Old Father Beelzebub's Speeches
Stanton Harcourt Tradition Notes

Welcome

Origins of the Foot-Up store

The Foot-Up store of the Icknield Way Morris Men was founded in November 2004, originally to deal with requests for free information about the morris dancing tradition plus associated music, and assist with ticket sales for concerts and ceilidh's. It has also been used to support sales of material related to the activities of the Wantage Mummers.

We aim to provide products from the worlds of Morris, Folk and Mumming to our customers and supporters. Many of these sales support our charity activities.

We are keen to promote all aspects of folk traditions in our region so please feel free to look around and  Contact Us  with any questions or suggestions. 

Icknield Way Morris Men

Icknield Way Morris Men are a nationally known morris dancing side that perform at festivals, weddings, parties and shows all over the country. We are mainly found dancing in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire. We perform traditional morris dances from Oxfordshire villages. We also perform all dances recovered from the Stanton Harcourt tradition for which we are the guardians. We have many musicians and can provide all round entertainment for many occasions.

"They dance for joy. And joy represents the true spirit of England"
... quote from the Daily Mail, 3rd May 2005

We are always pleased to welcome new members.

Wantage Mummers

The Wantage Mummers play has been performed since the early seventies and is a typical mid-Berkshire/ Oxfordshire mummer’s play of the hero-combat type, based on an old tradition from the nearby village of Steventon.  Mummers Plays, or Mumming Plays, are ritualistic performances that might be well over a thousand years old. They are traditionally associated with the Christmas period (Midwinter Solstice). In other parts of the country they are performed at Easter (Pace Egging) and at All Souls Day near Samhain (Soulers).  The Wantage Mummers perform their play on Boxing Day (26th December) and are sponsored by the Icknield Way Morris Men.

The plays round off with a monologue (doggerel) from Old Father Beelzebub, who comments on the issues of the day; copies of these are offered here for sale.

'In Comes I' has recently been published and is a history of the revival of the traditional Mummers Play' from the Wantage area, containing 26 years of Old Father Beelzebub’s doggerel.

Over more than 20 years, Wantage Mummers have donated almost £30,000 to a wide range of local and national charities.

Important notice

The shop is manned by volunteers, so there may sometimes be a slight delay to deliveries but we promise a response within 2 working days!!




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50th Anniversary LeatherBadge - Icknield Way Morris Men  COLLECTORS ITEM

50th Anniversary LeatherBadge - Icknield Way Morris Men COLLECTORS ITEM

A recently discovered package of leather badges created for the 50th Anniversary of the Icknield Way..

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Lost Morris: Audio album from the English Folk Dance Project - MP3 Download

Lost Morris: Audio album from the English Folk Dance Project - MP3 Download

Cecil Sharp famously collected his first morris tunes in Oxford on Boxing Day of 1899, but it was..

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In Comes I - Forty Years of the Wantage Mummers

In Comes I - Forty Years of the Wantage Mummers

The history of the revival of the traditional Mummers' Play from the Wantage area and 26 years of ..

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Old Father Beelzebub's Speech - 2023

Old Father Beelzebub's Speech - 2023

Old Father Beelzebub's speech from The Wantage Mummers Play, performed on Tuesday, December 26th 202..

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