The tradition comes from the English counties on the Welsh border -
principally Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. Sadly, the
combined effects of the industrial revolution and the Great War caused the
tradition to die out in the early part of the 20th century.
Thankfully, it was recorded by a number of folk music collectors before it
finally disappeared.
When this form of morris was revived in the 1970s, it was confusingly
named "Welsh Border Morris". This was very unfortunate as it is an English
tradition, and has little to do with welsh culture. Border Morris is
one of several styles of morris dance, which today include Cotswold,
North-West, Molly (East Anglia), Rapper (North-East), Coconut Dancing and
Long-sword – each associated with an area of England.
Traditional forms of ritual dancing are believed to go back a very long
way, and its hard to know how they originated, as the dancers were neither
wealthy nor literate. Morris dancing has been documented for the last 500
years or so, and it appears that many towns and villages had their own
"side".
The Border Morris dances were mainly performed in the winter by farm
labourers and fishermen (on the Severn) as a means of earning a little
extra money when work was scarce – it was a form of begging, and as such
it was illegal. In addition, there appears to have been an understanding
that a certain amount of misrule was customarily allowed on certain
occasions, which might have made it difficult for the participants to find
employment if they could be identified afterwards. This is sometimes
offered as the explanation for the tradition of blacked-up faces as a
means of disguise (see below).
The "kit" was traditionally anything that looked eccentric – sometimes
parts of an army uniform, or a womens dress, or simply turning a jacket
inside-out and decorating with ribbons. The latter is interpreted today as
a rag jacket, covered with strips of cloth, or tatters.
The dances took their names from the village teams that danced them, such
as White Ladies Aston, Pershore, Dilwyn and Much Wenlock, although these
are now augmented by many modern additions. The contemporary country
dances were also adapted for display purposes, with additional or changed
figures. Many Border Morris dances make use of a stick – usually of ash or
hazel – and the stick-clashing adds to the noise and spectacle that makes
this form of dance attractive.
Traditionally almost all forms of morris were danced exclusively by men.
It is not clear why women were excluded, but this appears to have
contributed to the robust style of most Morris dancing.
This was a common feature amongst "border morris" teams in the 19th
century, and was also adopted by Molly Dancers (East Anglia) and other
traditins such as "coconut dancing" and mumming. It was also used as
a form of disguise in the "Rebecca Riots" in South Wales in the 1830's,
which were a protest against toll roads, and also involved men dressing as
women.
There was a history in Wokingham of face-blacking to disguise criminals -
in the early 18th century a band of footpads and ne'er-do-wells known as
the "Wokingham Blacks" were a major criminal problem in the forests and
roads between Wokingham and Windsor. Their lawlessness was eventually
resolved by sending in the army, and led to the "Black Act" of 1723,
making it a criminal offence to have a blackened face, with harsh
penalties.
In recent years, there has been a move away from full-face blacking, as it
is no longer acceptable in todays society.
OBJ was formed in 1996 by a group of like-minded people who wanted to
dance the flamboyant style of dancing known today as "Border Morris". In
the early years we were known as "OBJ Border Morris", but changed this
later to "OBJ Morris". The "OBJ" part of our name is a reference to a
local beer.
Our kit is generally black, with Green, Black and White rag jackets, and
we follow the tradition of painting our faces. We changed to
multi-coloured face-paint in 2018 as we want people from all races to
share and understand our tradition, and to avoid anyone being
uncomfortable with our performances.
OBJ is a mixed-gender "side", comprising male and female dancers, drawn
from Wokingham, Bracknell, and the surrounding area. When we formed the
side, we decided that we would set out to attract new people into Morris,
regardless of their number of left feet, fitness and sense of rhythm, and
we believe this has paid off with a large membership, and a side that
enjoys itself both during performances and socially.
Music is always live and un-amplfied, and we are blessed with a number of
talented people who play a variety of instruments.
Additional musicians and dancers – with or without experience – are always
welcome.