A Mingle of Morris sides

...on the forecourt outside the Subscription rooms in Stroud, to celebrate Stroud's second folk festival. It takes all sorts, and there were all sorts of sides here: the border ones who black up their faces, the Stroud morris who wear white but do allow women, the ones from Bristol, and a few more besides!

The festival was good, but not excellent. I'd have liked more Scottish and Irish and 'new folk'. I heard that the star turn, Jim Moray, was great, but I had got stuck into an Irish session at another venue and could not leave! Had a dance at the final hoolie, to the music of The Folklaws. It's a curious fact that the English, as a whole, do not dance at folk festivals, unless specifically ordered to do so: at a ceilidh, for instance. I am more of a wild-flinger myself: all flailing limbs and no style, but I cannot keep still when there's a fiddle playing.

More Irish sessions tomorrow, but I hope to climb in the morning in Gloucester. That means going to bed now. Goodnight