EARLY RECORDS OF PLYMOUTH MORRIS MEN AND OTHER ITEMS RELATED TO THE DANCE
The Receivers' Accounts of Plymouth record a payment for dancing in the streets of the city in 1482 [8]:
Account of the moneys, received by John Dawe, mason, for materials and labour in building an aisle on the south part of the church of St. Andrew of Plymouth, in accordance with the agreements of a certain indenture; amounting in all to £44 14s. 6d.
21. Edw. IV [i.e. 1482]... [Thomas] Tresawell [the mayor] received for "dawnsyng money" of
"Agnes dowster of Kat'yn hoker," 11s. "Johne sruant of Thomas Croppe," 11s. "Jonett potter," 9s. 9d. "Johna filia Will Nycoll," and Roger Payne not stated.
This may be one the first records of morris dancing in the country. The reference in Worth is to Thomas Tregarthen's Book: the oldest book of account which had been preserved among the Municipal Records. The book was destroyed in the Plymouth blitz, with all the old records of the bills.
On Friday 15 October 1982 the Deputy Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Mr Bob Bishop, made a presentation in pre-decimal currency (four half-crowns and two sixpences) to the Plymouth Morris Men on the five-hundredth anniversary of the earlier event [9, 10].
Worth took extracts from various documents to compile a calendar of the municpal records [8]. In doing so he made "a selection from such entries as seem, for various reasons, of special interest. Many of the items, both of receipt and expenditure, recur with little change year by year over long periods, but many others have considerable general and local interest and the citations might have been largely extended, especially from the earlier years". In each entry the years are followed by the name of the receiver at that time.
In 1528-9 John Pers. recorded [8]:
Itm gyuyn in Rewarde to the duke of Suffolkes srunt wt the Daunsynge bere & the dausyng wyff xxd
In 1540-1 John Ude recorded [8]:
Itm pd for ix yards of cloth to make a coat for Tom hordson the ffoole pce the yard viijd vjs (6s.)
George Ferrers was born around 1500 AD, was a Member of Parliament for Plymouth, and a member of Lincolns Inn. He also served at court, and was left 100 marks in Henry VIII's will. In 1551, he was appointed to arrange entertainments to distract Edward VI after the execution of his uncle Somerset. He started his twelve days of authority as Lord of Misrule on Christmas Day and he arranged a 'Midsomer Wache' at Greenwich. Machyn [11] saw the Midsomer Wache procession arrive in the City (on Monday 4 January 1552!) and wrote:
".... and then came the mores dance dansyng with tabret ...." Morris dancers appeared in Plymouth in 1564, 1567-1570, 1574, 1575, 1577, 1585, 1587, 1594, 1595 and 1605 [12-14] and in 1566, 1567 and 1568 [15, 16], and are mentioned in the City Accounts for May Day 1574-5 and 1576-7 [16-17].
In 1566-7 Edward Cocke recorded [8]:
Morice dancers 5s. for a breakfast; 20d. new cutting the Gogmagog
In the Widey Court Book No III for 1569-70 Walter Peperell recorded [8]:
Itm payed to Robert Sprye for payntyng of the maye pole and the balle at Mr Mayres vjsiiijd (6s4d)
In 1574-5, there was an additional payment:
Itm pd to hym thatt played apon the hoby horsse vjd (6d.)
In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert left Plymouth for Newfoundland in an attempt to found a colony. A member of his company [18] wrote of the preparations:
"....we were provided of musike in good variety, not omitting the least toyes, as Morris dancers, Hobby Horse and Maylike conceits ...."