A History of Mayflower

Click here for a history of the Club Officials

The Mayflower Morris Men were formed in 1973, although Morris dancers in Billericay are first mentioned in a church warden’s accounts during the 1550s. The side's name and Puritan colours are a link with the Pilgrim Fathers, five of whom, including Christopher Martin, Governor of The Mayflower, came from the town.

As part of Cecil Sharp’s attempts to effect a Morris revival, he gave instruction in the Morris to students at the Chelsea Physical Training College during the first decade of the twentieth century. One of his earliest students was Lady Bellairs. She trained one of the earliest revival sides in the country - Clevedon Morris Men - in 1911.

In the early 1950s Peter Boyce became the musician for Clevedon. Peter was a biology teacher at Weston Grammar School where he started a boys’ side and whom he gradually brought across to Clevedon. By 1956 Weston members outnumbered those from Clevedon, so the practice venue was transferred to Weston and the side changed its name to the Mendip Morris Men.

In 1961 Peter Boyce moved to Chingford in Essex where he started another boys’ side in his new school. That boys’ side became Chingford Morris Men and two of the ‘boys’, Jim Tidmarsh and Paul Warwick, went on to become Chingford squires.

Jim moved to Cranham and Paul to Billericay in 1971. They formed the Mayflower Morris Men of Billericay in May 1973 of which both eventually became squires.

There are currently eighteen Men including a traditional pipe and tabor player, the Fool, and the Animal. The side can regularly be seen dancing throughout the summer months at pubs and fairs around Billericay but also has performed in venues all over England as well as in Germany and France.

A Potted History

Nov 1972	Preliminary planning meeting at The Chequers - 5 present
May 1973	First practice session held - the first time the side danced together
June 1974	First public performance - Sunnymede fete
July 1977	Attended first Ring Meeting - Colchester
Aug 1977	Applied for full Ring membership
Nov 1977	Accepted into Morris Ring of England. A double first: two sides and The Mayflower Ceilidh Band perform for the first time - South Green Ceilidh
July 1978	Bill Badger joins the side
Sept 1978	Presented with Ring Staff of Office at Ludlow Ring Meeting
June 1979	Danced abroad for the first time in Heiligenhaus, West Germany
June 1982	Danced again in Heiligenhaus, West Germany
May 1983	Tenth Anniversary Day of Dance
May 1984	Attended Morris Ring Golden Jubilee Feast in Birmingham
May 1986	Danced in Boulogne, France
May 1987	Danced in Cuijk, Holland
May 1993	Twentieth Anniversary Day of Dance
Nov 1993	Danced in Meaux, France
Nov 1995	Danced at the Unveiling Ceremony of the Statue commemorating the Sailing of The Mayflower from Rotherhithe 1620
May 1998	Twenty-fifth Anniversary Day of Dance
Sept 2000	Danced at the Millennium Dome, Greenwich
May 2003	Thirtieth Anniversary Day of Dance, Cambridge
Apr 2005	First performance of St. George and the Dragon Mummers’ Play on St. George’s Day in Billericay High Street (performed every year since)
July 2005	Danced in Billericay’s twin town, Chauvigny, France
Mar 2007	Learnt the ‘lost’ tradition of Ravensthorpe, Northants in and became only the 2^nd side in the country to perform Shepherds’ Hey (Apr) and Beaux of London City (Dec) since 1930s.
Dec 2005	Reconstructed and learnt the ‘lost’ longsword dance of Penshaw, Co. Durham and became the 1^st side in the country to perform it since it was last recorded in 1857

For further information contact: Geoff Douglas (Bagman) - bagman@mayflowermorris.com or 01268 710709

Send mail to postmaster@mayflowermorris.com with questions or comments about this web site. Last modified: 22/10/06

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