Online Exhibition: Steps, Sticks and Swords – The Story of Doncaster’s Morris Men: Morris Dancing in Doncaster
Morris dancing in Doncaster
Our ancestors would not have been alarmed at the sight of morris dancing in this area. It was present in Doncaster in the 16th century and continued to flourish until about 200 years ago.
In fact, our earliest record comes from the accounts of St. George’s church (now Doncaster Minster) where funds were found to buy the costume for the local morris group.
This is all the more poignant when the Minster is only 10 yards from the hall where Green Oak Morris Men used to practise every Wednesday evening!
Since then, the side has been based in several locations in and around Doncaster. For the last 10 years, they have been at Doncaster Brewery Tap and supported by its landlords: Ian and Alison Blaylock.
Green Oak
Green Oak Morris Men started at High Melton Teacher Training College. Led by Paul Davenport, the group began under the name High Melton Morris.
In 1971, Paul came to the end of college life and felt dissatisfied with the direction High Melton Morris was heading in. He was inspired by a 1930s Thaxted Morris poster to design a new morris dancing kit.
At that time, he was interested in the supposedly pagan origins of morris dancing. He was particularly interested in a mystical system called Qabalah, which included an earth sphere named Malkuth.
Paul created a colour scheme for his morris kit based on the colours of Malkuth – russet (red), ochre (yellow), olive (green) and black.
As to deciding the name ‘Green Oak’, Paul and his partner Liz were camping in Goathland with a man named Dik Penycate and his wife Val.
Paul was whittling a piece of wood from a fallen oak tree branch into a little morris man figure. The branch was infected by the fungus Chlorociboria aeruginascens, dying the wood green.
Dik remarked that Paul had carved a ‘green oak’ morris man. All four of them jumped on the description, and the name Green Oak Morris Men stuck!
Green Oak first danced in public in 1973. It grew in numbers and became a highly-respected member of The Morris Ring.
