King John's Morris Men perform Cotswold, North West and Border morris and a mummers' play in and around Southampton, and often further afield, and are actively seeking new members.

We meet every week for practice between September and April and dance out a suitable venue, usually on a Thursday evening, between May and August, beside various other events.

Please see the Events page for details of where you will be able to see us in 2012. We also usually sing and play after we have danced on a Thursday evening; the Mumming page will have details of where our mummers' play will appear this year, when the programme has been arranged.

We held music and song sessions at a pub in or near Southampton on the last Friday in the month from September 2011 through until March 2012, and intend to repeat these from September 2012 - all are welcome to come, listen and participate. Please the Events page for further information.

After dancing at the Bargate at dawn on 1st May, we will recommence our Thursday evening dancing at various pubs from the 10th May with the South Western Arms - see the Events page for details.

About Us

We dance at various venues throughout the year (see the Events page), performing a number of styles of Morris appropriate to the season and venue. In the spring and summer, we perform Morris in the style of the southern midlands of England, often referred to as "Cotswold" Morris.

At suitable venues, we also perform dances from Lancashire and Cheshire, often referred to as North West Morris, a more regimented style, danced in clogs. Around Christmas we perform dances from the Welsh borders and also mummers plays based on those collected in Hampshire.

We have danced at numerous events in England and abroad, including various fetes, days of dance, festivals at Sidmouth, Whitby, Towersey, Bromyard, in France and at Babylon. After the Babylon trip, the Morris Ring's Overseas Bagman was heard to wonder "how did they get return tickets ... ?"

We always welcome new members - no experience is necessary - please see the Contacts page to get in touch with us.

Our practices are on Mondays, between September and April, excepting bank holidays, from 20:00 as follows:

at the St. Denys Community Centre, Priory Road, Southampton SO17 2JZ

(OS grid: SU430135; Lat: 50.920089, Long: -1.388882)

we usually practise our North West morris on the first Monday in the month and Cotswold (and Border, in season) on the other Mondays. Please check with the Bagman before making a journey.

Contacts