Some Ravensbourne Morris Traditions In addition to dancing on Summer afternoons with a pint of decent ale nearby, some of the members of the side enjoy some Not-Strictly-Morris activities as well. As part of our celebration of some of England's particularly curious traditions, we are keen supporters of a number of traditons; Our newest 'tradition' was only started this year, whilst we have been keeping others for as long as anyone can remember and a bit more besides. The Hooden Horse A fugitive from East Kent, Hoodening was a winter custom probably pagan in origin linked to the winter solstice. The horse has been part of the Ravensbourne tradition since the side was formed. There are references to a horse operated by Balgowan School in Beckenham (see Our History ) appearing at Aylesford Folk Dance Festival, and later at Herne Hill in 1936. There is an excellent hoodening site here if you would like to learn more. The Mummers Play The mummers play that we perform around the local pubs at Christmas time was collected by Jeff Metcalf, a founder member of Ravensbourne, from Jack Medhurst in the village of Leigh near Tonbridge in 1953. Jack remembered performing the play in the Westerham area around the turn of the 19th century. The script of the play can be found here although to be honest if you're ever in the audience, you'll notice more than a few changes and ad-libs !! For a history of mumming and other traditional folk plays see here Boxing Day For over 40 years we have danced at The Greyhound at Keston on Boxing Day lunchtime. At Christmas time 1963, the actor Richard Chamberlain, then at the height of his fame as "Doctor Kildare", paid an incognito visit to Bromley, staying with some friends of one of our founding members, Peter Paddon. A display was organised for his especial benefit on Boxing Day in the pouring rain outside The Greyhound, to an audience of about three dozen people. The event must have been deemed a success, because the display was repeated the following year, raising the princely sum of £9 14s 11d (not far short of a working man's weekly wage in 1963!) which was donated to the Shaftesbury Society. The event has been repeated every year since, these days, the audience is somewhat larger! Mayday Morning Ravensbourne start their official dancing season each year by dancing at sunrise (5.32am) on Mayday morning at Caesar's Well,Keston Ponds, source of the River Ravensbourne. on Keston Common. This is followed by a walking tour around the village, visiting various 'friends' of the side who ply us with cups of tea and sometimes something stronger! Wassailing Wassailing (from an Olde English word apparently meaning 'good health') is a fertility rite carried out on the eve of Twelfth Night and generally involves singing, imbibing cider,shouting and libating apple trees thereby ensuring a bounteous crop later in the year. In Kent, wassailing is known as Youling and local history archives confirm that this went on around our area in the 18th century, usually in Rogation Week which is indeed around Twelfth Night. In 2008 our current squire, and self-styled Summerisle exchange student, Wobbly Dave decided to revive this custom at The Fox in Keston where he planted an apple tree in the pub garden following the loss of the previous one during a garden makeover. Bizzarely enough, it went down quite well with the bemused regulars and we've been invited back in subsequent years.