The first existence of Little Egypt Morris, not known by that name at the time, was in 1987. The side was created purely as a divertissement for the annual church fête, held in the grounds of the Rectory in July.
Our early repertoire was very limited, since we had very few weeks to prepare. We danced Bean Dibbing, Jockey to the Fair and Bluebells of Scotland. These first two shots show, indistinctly, our attempts at Bluebells (above) and Jockey:
Lovers of trivia will have noticed straightaway the side's kit
We wore Cotswold whites (mainly cricket or bowls gear), with a red neckerchief. Our cross-belts, which are always wrongly called "baldrics", were green, and made out of that ribbony stuff people use to decorate parcels and presents. At the crossing point, we wore felt badges, appropriately decorated with an outline of a church. Our bell pads were something else: red felt, held on with a piece of elastic, their "tinkle" was provided by (I kid you not) budgie bells procured by a scouring of local pet shops. They did not make much noise.
After the first performance, one or two of us felt we wanted to keep the idea going, but not enough of us to be a viable side. A few of us spent a few months going over to Belchamp to learn with them, but, in honesty, the village spirit wasn't there, and most of us faded into the annals of a very brief Morris History.