Dancing At Rochester: May 1, 2004

As stated elsewhere, having completed their salutation of the thundery dawn over Glemsford, the Morris Men of Little Egypt progressed to the Black Lion for breakfast, and then took a charabanc ride to Rochester for their traditional gig at the Sweeps Festival.

Here is a photographic essay of their exploits; somehow, words are superfluous.


Yet again, I am indebted to Brian Stephens, of the "Free the Mill Hill 20" group for these contributions.

Coincidentally, I have also received the Squire's version of events, so in the interests of accuracy and humour, I am appending them here for your consideration.
You may which to archive them under "fiction", of course.

The Squire writes:

"Well, didn`t we have an excellent day on Saturday ?"

"Despite the weather the dancing at dawn was, again, quite magical. We had some very good dancing, a full 18 man Ring of Bells with the most Random of Hays, we had majestic thunder and bolts of lightning, there were flasks filled with warming concoctions, we had a "Virgin Man" ( Hi ! Will) dancing for the very first time and we had some excellent banter.
It was good to see Proffo back in full flight and also James back on the fiddle."

"Our dancing was followed by a hearty Breakfast at the Black Lion ( "Thank you", Jackie and helpers) and essential lubrication before our coach arrived to collect us for the journey to Rochester."

"We arrived quite early and there was plenty of time to sample the delights of the Gordon Hotel Beer Festival before we began dancing at 10.45.
Particular favourites of mine were Nelsons Blood Extra (7% + and laced with Rum) and Frigging in the Rigging - both from the Dockyards Brewery.
Carol`s favourite was the Flaming Sambucca (at a little over 40 %)."

"The dancing was energetic and flamboyant and we certainly entertained well.
The afternoon was a bit of a blur for me - I believe I was served a glass of wine in a dirty glass over lunch. (Editor's emphasis)
So I would welcome any accounts of the afternoon stands. (I bet he would-Ed.)
Everyone that I have spoken to so far had an excellent day.
Thanks to Alasdair and Brian for the photos various of Dawn and Rochester ... ."

And to that, I now add my thanks to Tommo for even more photos of Rochester.

Page maintained by Stephen Clarke, steve@little-egypt.org.uk 09 November 2005 Copyright(c) . Created: 04/05/2004 Updated: 05/05/2004