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More on Molly Dancing and its origins
One of the unusual features of molly dancing is that one of more of the men always dressed in drag. We talked about this a little during the second workshop today. One of our instructors mentioned an occasion (annoyingly, I cannot remember where or when or if it was historical or relatively recent) where the women dancers put on fake beards and then added fake padded breasts! Women dancing dressed as men dressed as women! (I think it was historical, but I can't swear to that)
This is different to Tommy and Betty who often accompany rapper or longsword dances. It would appear that these two characters are all that remain of the characters from a play that was sometimes performed at the same times as the dances. Sometimes, you just get 'Betty' - she usually accompanies the dancers and gets in their way, but isn't part of the dance herself. (In Molly dances, the mollies dance just the same as everyone else)
So, why is it called 'Molly' dancing? There are two possibilities. One is that the word is a corruption of 'morris' but the more likely explanation is that 'Molly' was eighteenth century slang for a gay man. In London (not a million miles from East Anglia) there were gay brothels known as Molly Houses. I think recent research found information about one in Yarmouth, but it was mentioned quickly in passing and I might have got the two wrong. (the people talking about the dances were skipping fast over the gay brothel connection, but I'd read the book below, so I was interested in the possible connection)
This site says a bit more about them. Anyone wanting to know a lot more about this particular sub-culture should read 'Mother Clap's Molly House' which is a readable, well-researched book. (Yes, the disease may have been named after the establishment...)
The web site says (backing up my memory of the book):
"when we first learn of the molly subculture in London in the first decade of the eighteenth century, all of its features are already fully formed: groups of men meeting regularly at molly "clubs" where they use "maiden" nicknames for one another, dance together, sometimes imitate women, sometimes dress as women on special "festival nights", and have a specialized molly slang."
In other words, men cross-dressed and danced together. They'd doubtless have danced the popular country dances of the period.
It seems highly likely to me (and I'm not quoting any research here) that the plough-boys (who were the ones who historically danced molly dances in East Anglia) could have seen men dancing at the molly houses, or been aware of them, and chose to imitate them for a laugh. (and any plough boy who was actually gay might have enjoyed the chance to cross-dress and flirt a little)
It went down well with the audience who appreciated the drag humour and thus it became a tradition. The rather macho style of the dances - very strong foot and arm movements and the vertical punches of the fist - are an easy way of conveying the message "We're dressed in drag, but this is just for fun. We're not actually poofs."
If I'm right, then the tradition of dancing on Plough Monday is probably a lot older than the cross-dressing. (Plough Monday traditions go way beyond East Anglia - all up and down the East Coast of England)
The actual dances themselves could come from any period. They could either be older dances that had the style modified to fit the molly dancing (which I think is probably most likely) or they were popular dances of the eighteenth and nineteenth century (also modified stylistically) that replaced older dances when the molly dancing custom started.
All the recorded molly dances are simple in style. They generally have three figures and no chorus. The last figure will involve a progression of the dance so that the top couple move to the bottom. The whole dance is repeated several times until every couple has been at the top once. Then it ends with a big shout. This makes sense for people who had little leisure time for learning complex dances.
Other historical details (recently learned from reading old school log books) is that children used to skip school on Plough Monday and probably went out dancing themselves.
Molly dancers could get pretty boisterous. There are still laws in Cambridge (and another town that I forget) banning molly dancing - though they aren't currently enforced.
Here's a link to a Lancashire 'molly dance' tradition that is really just 'trick or treat' in another form, but you can clearly see the connection to molly dancing as practiced in the fens. The face-painting and cross-dressing elements are there (as indeed is the threat if you don't give anything) and thus I disagree with the writer who sees no connection between the two.
While hunting for more information on molly dancing on the web, I came across a reference to 'Step Change' which I realised I already owned - I'd bought it for articles in other chapters on North West Morris. Getting it off the shelf, it mentioned another plausible reason for the cross-dressing - Plough Monday is just after Twelth Night, and Twelth Night is traditionally when things are topsy-turvey. KIngs dressed as peasants and vice versa (well, the peasants who got the bean in the bean feast could be the rulers for the day). Dressing as other genders might have been a part of that.
Step Change also implies that much of the distinctive molly dance style, the exaggerated stepping and arm movements, might have originated with Seven Champtions (whom I showed the video of yesterday). They were one of the first molly revival sides and developed a very distinctive style with the intent of creating a modern tradition.
There are many implications that molly dancing is a relatively recent tradition. I wonder if it developed around the time of the big modern fen drainage schemes. The timing appears about right. There's a lot of reasons that would make this fit sociologically, but my arms are too tired from dancing to type them all. Grab me some time at a convention, ask me about historical English dances. If you're really good, I'll even demonstrate the broom dance I learnt today... As long as you provide a broom!
This is different to Tommy and Betty who often accompany rapper or longsword dances. It would appear that these two characters are all that remain of the characters from a play that was sometimes performed at the same times as the dances. Sometimes, you just get 'Betty' - she usually accompanies the dancers and gets in their way, but isn't part of the dance herself. (In Molly dances, the mollies dance just the same as everyone else)
So, why is it called 'Molly' dancing? There are two possibilities. One is that the word is a corruption of 'morris' but the more likely explanation is that 'Molly' was eighteenth century slang for a gay man. In London (not a million miles from East Anglia) there were gay brothels known as Molly Houses. I think recent research found information about one in Yarmouth, but it was mentioned quickly in passing and I might have got the two wrong. (the people talking about the dances were skipping fast over the gay brothel connection, but I'd read the book below, so I was interested in the possible connection)
This site says a bit more about them. Anyone wanting to know a lot more about this particular sub-culture should read 'Mother Clap's Molly House' which is a readable, well-researched book. (Yes, the disease may have been named after the establishment...)
The web site says (backing up my memory of the book):
"when we first learn of the molly subculture in London in the first decade of the eighteenth century, all of its features are already fully formed: groups of men meeting regularly at molly "clubs" where they use "maiden" nicknames for one another, dance together, sometimes imitate women, sometimes dress as women on special "festival nights", and have a specialized molly slang."
In other words, men cross-dressed and danced together. They'd doubtless have danced the popular country dances of the period.
It seems highly likely to me (and I'm not quoting any research here) that the plough-boys (who were the ones who historically danced molly dances in East Anglia) could have seen men dancing at the molly houses, or been aware of them, and chose to imitate them for a laugh. (and any plough boy who was actually gay might have enjoyed the chance to cross-dress and flirt a little)
It went down well with the audience who appreciated the drag humour and thus it became a tradition. The rather macho style of the dances - very strong foot and arm movements and the vertical punches of the fist - are an easy way of conveying the message "We're dressed in drag, but this is just for fun. We're not actually poofs."
If I'm right, then the tradition of dancing on Plough Monday is probably a lot older than the cross-dressing. (Plough Monday traditions go way beyond East Anglia - all up and down the East Coast of England)
The actual dances themselves could come from any period. They could either be older dances that had the style modified to fit the molly dancing (which I think is probably most likely) or they were popular dances of the eighteenth and nineteenth century (also modified stylistically) that replaced older dances when the molly dancing custom started.
All the recorded molly dances are simple in style. They generally have three figures and no chorus. The last figure will involve a progression of the dance so that the top couple move to the bottom. The whole dance is repeated several times until every couple has been at the top once. Then it ends with a big shout. This makes sense for people who had little leisure time for learning complex dances.
Other historical details (recently learned from reading old school log books) is that children used to skip school on Plough Monday and probably went out dancing themselves.
Molly dancers could get pretty boisterous. There are still laws in Cambridge (and another town that I forget) banning molly dancing - though they aren't currently enforced.
Here's a link to a Lancashire 'molly dance' tradition that is really just 'trick or treat' in another form, but you can clearly see the connection to molly dancing as practiced in the fens. The face-painting and cross-dressing elements are there (as indeed is the threat if you don't give anything) and thus I disagree with the writer who sees no connection between the two.
While hunting for more information on molly dancing on the web, I came across a reference to 'Step Change' which I realised I already owned - I'd bought it for articles in other chapters on North West Morris. Getting it off the shelf, it mentioned another plausible reason for the cross-dressing - Plough Monday is just after Twelth Night, and Twelth Night is traditionally when things are topsy-turvey. KIngs dressed as peasants and vice versa (well, the peasants who got the bean in the bean feast could be the rulers for the day). Dressing as other genders might have been a part of that.
Step Change also implies that much of the distinctive molly dance style, the exaggerated stepping and arm movements, might have originated with Seven Champtions (whom I showed the video of yesterday). They were one of the first molly revival sides and developed a very distinctive style with the intent of creating a modern tradition.
There are many implications that molly dancing is a relatively recent tradition. I wonder if it developed around the time of the big modern fen drainage schemes. The timing appears about right. There's a lot of reasons that would make this fit sociologically, but my arms are too tired from dancing to type them all. Grab me some time at a convention, ask me about historical English dances. If you're really good, I'll even demonstrate the broom dance I learnt today... As long as you provide a broom!
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I've just been hunting for pictures of Cambridge Morris Men who are the only revival side to predate Seven Champions in any way. I've managed to find a couple of photos of their molly dances, but no video clips. However, the high-knee stepping does appear to be present, indicating that it might have been a feature of the original dances. (Or it might simply have become a unifying feature of all modern molly dancers, as the modern tradition evolves)
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