“Dancing with Giants, Hobby Horses and Morris” – Stephen Rowley - Talk
Channel: The Morris Federation
Date: 2023-03-06

Recording of the "Dancing with Giants, Hobby Horses and Morris” talk on Zoom on 5 March 2023 given by Stephen Rowley.

There is a connection between morris dancing, hobby horses and giants.  In his talk, Stephen Rowley brings his experience as a giant builder, hobby horse maker and morris researcher, to look at this history.  From C15th beginnings to the current day.  

Featuring Coppin, lately returned from his experience dancing at the Brit Awards, and material from the current exhibitions of folk costume (Making Mischief: Folk Costume in Britain, at Compton Verney) and Hooden Horse (Animal Guising and the Kentish Hooden Horse, at Maidstone Museum).

Reference Books:
The Ancient English Morris Dance, Michael Heaney
The History of Morris Dance 1458-1750, John Forrest
Masks and Masking in Medieval and Early Tudor England, Twycross and Carpenter
Discordant Comicals, George Frampton
Animal Guising and the Kentish Hooden Horse, James Frost
Ritual Animal Disguise, E.C. Cawte
The Hobby Horse and Other Animal Masks, Violet Alford

See https://www.morrisfed.org.uk/event/giants-hobby-horses-stephen-rowley/

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:26 Talk on “Dancing with Giants, Hobby Horses and Morris”
51:55 Questions and discussion

#morrisfedvideo 

Morris Fed videos: https://www.morrisfed.org.uk/resources/videos/
Details of talk: https://www.morrisfed.org.uk/resources/videos/dancing-with-giants-hobby-horses-and-morris/