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St Albans Morris Men |
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"We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights;
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
- Thomas Jefferson
(View original manuscript)
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St Albans Morris Men was the first visiting morris club to dance in USA following the tragic events of 11th September 2001. Despite initial qualms, it went exceedingly well; no small thanks to the organising ability and generous hospitality of our hosts - Foggy Bottom Morris Men and Rock Creek Morris Women in Washington DC, and Shepherdstown Northwest Clog / Hicks with Sticks in West Virginia. A few days after September 11th, we took soundings as to whether our visit was still appropriate, and the advice was "Yeah! Go for it. America needs some joy and beauty at this time." SAMM willingly agreed to contribute to the "joy" bit. Beauty, as we all know, is in the eye of the beholder! |
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Most of us arrived in Shepherdstown on Wednesday 26th. September and were welcomed by our individual hosts prior to a delicious communal meal. Next day, we were treated to visits, sightseeing and canoeing in the beautiful West Virginia countryside. The morning started with a guided tour by Nick Blanton of his workshop, where hand-made hammered dulcimers come off the production line at a rate of about 15 - 20 a year. Photo: Bennett (Click image to enlarge.) |
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In the Rumseian Society's boathouse, Nick told us the history of James Rumsey - who invented the steamboat some 20 years before Robert Fulton is popularly credited with that. The Society maintains a half-scale working model which was constructed painstakingly from patents and other drawings for the bicentennial anniversary of the first public launching (3rd Dec 1787). Shepherdstown is rightly proud of Rumsey, who died in 1792 aged 50 whilst in England on a four-year fund-raising expedition. He was buried in St Margaret's Churchyard, next to Westminster Abbey. (NB findagrave.com gives the wrong location but the right photographs.) Photo: Combes |
| Jim Surkamp took us to the "Little House", constructed in 1928 under the direction of Florence Shaw, head of the teacher-training program at Shepherd College. An important part of the project was a little farm operated by the students. A plaque reads: "In order that children may have a laboratory in which they may learn to work together, faithfully laying the foundation for useful lives, we have built this little house as a unifying center of a miniature farm." Photo: Price |
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Meanwhile, another segment of the Pursuit of Happiness Tour was having a fine time on the Potomac River. Photos: Jones |
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After lunching at the Blue Moon cafe, the "history" party drove a few miles to the Antietam battlefield. Who will forget the erudite and heart-rending expositions by Jim Surkamp of the horrific loss of life on 17th September 1862, the Civil War's bloodiest day? Jim has detailed knowledge of the events, the personalities and the "fog of war". In this case, the fog was real - smoke from all that gunpowder. Photos: Price & Lyndon-Jones |
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St Albans, Shepherdstown NW, and
Hicks with Sticks danced for a small, bemused, but admiring crowd.
The dancing showed few signs of jet lag,
and it was a very relaxed, comfortable start. Left: "Jockey to the Fair" by SAMM (Photo: Lyndon-Jones) Right: High-kickin' Shepherdstown NW! (Photo: Price) |
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Left: Hicks with Sticks give it some "wellie" (Photo: Combes) Right: The young Edward Bennett starts to earn his keep in "Brimfield" (Photo: Price) |
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In front of the original Shepherd College building, we put on a show in the gathering dusk. Here we see SAMM dancing a ghostly Postman's Knock, Adderbury, and Shepherdstown NW dancing ...? Well, I'm sure I'd have recognised it in daylight! Photos: Price |
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Friday. All packed and ready to move on. But first, time for another beer at Ed's, and there were a few more places to explore in Shepherdstown - including the quaint old "O'Hurley's General Store". Photos: Price |
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On Friday evening, Foggy Bottom Morris Men had arranged a ceilidh - in a real barn, and with real rain pouring down outside! Some poor navigators arrived later than others, but it was a nice way of meeting up again at the start of our weekend together. Photos: Combes |
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We had agreed with FBMM that the central date of the visit should be Saturday 29th September - which was Open Day at the National Cathedral in Washington. Why? Partly because it is collocated with St Alban's Church, who were keen to welcome a morris club which had been started by lay clerks of their "mother church" (St Albans Abbey) way back in 1930. Also, of course, because we could be sure of a good ready-made audience! In view of the religious connections, FBMM wittily coined the term "EpiscopAle" for the weekend's activities - though no church services were involved, to the relief of some! The advertising flyer on the left was the result of the highly skilled work of FBMM's Bill Brown. (Copyright 2001) |
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Saturday was the big one: three major shows in the centre of Washington.
It was a beautiful autumn day. We Brits were relieved that the
temperatures were not in the 90s, which had been the case there the year before.
We processed to dance outside the South Door of the Cathedral - with all
the skill, precision, and musical co-ordination which one finds in the Sunday morning
procession at a typical Ring Meeting!!
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Top row: photos by Combes of dancing by SAMM,
Rock Creek and Shepherdstown. |
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After a superb picnic lunch in the Cathedral grounds,
we set off in US school buses to the Capitol
- SAMM being mainly on the "musical" bus. |
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For some, dancing at The Capitol was always the central goal of the
Pursuit of Happiness Tour. We were delighted that we could do so despite events.
Great photo by Mike Savage, too! We danced on the Terrace, with the Mall and the Washington Monument to the west. The space was vast and the audience thinly spread - highlighting just how few tourists there were in DC at that time - but enough people watching to make the event enjoyable. |
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This row: Foggy Bottom Morris Men and musicians in their energetic "Mason-Dixon Border Morris" guise!
Photos: Lyndon-Jones Below, left to right: Harry the Hart views a child inquisitively. Shepherdstown NW. Rock Creek (with Jinny Mason of Wake Robin). St Albans Morris Men. Photos: Combes |
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"March Past" was a dance that all could join in with, in our different styles, under Mike Bennett's calling. As the photo on the left shows, if Mike were to try to rouse us to excesses of patriotism with Shakespearian quotations, Brian Bending might well use his inside knowledge of Harry the Hart to prick the bubble. Photos: Mike Savage - though not the speech bubbles! |
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By this time, we'd earned a beer. So it was off to the "Hawk and Dove" for relaxation, and singing led by FBMM from their fine repertoire. Can you spot Alan McArdle of Juggler Meadow? Photos: Left - Bennett; Right - Savage. |
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The third USA president, Thomas Jefferson, is commemorated by a huge bronze statue in a classical rotunda with the Declaration of Independence on its walls. Photos: left - Combes; right - Glover. We danced on the terrace between the bottom of the rotunda's steps and the large body of water known as the Tidal Basin. The left hand photo below shows a massed Ducklington Jig by Rock Creek Morris Women and Mike Bennett of SAMM. The centre two photos show one of the several wedding parties which shared the spot with us for their photo sessions - and the delight of the bride at the results of her accepting our polite invitation to join in a dance with us! The fourth photo is the morris dancer's traditional farewell - "Bonny Green Garters". Photos below: left - Combes; others - Bennett |
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We did two shows, with a beer/food break in Bertha's Bar - an atmospheric venue with 200 musical instruments fixed to the ceiling, and antique toilets! FBMM treated us to a rendition of "Eat Bertha's Muscles", and we joined in the chorus of this and many of their rousing shanties. RCMW also showed their singing strengths again. Photos: This row - Combes; lower row - Combes, Combes; Bennett & Lyndon-Jones. |
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Good food, good beer, two very short speeches, some more dancing by Albermarle - to make their 300 mile round-trip for an afternoon's dancing worthwhile! - lots of bonhomie and good fellowship. Breaking up was VERY hard to do! Thanks and congratulations to Foggy Bottom and Rock Creek for an excellent EpiscopAle.
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Several of us extended our USA stay - mostly for non-morris activities. However, Graham Lyndon-Jones visited the Library of Congress in order to measure and photograph seven tabor-pipes. On the right is the pipe and tabor used by Longborough Morris in the 19th century. Unlike the Fieldtown pipes in the Pitt-Rivers Museum, Oxford, with similar repairs and much binding of string, this one definitely does not work! Photos: Lyndon-Jones |
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| That's all, folks! |
