Music, movement, friendship - and a slightly ridiculous amount of joy.

It is danced in country lanes, market squares, in front of pubs, at folk festivals, and on village greens. There is live music - usually fiddle, accordion or melodion. There are sticks and there are handkerchiefs. There is, almost always, a pint at the end.

Morris dancing nearly disappeared during the Industrial Revolution. It was revived in the early twentieth century by people who tracked down the last village dancers still doing it. Today there are hundreds of sides across the British Isles, each with its own kit, its own tunes, and its own way of doing things.