Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday

21st April 1926 was the day when Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, the Queen Elizabeth II, was born. Actually, at the time of her birth, nobody would think she will become the Queen of the country. There was a great deal of public interest when news came through that the Duke and Duchess of York had become a proud parents of  a baby daughter. 

Her uncle, Edward, became the King after the death of George V, but he abdicated very soon. On 10th December 1936, Princess Elizabeth of York was with her sister, Margaret, in their London home, 145 Piccadilly, when she became aware of people shouting for her father outside. Her father was away and her mother was ill in bed. Finally, she went to ask a footman the reason for the commotion. He replied that her beloved uncle, Edward VIII, had abdicated and her father was king.

Morris Dancing

The morris dances of the Cotswold, Borders and North-West are all ritual not social dances and, as such, were traditionally performed only by men. Their origins are obscure and their association with fertility debatable, but some features do suggest a relationship with the courtly dances of medieval Europe. Sword dances, and even mumming plays, are also often considered as being part of 'the morris'.

Villages once had their own morris 'sides' and style of dancing, whose secrets were passed down from father to son. The loss of so many men in World War I broke this continuity but, fortunately, most dances were rescued by dedicated collectors before they faded into oblivion. Since then, there has been a great revival of interest in the morris and, today, there are male, female and mixed morris sides throughout the country, performing dances from all these areas and not just on high days and holidays.