MORRIS DANCE. Douce,In a dissertation on the ancient English Morris Dance at the end of the second volume of his ' Illustrations of Slinkspeare; affirms that both English and foreign glossaries uniformly ascribe the origin of this dance to the Moors; although the genuine Moorish or Morisco dance was, no doubt, very different from the European Morris. Strutt, in his Sports and Pastimes of the People of England,' has cited a passage from the play of Variety,' 1649, in which the Spanish Monaco is mentioned as being danced by one person only, and he thinks the origin of the term might be found at home. Mr. Douce, however, maintains that this not only shows the legitimacy of the term Morris, but that the real and uncorrupted Moorish deuce was to be found in Spain, where it still continues to delight both natives and foreigners under the name of the fandango. • It has been supposed that the Morris dance waa first brought to England in the time of Edward 111. when John of Gaunt returned from Spain ; but it is more probable we had it from our Gallia neighbours, or even from the Flemings. Few, if any, vestiges of it can be traced before the reign of Henry VII., about which tittle, anti par ticularly in that ,of Henry VIII., the churchwardens' accounts of numerous parishes show that the Morris dance made a considerable figure at parochial festivals.
The hobby-horse, which once performed the principal character in the dance, was a fight frame of wicker-work, furnished with a paste board head and neck of a horse. This was buckled round the waist, and covered with a foot-cloth which reached on the ground, and concealed at once the legs of the performer and his giugling apparatus. Thus equipped, lie praucol and curvetted in all direction'', neighing, and exhibiting specimens of boisterous and burlesque horsemanship. Besidos the hobby-horse, there were, the fool or buffoon of the party ; May or Maid 31ariamand her paramour a friar ; a serving-man, a piper, and two 3Ioriscoes. The dress of those personages is described by Fletcher in his ' Women Pleased,' when he says :— " Where are year belle then, Your rings, your rail:sands, friend, and your clean napkins, Your nosegay la your het, I" &o.
Gifford, In his edition of Ben Joneon's works, remarks," When the right good-will with which these persons capered is taken into con sideration, the clean napkin, which was never omitted, will not appear the least necessary part of the aparatus." Thus Clod, in the masque of ' The Gipsies, obeerves," They would be Morris dancers by their ginglo, but they havo no napkins." Maid Marian was the lady or queen of the May.