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Bringing in the May with Jennifer Cutting

Image: Jennifer CuttingMeet Jennifer Cutting, Folklife Specialist, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Jennifer Cutting, Folklife Specialist at the Library of Congress, describes and displays some of the folk traditions surrounding May Day (Day 1) and the spring season in Britain and the United States.

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Library of Congress Web Sites of Interest
American Folklife Center
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress preserves, protects, and makes available to researchers an unsurpassed body of materials in all media reflecting the cultural traditions of North America, Great Britain, and many other parts of the world.
Archive of Folk Culture
Pages from the Archive of Folk Culture, part of the American Folklife Center, provide finding aids to archival collections, links, and other resources.
Folklife Concerts at the Library of Congress
Information about public performances of folk traditions at the Library.
Other Web Sites of Interest
Kemps Nine Daies Wonder
The book describing comic actor Will Kemp's Morris dance journey between London and Norwich in 1600.
Mainly Morris Dancing
A Web site with links to Morris organizations around the world.
Morris Jargon
A glossary of terms concerning Morris dancing.
Morris Dancing Discussion List
An Internet discussion list for those interested in Morris dancing.
Other Materials of Interest

Archive of Folk Culture Collections

Anthony Grant Barrand Collection of Morris, Sword, and Clog Dancing, AFC 2003/005

Traditional American and English Morris, Sword, and Clog dancing and drama on film and video, 1975-present. Includes Marlboro, Vermont, Morris Ale, 1976-2002, and Marlboro Morris and Sword and Green Mountain Mummers, 1979-2002.

Goathland, North Yorkshire, Sword Dance Photograph Collection, AFC 1983/007
Seven photographs of Plough Stotts Long Sword team from Goathland, North Yorkshire, England, ca. 1912-50.

James Madison Carpenter Collection, AFC 1972/001
Traditional song and drama with items of traditional instrumental music, dance, custom, narrative and children's folklore from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the United States, documented in the period 1927-55.

Audio Recordings

Jump Jim Joe: Great Singing Games for Children. Brattleboro, Vt.: New England Dancing Masters, 1991.
LC call number not available
Longsword: The Music. London: English Folk Dance and Song Society, [2001?].
LC call number not available
Merry It Is While Summer Lasts: A Collection of Medieval and Traditional Music. London: CRD Records, 1983.
LC call number: CRD Records CRD 1112
Morris On. London: Island, 1972.
LC call number: Island Help 5
Old English Melodies. Nashville, Tenn.: Green Hill Productions, 1977.
LC call number: SDA 14141
Sheepskins. Aston on Clun, Shropshire: Squeezer Records, 1988.
LC call number: RYC 1045
Six English Folk Dance Tunes. Bridgeport, Conn.: Columbia Masterworks, 1939.
LC call number: RBA 01839-01841
To Welcome in the Spring. Voorheesville, N.Y.: Front Hall, 1980.
LC call number: Front Hall FHR 022

Print Sources: Books

Bacon, Lionel. A Handbook of Morris Dances. London: Morris Ring, 1986.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 B33 1986
Barrand, Anthony G. English Clog Dance Steps: Hornpipe, Waltz and Reel. Boston: School for Traditional Dance and Song Press, 1983.
LC call number: GV1793 .B37 1983
-----, ed. Longsword Dances from Traditional and Manuscript Sources as Collated and Notated by Ivor Allsop. Brattleboro, Vt.: Northern Harmony Publishing Co., 1996.
LC call number not available
-----. Six Fools and a Dancer: The Timeless Way of the Morris. Plainfield, Vt.: Northern Harmony Publishing Co., 1991.
LC call number not available
Berger, Melvin. The World of Dance. New York: S.G. Phillips, 1978.
LC call number: GV1601 .B47
Brower, Josephine, ed. The Morris Dance: Descriptions of Eleven Dances as Performed by the Morris-men of England. New York: H.W. Gray Co., 1910.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 B8
Cleaver, Bert. Fieldtown Dances and Jigs. [N.p.], England: B. Cleaver, 1985.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 C52 1985
-----. Sherborne Dances and Jigs. [N.p.], England: B.Cleaver, 1983.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 C54 1983
Cripps, Peter S. The Morris: A Living Tradition, England's Glory Ladies Morris and the Ilmington Dances. Apperley, Gloucester: Vale Publishing Services, 1991.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 C75 1991
Douce, Francis. Illustrations of Shakespeare, and of ancient manners: with Dissertations on the Clowns and Fools of Shakespeare. 2 vols. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1807.
LC call number: PR3004 .D6
Forrest, John. The History of Morris Dancing, 1458-1750. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 F66 1999
Garland, Mike. The Morris Tradition. London: Morris Ring, 1990.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 G37 1990z
Karpeles, Maud. Lancashire Morris Dance Tunes. London: Novello & Co. Ltd., 1930.
LC call number: M1740.K24 L3
Kennedy, Douglas, ed. An Introduction to the Morris Dances of England, Comprising Six Dances from The Morris Book. London: Nevello, 1955.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 K4
Kidson, Frank, and Mary Neal. English Folk-song and Dance. Wakefield: EP Publishing, 1972.
LC call number: ML3652 .K53 1972b
Langstaff, John. Celebrate the Spring: Spring and May Day Celebrations for Schools and Communities. [N.p.]: Revels, Inc., 1998.
LC call number not available
Malam, John. Song and Dance. New York: Franklin Watts, 2000.
LC call number: ML3928 .M3 2000
Nibs, Matthews, ed. Eight Morris Dances of England: And Flanborough Sword Dance. London: English Folk Dance and Song Society, 1975.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 M37
Old Meg of Herefordshire for a Mayd Marian and Hereford Towne for a Morris Daunce or Twelve Morris Dancers in Herefordshire of Twelve Hundred Years Old. London: John Budge, 1609; reprint, London: R. Triphook, 1816.
LC call number: DA310 .M5 vol. 2
Peck, Arthur. The Morris and Sword Dances of England. 12th ed. London: The Morris Ring, 1973.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 P42 1973
Rippon, Hugh. Discovering English Folk Dance. Aylesbury: Shire Publications, 1975.
LC call number: GV1646.E6 R55
Rowe, Doc. With a Crash and a Din Comes the Morris Dancer in--: A Celebration of Fifty Years of the Morris Ring, 1934-1984. [N.p.], England: Morris Ring, 1984.
LC call number: MLCM 86/11758 (G)
Sharp, Cecil James, and Herbert C. MacIlwaine. The Morris Book: With a Description of Dances as Performed by the Morrismen of England. 2d ed. London: Novello, 1912-24; reprint of parts 1, 2, 3, Wakefield: EP Publishing, 1974.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 S522 1974
Williams, Iolo Aneurin. English Folk-song and Dance. London: Longmans, Green, 1935; reprint, Norwood, Pa.: Norwood Editions, 1978.
LC call number: ML3652 .W54 1978

Print Sources: Periodicals

American Morris Newsletter. Reprint series. Published since 1977.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 A443
Folklore. Routledge. British peer-reviewed journal published since 1890.
LC call number not available
The Morris Dancer: A Newsletter Sponsored by the Morris Ring. Published since 1978.
LC call number: GV1796.M7 M67
Morris Matters. Windsor. Published since 1978.
LC call number: WMLC L 83/102
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  July 20, 2010
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