_On the tabor_ to the Worthies, and let them _dance the hay_.

_Hol._ _Most dull_, honest Dull.

The Morrice Dance, or Morris, was very popular in England and other
countries in the 16th century.

Relics of it may still be seen in country places at certain times of
the year. The very meagre celebrations of May Day, which can be seen
in London even now, are a survival of the ancient customs with which
the Morrice-Dance was always associated. Hawkins gives this account of
the Morris; "there are few country places in this kingdom where it is
not known; it is a dance of young men in their shirts, with bells at
their feet, and ribbons of various colours tied round their arms, and
slung across their shoulders. Some writers, Shakespeare in particular,
mention a Hobby-horse and a Maid Marian, as necessary in this
recreation. Sir William Temple speaks of a pamphlet in the library of
the Earl of Leicester, which gave an account of a set of
morrice-dancers in King James's reign, composed of ten men or twelve
men, for the ambiguity of his expression renders it impossible to say
which of the two numbers is meant, who went about the country: that
they danced a Maid Marian, with a tabor and pipe, and that their ages
one with another made up twelve hundred years."

[Temple's own words are quite clear--viz., that there were _ten_ men
who danced; a Maid Marian (makes eleven); and a man to play the tabor
and pipe (makes twelve).]

The name Morrice means Moorish dance, or Morisco. Perhaps it was
called so from being accompanied by the tabor, for Drums of all sorts
are distinctly Eastern instruments.

Two tunes, one a Moresca by Monteverde, 1608, and the other an English
Morris, 1650, are given in the Appendix. Also see Note on
'Orchesographie' for a Morisque.

The first of the two following passages connects the morris with May
Day; the second with Whitsuntide, which is in May as often as not.

_All's Well_ II, ii, 20.

_Countess._ Will your answer serve fit to all questions?

_Clown._ As fit as ... a pancake for Shrove Tuesday, a
_morris_ for _May-day_....

_H. 5._ II, iv, 23.

_Dauphin._ And let us do it with no show of fear;
No, with no more, than if we heard that England
Were busied with a _Whitsun morris-dance_;

The Pavan has been mentioned before, as the dance in Duple time which
preceded the Galliard which was in a triple rhythm. It was a stately
dance, with a statel