance (alone) at all four pubs in Bampton as part of the English Country Music Weekend and to run a music session afterwards. In 2017 ATMD were filmed in Leamington Spa for a BBC2 show “My Country”, and also danced at BBC Countryfile Live, Blenheim Palace. Also in 2017 we said our final farewells to Colin Corner as his ashes were scattered on White Horse Hill, then danced at his wake at the Cherry Tree. Colin took over from Jack Hyde as bagman in 1971 and was the main driving force behind the team in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2018 ATMD performed at Old Woodstock Mock Mayor Making, and also took part in a special weekend in Winster to celebrate the life of Roy Witham who kept their tradition alive until their revival in 1977 and then was a stalwart of the team until he sadly died in 2016. In this we were joined by Bampton Traditional and Eynsham. 2019 saw a return visit to St Niklaas and a day in London dancing at Westminster Abbey. The 2019 Mayor’s Day election was won by a single vote.
In March 2020 the country went into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic and most of Abingdon’s scheduled dance dates were cancelled. However, on Mayor’s Day 2020 a small group met and did a small procession in Ock Street to keep up the traditional custom. The restrictions due to the pandemic continued into early 2021, and Mayor’s Day 2021 was a slimmed-down event with no election and no guest teams. In the second half of 2021, dancing returned to normal but as winter approached new restrictions meant that the mummers play tours were cancelled at short notice.
For details of Mayor’s Day in years gone by, please see the Mayor of Ock Street page.
The material for this brief history mostly comes from our own archives and scrapbooks. For the early material, we also acknowledge the valuable material in these two publications:
- Jonathan Leach, ‘Morris Dancing in Abingdon to 1914’, Chandler Publications, Eynsham, 1987 (now out of print)
- Keith Chandler, ‘Morris dancing in the English South Midlands 1660-1900: A Chronological Gazetteer’, Second, revised edition 2001, available on CD from Musical Traditions (MTCD250 from www.mtrecords.co.uk/mt_rec2.htm#morr )