10 July 2011 - Farningham

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Bonny Green Garters
14 of 14

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Kettle Bridge were delighted to be invited back for another year by Greenwich Morris Men to share their Day of Dance at "The Lion" in Farningham. Like last year, we enjoyed a day of excellent weather.

Also appearing were

  • Hands Around who are a women's Cotswold side from Basildon in Essex.
  • Invicta Morris who are from Sevenoaks and were the first women’s Cotswold Morris side in Kent.

The dancing area this time was much better than last year and there were thankfully no tree-related incidents. Perhaps more importantly, the service in the bar was noticeably improved so there was not so much of a wait for a drink!

For the morning stand, Kettle Bridge performed Annie's, Aughton and KBC Processional, taking turns with the other sides, as normal. All the dancing was much appreciated by the diners and drinkers that were visiting the pub.

Soon it was time for a break and a welcome opportunity for a refreshing drink and a bite to eat.

The excellent dancing continued in the afternoon. Kettle Bridge performed Manx, Marston and Cossington. As a finale, Greenwich organised an all-in Bonny Green Garters which was hugely enjoyed by all the dancers especially the Kettle Bridge participants who were "playing away" for once.

I have been doing some research into Bonny Green and dug up a variety of lyrics. The most common are -

Here's to the ladies, we love them so well,
Though some are regular tartars.
Here's to their stockings, and here's to their shoes,
And here's to their bonny green garters.

Could be Kettle Bridge's theme tune! Perhaps bloomers and clogs rather than stockings and shoes, though. The KBC dancers also somewhat bizarrely seem to wear their garters on their arms.

Mind you, I did find some racier alternative words involving the removal of underwear. Good taste prevents me from reproducing them here. There is also a retaliatory version apparently that the ladies can sing to the men.

Here's to the fellers, they're ugly as hell,
It's hard to stifle our laughter.
They whisper sweet nothings and jingle our bells,
But we know bloody well what they're after!

To finish off, may we convey our thanks to Greenwich for inviting us to share their day and for the other sides for making the day so special.

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