Hobby horse
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In folklore, a hobby horse is a costumed character that features in some traditional seasonal customs, processions and similar observances around the world. In England, they are particularly associate
Painting of a hobby horse with Morris dancers beside the River Thames at Richmond, London; detail of Thames at Richmond, with the Old Royal Palace, c. 1620 (Fitzwilliam Museum, unknown artist)
The Old 'Oss capturing a young woman during the May Day festival at Padstow, Cornwall
Minehead Hobby Horse
Some modern dance sides have reinterpreted the hobby horse: this hooden horse is a zebra
Morris dance
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Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers in costume, usually wearing bell pads on their shins,
Hobby horse
…processions and similar observances around the world. In England, they are particularly associated with May Day celebrations, mummers' plays and the Morris dance. The word hobby is glossed by the OED as "a small or middle-sized horse; an ambling or pacing horse; a pony". The word is attested in English from the…
Morris dancers with handkerchiefs in York
One of Erasmus Grasser's small Moriskentänzer statues from 1480, showing what would have been termed a "moorish" dancer, where seven of the other nine surviving carvings are fairer-skinned. All wear bells on their legs.
Illustration of William Kempe, Morris dancing from London to Norwich in 1600