With a jingle and a beer, English Morris dancers ring in May Day

[May 02, 2018]  NEWTOWN LINFORD, England (Reuters) - Traditional English Morris Dancers with jingling bells on their shins and flower-bedecked hats rang in May Day with early morning jigs on Tuesday.

Leicester Morrismen drink beer during May Day celebrations at Bradgate Park in Newtown Linford, Britain May 1, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Around a dozen Leicester Morrismen danced with white rags to a fiddler in the shadow of a folly known as Old John in Bradgate Park, Newton Linford, about 100 miles north of London.

After their exertions, which Morris dancers trace back to the 15th Century or earlier, some drank beer served in traditional pewter tankards.

The art form’s origins are disputed, though there have been signs in recent years of a revival of Morris dancing in England.

(Reporting by Darren Staples; writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Michael Holden)

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