The 'merry' Morrismen/Order of Greensleeves

The parade was over and I was going to head off to St. Paul's for the beginning of my roommate's birthday festivities, when I came upon this little band. I forget where this particular group of Morrismen came from, but I had heard of them. It's kind of like British folk dancing, but the origin stories are many. But they do these dances in England and Wales - I don' t know about Scotland.









Apparently they are also called 'mummers', but being from the States that meant something different to me. The Morrismen did several dances: one with sticks, one with handkerchiefs (I wrote in my journal, 'that was the most feminine display of masculinity I had ever seen!') and then the last one with swords.










And then the coolest part! At the end of the sword dance they put all their swords together and made a star of David! I knew the British pastime of debauchery and drunkenness (I guess those are pretty much the same thing huh?) was just a ruse - they truly are 'Israelites in hiding'!