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Morris animals
Some morris sides are accompanied by hobby horses or other animals (I recall one giant bird, probably with Phoenix Morris).
A hobby horse in morris terms is not the child's broom stick with a head on one end, but a costume supported on the shoulders that allows the body of a horse to hang around the waist to give the illusion of a man riding on a horse. There are a lot of variations on this original theme and many don't look much like horses at all. (the word 'hobby' originally meant 'small')
A friend just sent me this clip of White Horse Morris and you can see a hobby horse hovering in the foreground of some of the shots. Note that with this particular horse, the focus is on the horse and not the rider - thus, the face of the operator is covered over - which makes sense given the name of the side.
(The dancers look a little tired, but they're dancing at the Solstice at Stonehenge, so they may have been up pretty early in the morning.)
Looking at this particular horse, especially its head, reminded me of my student days. In Norwich museum, they have several Snap Dragons. Old Snap wasn't with a morris side, he was part of the mayoral procession for St George's day (and later St Margaret's day), but you can see the similarity even though Snap is designed to be worn higher on the body. The page about the 'Snap Dragons' is very interesting and has some good photographs as well.
St George's day celebrations used to be very well-observed customs and many towns had a St George's Guild to raise money and organised the processions, etc.
English folk traditions are mobile and elements often move from one to another. Hobby horses of various forms are just one example.
The Minehead horse for example, might not even be recognised as such, unless you were familiar with the evolution of the species. It looks a lot more like a boat. Here, the horse is a processional animal, but with other local customs also attached.
Here's the Wikipedia entry on Hobby Horses.
I love folk traditions. They're endlessly colourful, inventive, and involve people enjoying themselves. What more could you wish for?
A hobby horse in morris terms is not the child's broom stick with a head on one end, but a costume supported on the shoulders that allows the body of a horse to hang around the waist to give the illusion of a man riding on a horse. There are a lot of variations on this original theme and many don't look much like horses at all. (the word 'hobby' originally meant 'small')
A friend just sent me this clip of White Horse Morris and you can see a hobby horse hovering in the foreground of some of the shots. Note that with this particular horse, the focus is on the horse and not the rider - thus, the face of the operator is covered over - which makes sense given the name of the side.
(The dancers look a little tired, but they're dancing at the Solstice at Stonehenge, so they may have been up pretty early in the morning.)
Looking at this particular horse, especially its head, reminded me of my student days. In Norwich museum, they have several Snap Dragons. Old Snap wasn't with a morris side, he was part of the mayoral procession for St George's day (and later St Margaret's day), but you can see the similarity even though Snap is designed to be worn higher on the body. The page about the 'Snap Dragons' is very interesting and has some good photographs as well.
St George's day celebrations used to be very well-observed customs and many towns had a St George's Guild to raise money and organised the processions, etc.
English folk traditions are mobile and elements often move from one to another. Hobby horses of various forms are just one example.
The Minehead horse for example, might not even be recognised as such, unless you were familiar with the evolution of the species. It looks a lot more like a boat. Here, the horse is a processional animal, but with other local customs also attached.
Here's the Wikipedia entry on Hobby Horses.
I love folk traditions. They're endlessly colourful, inventive, and involve people enjoying themselves. What more could you wish for?
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