Here is a page from Wikipedia I’m interested in: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Morris
1934 — The idea that pagan blackface is very ancient can be traced to an author who wrote in 1934. It’s footnote number 15:
Gallop, Rodney (1934). "The Origins of the Morris Dance". Journal of the English Folk and Dance Society. 1 (3): 122–129.
This paragraph from the Wikipedia page (above) is very interesting to me:
“Gallop (1934)[15] questions the Moorish link, quoting both Douce and Cecil Sharp who felt the English dance was too dissimilar in style and appearance to be derived from the continental European Moorish dances believed to be of Moorish origin. Sharp himself appears to have changed his view between 1906, when he saw a link between the black faces of English morris and the dancers on the Franco–Spanish border, and 1912, when he viewed the dance to be a pan-European custom possibly corrupted by Moorish influence. He argued that the name Moorish was used as a description of an existing earlier tradition, not because the dancers represented Moors. Gallop goes on to examine the linkage between the English morris dance and the mouriscada or morisca dances of Spain and Portugal, which involve ritual, choreographed battles between the Christians and Moors or Turks, often to music, involving swords and handkerchiefs. Gallop asks whether the Christian–Moorish link is actually a later interpretation of earlier pagan mock battles between Summer and Winter, such as that fought on May Day on the Isle of Man between the Queens of Summer and Winter. He argues that in parts of Portugal and the Basque Country, the word moor is also used to mean 'pagan', and that perhaps morris dance originally meant 'pagan dance', and that bells and disguised faces are a common feature of pagan ritual. Thus, for Gallop, the Moorish link is coincidental and the true origins are much older and pagan. This view remains popular for many today.”
Well, first I’d like to go find the 1934 paper and read it carefully. Then I’d like to do some research, using some technologies that were not available in 1934 (!) to look into the history of pagans. Why do they blacken their faces? Or whiten their faces as the issohadores do?
How far back in history can this tradition be traced?
I’m spending a lot of time thinking about mamuthones and issohadores. They are so mysterious. I can easily find photos and articles about them on the internet. But I may have to wait a long time - as eventually their secret will get out. I think eventually someone will explain this tradition in terms of apotropaic magic, averting evil & attracting good fortune. One article mentioned that the mamuthones in groups of 12 represent the months of the year. I know nothing about it, but it seems to me that they represent either ancestors or animal spirits. I just want to point out that even though they seem to be very popular, there is very little written about them.
When I find that article about mamuthones and issohadores, I will add a link here.
1934 — The idea that pagan blackface is very ancient can be traced to an author who wrote in 1934. It’s footnote number 15:
Gallop, Rodney (1934). "The Origins of the Morris Dance". Journal of the English Folk and Dance Society. 1 (3): 122–129.
This paragraph from the Wikipedia page (above) is very interesting to me:
“Gallop (1934)[15] questions the Moorish link, quoting both Douce and Cecil Sharp who felt the English dance was too dissimilar in style and appearance to be derived from the continental European Moorish dances believed to be of Moorish origin. Sharp himself appears to have changed his view between 1906, when he saw a link between the black faces of English morris and the dancers on the Franco–Spanish border, and 1912, when he viewed the dance to be a pan-European custom possibly corrupted by Moorish influence. He argued that the name Moorish was used as a description of an existing earlier tradition, not because the dancers represented Moors. Gallop goes on to examine the linkage between the English morris dance and the mouriscada or morisca dances of Spain and Portugal, which involve ritual, choreographed battles between the Christians and Moors or Turks, often to music, involving swords and handkerchiefs. Gallop asks whether the Christian–Moorish link is actually a later interpretation of earlier pagan mock battles between Summer and Winter, such as that fought on May Day on the Isle of Man between the Queens of Summer and Winter. He argues that in parts of Portugal and the Basque Country, the word moor is also used to mean 'pagan', and that perhaps morris dance originally meant 'pagan dance', and that bells and disguised faces are a common feature of pagan ritual. Thus, for Gallop, the Moorish link is coincidental and the true origins are much older and pagan. This view remains popular for many today.”
Well, first I’d like to go find the 1934 paper and read it carefully. Then I’d like to do some research, using some technologies that were not available in 1934 (!) to look into the history of pagans. Why do they blacken their faces? Or whiten their faces as the issohadores do?
How far back in history can this tradition be traced?
I’m spending a lot of time thinking about mamuthones and issohadores. They are so mysterious. I can easily find photos and articles about them on the internet. But I may have to wait a long time - as eventually their secret will get out. I think eventually someone will explain this tradition in terms of apotropaic magic, averting evil & attracting good fortune. One article mentioned that the mamuthones in groups of 12 represent the months of the year. I know nothing about it, but it seems to me that they represent either ancestors or animal spirits. I just want to point out that even though they seem to be very popular, there is very little written about them.
When I find that article about mamuthones and issohadores, I will add a link here.
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