We are a Morris dancing side from the Norfolk/Suffolk border in East Anglia. Our membership includes men and women of a range of ages.
Of course we wear bells, as well as our unique Hoxon Hundred baldrics in our very own red and green colours. The emblem on our baldrics is that of St Edmund, slain in Hoxne in 870.
Using sticks and handerchieves and usually dancing in teams of six or eight, we strive to make our performances entertaining and polished, drawing on the many traditions that make up Morris dancing.
We dance at festivals, fetes, and other events across the region.
Practice is on Wednesday evenings from 7.30pm at Hoxne village hall, from September to April. From May onwards we dance out on Wednesday evenings at pubs in the Waveney Valley and surrounding areas.
Morris dancing has many variations and even the villages where Cotswold Morris has been danced often have differences between dances of the same name.
The Cotswold dances that Hoxon Hundred perform follow the steps and movements set out in a book by the late Mike Barclay, who was Cotswold foreman at Hoxon for 22 years to 2005. We are grateful to have his guidelines.
The origins of Morris dancing are lost in the mists of time. Written mentions go back to the 15th century.
In 1599 Shakespearean actor Will Kemp danced from London to Norwich after falling out with the playwright. In Kemp's book about the journey he described his dancing as a 'Morrice', seeming confident people would know what he was talking about.
Kemp danced within a few miles of Hoxne. He describes various places on his journey, recording that from Bury St Edmunds he danced up to Thetford before proceeding via Hingham to Norwich.
