Wessex Morris Men Dancing Programme 2010

The Dorsetarian

Sherborne Folklore and Ghosts
Folklore, Customs and Ghost Stories in Sherborneby Elisabeth Bletsoe Sherborne is a small market town in north-west Dorset; formerly a Saxon burgh. It evolved through the cloth, gloving and silk industries and boasts two castles, a Benedictine Abbey and the renowned public school for boys established since Edward VI. The town is embedded in varied countryside united by scarps of Jurassic ...

Well Dressing and Sacred Water
Well Dressing and Sacred Waterby Chris Tripp Water Worship - The Filly Loo Ceremony around the village pond, Ashmore. Water is the foundation of all life on Earth. Our bodies are mostly made up of it. A human being can survive many days without food in a hostile environment, but deprived of water for a much shorter period of time and our bodies quickly start to malfunc...

Folklore of William Barnes
The Folk-Lore of William BarnesBy John Symonds Udal I have been asked to write a short paper or article on "Dorsetshire Folk-Lore" for our "Year Book." But I feel some difficulty in doing so, for two reasons; first, because it is impossible in such a limited space to give any fair idea of what the folk-lore of the Dorset people consists; and, secondly, because I am myself just...

Some Dorset Superstitions
Some Dorset Superstitions By Hermann Lea In employing the term superstition, it is in the sense defined by Franz v. Schonthan : — Zwar nicht wissen — aber glauben Heisst ganz richtig — Aberglauben. (Not to know, but to believe; what else is it, strictly speaking, but superstition?) It is natural, no doubt, that superstition should decrease in the s...

Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy - A Dorset Novelist and Poet Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy was born on 2nd June, 1840, at Higher Bockhampton, a hamlet in the parish of Stinsford, some two and half miles east of Dorchester. The author's grandfather, Thomas Hardy (the first), settled in Bockhampton in 1801, in a house which his father had built for him. By trade he was a master mason but hi...

Easter Customs and Traditions
Easter Customs and Traditions By Robert Newland 'Easter Tide’ is the most important festival of the Christian year, symbolising the ‘Redemption of Man’ and the confirming of the fundamental belief in ‘Life Everlasting’. Easter holy week begins with ‘Palm Sunday’, which commemorates the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem before his tri...

Cerne Abbas
Cerne AbbasA Brief History of the Village with Local Legendsby Anon. Amid the rolling, grassy hills of the picturesque Dorset hinterland nestles a perfect gem of typical English villages - Cerne Abbas.Cerne, by its very geographical situation, might eventually have competed with Dorchester for the honour of being the county town, but all who love the unspoiled English countryside would not have...

Fossil Folklore
Sea Dragons, Fairy Loaves& Serpents of StoneFables & Fossils of Lyme Regis by Dr. Karl P.N. Shuker Dr. Karl Shuker and life-size megalodon jaws,Lyme Fossil Shop, Lyme Regis In July 2010, I visited Lyme Regis on Dorset’s south coast, a relatively small town but one that is to fossil enthusiasts what Hay-on-Wye on the Welsh-English border is to book love...

Skulls in Folklore
Skullsby Sabine Baring-Gould. In medieval churches, castles, and mansions where there is a parapet rising from the wall and obscuring a portion of the roof, this parapet is supported at intervals by corbels, that usually represent heads of either men or beasts, very frequently grotesque. These corbels are not of any great structural importance, though they add to architectural decoration. T...

Ghosts and Hauntings
Ghosts and Things that go Bump in the Night by David Kingston. The word Ghost is described in the Oxford dictionary as, "a person's spirit appearing after his or her death." But then what about the reports of horses galloping down the lanes on a dark night and other such apparitions? Why do certain countries, houses and places appear to have more than there fair share of Ghosts?Great Britai...

Wessex Morris Men Dancing Programme 2010

Morris Dancing

The Wessex Morris Men are a Cotswold morris side that has danced in West Dorset, England and the bordering areas of Somerset since 1957.

The side are the owners of the infamous Dorset Ooser, the new one that is, a giant of a creature with a large wooden head and even larger horns, carved from a passing log by John Byfleet

The Wessex Morris Men usually put together a booking list for the new year in late December or early January, based on accepted events that they have been invited to, regular events (e.g., May Day) and weekly Monday evening tours in the summer. Please note that in the present financial climate, pubs have been closing on Mondays at short notice, so if you would like to see them, it's well worth checking their website before you set out.

For more information visit www.wessexmorrismen.co.uk

Date & Event	Location	Time
Apr 23 - St. George's Day
	The Royal George, West Coker, BA22 9AN	19:30
	Quicksilver Mail, Yeovil, BA20 2RG	20:45
Apr 25 - Clayesmore School Celebrate Dorset
	Clayesmore School, Iwerne Minster, DT11 8LL	TBA
Apr 26
	The Crown Inn, Ibberton, DT11 0EN	19:30
	The Halsey Arms, Pulham, DT2 7DZ	20:30
May 1 - May Day Morning
	Above the Giant, Cerne Abbas, DT2 7LA	05:15
	Village Square, Cerne Abbas, DT2 7JG	07:30
Below: Every May Day morning at dawn, the Wessex Morris Men climb up to the top of Giant Hill, above the famous chalk figure and fertility symbol 'The Cerne Abbas Giant', to welcome in the coming of Summer with a set of traditional morris dances. This is also the one time of year when the horned Dorset Ooser is brought out from the Dorset County Museum to make its annual appearance. The magical Dorset Ooser is a representation of a bull or Wild Man which by tradition was believed to be a potent source of fertility.
May 1 - Austin 7 Meeting
	Shave Cross Inn, Shave Cross, DT6 6HW	19:30
May 3 - May Holiday Tour
	The Acorn Inn, Evershot, DT2 0JW	TBA
	Village Centre, Melbury Bubb,	TBA
	The Chetnole Inn, Chetnole, DT9 6NN	TBA
	Kings Arms Inn, Thornford, DT9 6QD	TBA
May 10
	The Hunters Moon, Middlemarsh, DT9 5QN	19:30
	Village Centre, Hermitage,	20:15
	The Rose and Crown, Longburton, DT9 5PD	21:00
May 15 - Poyntington Festival
	Village Centre, Poyntington, DT9 4LF	12:00
May 17
	Winyards Gap Inn, Chedington, DT8 3HY	19:30
	Coach and Horses, South Perrott, DT8 3HS	20:15
	The Manor Arms, North Perrott, TA18 7SG	21:00
May 20 - May 23 - Turï Flower Festival, Estonia
		16:00
May 24
	Chalk and Cheese, Maiden Newton, DT2 0BD	19:30
	The Saxon Arms, Stratton, DT2 9WG	20:15
	Three Compasses, Charminster, DT2 9QT	21:00
May 31 - Sherborne Castle Country Fair
	The Castle, Sherborne, DT9 5NR	12:30
May 31 - Spring Holiday Tour
	The Trooper, Stourton Caundle, DT10 2JW	19:30
Jun 3 - Royal Bath and West Show
	Bradford Abbas,	12:00
Jun 5 - Wessex Folk Festival
	Harbour, Weymouth, DT4 8DR	10:00
Jun 7 - Tour with Treacle Eater Clog
	The Mitre Inn, Sandford Orcas, DT9 4RU	19:30
	The Queens Arms, Corton Denham, DT9 4LR	20:45
Jun 14
	The Fox Inn, Ansty, DT2 7PN	19:30
	Village centre, Hilton, DT11	20:15
	The Hambro Arms, Milton Abbas, DT11 0BP	21:00
Jun 19 - Bradford Abbas Country Fair
	Village Centre, Bradford Abbas, DT9 6RF	12:30
Jun 21
	The Saxon Inn, Child Okeford, DT11 8HD	19:30
	Hambledon Hill, Child Okeford,	20:15
	The Baker Arms, Child Okeford, DT11 8ED	21:00
Jun 28
	The George, Chardstock, EX13 7BX	19:30
	Ye Olde Poppe Inne, South Chard, TA20 2NZ	20:15
	The Bell and Crown, Chard, TA20 1JP	21:00
Jun 28
	Chalk and Cheese, Maiden Newton, DT2 0BD	19:30
	The Greyhound Inn, Sydling St Nicholas, DT2 9PD	20:15
	The Royal Oak, Cerne Abbas, DT2 7JG	21:00
Jul 12
	The Antelope, Hazelbury Bryan, DT10 2EB	19:30
	Village centre, Mappowder, DT10	20:15
	Brace of Pheasants, Plush, DT2 7RQ	21:00
Jul 19
	The Anchor Inn, Salwayash, DT6 5HU	20:15
	The White Lion Inn, Broadwindsor, DT8 3QD	19:30
	The Hope and Anchor, Bridport, DT6 3RA	21:00
Jul 26
	Village Centre, Oborne,	19:15
	Kings Arms, Charlton Horethorne, DT9 4NL	20:15
	Old Inn, Holton, BA9 8AR	21:00
Aug 9
	The Pier, West Bay, DT6 4EY	19:30
	The Pier, West Bay, DT6 4EY	20:15
	Woodman Inn, Bridport, DT6 3NZ	21:00
Aug 16
	Harbour, Weymouth, DT4 8DR	19:30
	Old Rooms Inn, Weymouth, DT4 8TT	20:15
	The Kings Arms, Weymouth, DT4 8TJ	21:00
Aug 23
	The Anchor Inn, Seatown, DT6 6JU	19:30
	Sea Front, Charmouth,	20:15
	The George Inn, Chideock, DT6 6JD	21:00
		20:15
		21:00
Sep 6
	The Helyar Arms, East Coker, BA22 9JR	19:30
	The Royal George, West Coker, BA22 9AN	20:30