Pagan morris?

While on tour last weekend, I overheard a morris man (who shall be unnamed) telling a local newspaper reporter that morris dancing was 'pre-christian'. I always thought it was definitely not pre-christian. I'm not sure anyone knows for sure, but here are a few examples of people not knowing for sure, gathered from aroud the web.

"morris was once thought that the name derived from "morisca", a Spanish word meaning 'moorish dance or play', and that Morris Dancing was brought to British shores from the Mediterranean during the 15th Century. But the origins of the Morris Dance are now believed to be much more ancient - thousands, rather than hundreds, of years old."

"Morris dancing first appears in written history in the mid fifteenth century, as a courtly dance performed by the well-to-do."

"Researchers largely believe that it began in Spain in the 12th century as a performance to celebrate the liberation of Spain from Moslem occupation, hence the term 'Moorish Dancing'. It became popular in the royal courts of Europe and eventually arrived in England as a courtly entertainment in the late 14th century. Eventually it fell out of fashion in Royal circles but was taken up in the 15th and 16th, centuries by civic authorities who included Morris dances in their processions and pageants."

"There probably was nothing called "morris dancing" in England much earlier than the 15th century. Around then, a form of dance typically called by names like "moreys daunce" was imported from somewhere in Europe as court entertainment; this may have been the dance form (or one of several dance forms?) going by names like "morisco" on the continent. "

"The origins of Morris dancing have been lost in history, but prevalent opinion is that Morris is based pre-Christian fertility or luck bringing ceremonies. Over time, these 'pagan' dances were assimilated by the church (first the Catholic, then the Protestant) and by the1500s Morris was being performed for Easter, May Day and other parish feasts to help rise funds for the local church. "

"Morris dancing is a form of ritual folkdance that comes from the Cotswold region in western England, between Oxford and the Welsh border."

"It is felt that the dances have a magic power and serve both to bring luck and to ward of evil."

You get the picture. I suspect that a lot of morris men (especially border dancers) encourage the pagan fertility dance idea. I don't suppose anyone knows. But morris dancers, when in kit, are not the people they are in normal life. But that's probably the beer. Lords of misrule, rule.