May Day Morning

Dancing at Dawn on Town Moor on May Day morning went well.

It was quite an occasion as it was 30 years since the first dance (we believe), Bodhranman’s 25th consecutive May Day morning, twenty years since Mrs Leftfooter first came along and Number Two Son’s first attendance.

Mrs Leftfooter ‘phoned me a few days before saying she’d like to come along but didn’t have Tyne Bridge kit. Would it be ok if she came in her old brown Sandgate Morris kit? I agreed. Then I thought about my old Sandgate kit and decided to wear it as a reminder of my first May Day (1991). I contacted all the Tyne Bridge dancers going, asked if they thought it was ok and suggested they wear old kit too (if they could find/fit into it). Mrs Quilt turned up in her old Newcastle Cloggies kit which was a replica of the 1890’s Cullercoats’ fishwife garb, including bloomers, so at least she was warm.

Number Two had wanted to come to the St George’s Danceout, but I'd thought he would get bored (and selfishly wanted some me-time). Then he kept asking to come on May Day morning, even after I told him he’d have to be up at 4am. He was excellent. Got straight out of bed as soon as I asked him, dressed and had a mug of fruit juice. My May Day routine is to have a cup of strong sugary coffee and some dunked ginger nuts whilst getting dressed. Like my mum I refuse to leave the house with nothing inside me. At 4.15 we loaded the garlands and my bag into the car and set off for the Moor.

Before the advent of speed cameras this was the best drive of the year as there is no traffic (bar the odd milk-float and taxi) at that time of the morning. I used to whip down Benton Park Road at 60mph, across the South Gosforth roundabouts in fourth gear and along Grandstand Road at 70 – all to Hi Ho Silver Lining blasting out on the cassette. Alas it has to be 30mph almost all the way now. We went down onto Central Motorway and saw the shadows of the Kingsmen gathering on the footbridge and gave them a load of toots on the horn. Swung up onto Claremont Road, parked up by the footbridge and put on my clogs. Number Two carried the bag of garlands for me and up we went onto the footbridge. Mrs Leftfooter turned up wearing an old Sandgate headscarf and a blue Sandgate/Tyne Bridge woolly jacket.

When the Kingsmen were finally all sorted out in their Royton kit of breeches, baldrics, beads and flowery hats; the band organised and bag carriers loaded; we processed out to the middle of the Town Moor where the two footpaths meet. Unusually there was a small gathering of (drunken) students waiting there for us.

It was very very wet on the moor. The cows did their usual trick of stampeding towards us, stopping suddenly, having a good look and then wandering off.

Fourteen Kingsmen processed Royton all the way out and did their final figures facing east on the crossway. Squeezeboxboy quickly got his melodeon out and we set up for Mobberley stick dance as there were 8 of us. The Kingsmen followed with the Grenoside Sword dance, a soldier’s dance from Sheffield – done properly it can be quite sinister. Meanwhile we got the garlands out and followed up with a six-person Grenoside garland dance (a nice symmetry don’t you think). The Kingsmen did Rapper, then we all got our hankies out and did Runcorn.

On May Day morning all the dances are done facing the East, not the gathering of people, and here's why.

Halfway through Runcorn we saw the red disc of the sun break through the clouds over Gosforth. There were cheers and whoops, and the click of cameras.

We’d got the sun up.

Morris dancing may or may not have pagan roots but at moments like that I have.

With all the dancing done and the sun got up the celebrations started with the traditional game of Catch the Champagne Cork. A scrum forms and champagne corks popped towards them – whoever catches one wins. I have a strange skill – I can make the cork fly without loosing any champagne. So when Mrs Recorder wanted to open a bottle given to her by a friend who has since passed away she gave me the honour of doing it for her. That cork flew the farthest to be caught by a fit young Kingsman in mid-air.

Strawberries and cream were cracked open and shared around. A skylark rose above us singing to the heavens and suddenly silently dropped down to the ground.

Finally to mark his Silver Jubilee of May Day Dawns Bodrhanman made cream art on the crossroads (he was a fine art student when he started). Usually he just uses left over cream. This year he brought cream dyed red, yellow and blue and made a spectacular pattern on the paths.

All the corks, bottles, bits of wire and containers were assiduously gathered up (I was brought up in the country and know cows will try and eat anything with disastrous effect). The Kingsmen got back into Royton kit, the band reformed, the followers picked up the bags and we all processed back to the footbridge. It was about half past six.

So Summer was officially started and for a moment all felt right with the world.

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