Colourful guys in skirts...

[Mouse]

Over the weekend, Mrs Mouse pointed me at a picture of a long time friend of ours who was dancing at this years "WHITTLESEA STRAW BEAR FESTIVAL" https://strawbear.org.uk Whittlesea being a small market town in the Cambridgeshire Fens about 40 miles from where I live.

So looking at said picture, there he was, in a multicoloured outfit including a skirt. Turns out he is part of a molly dancing group called the Gog Magog Molly. https://gogmagogmolly.org.uk



So what you may ask is Molly Dancing?

Google AI has....

Molly dancing is a vigorous, earthy English folk dance from East Anglia, traditionally performed by men (often cross-dressing as women, hence "Molly") in winter, especially around Plough Monday, to collect money with a rough, humorous, and sometimes boisterous style, involving blacked faces, bells, and ribbons, revitalised today by modern revival teams focusing on creativity and community.

So why am I bringing this to your attention? I just thought it was interesting that a normal accepted part of English culture, involved men in colourful skirts. Also interesting is that Mrs Mouse thought to point it out to me. If nothing else, it puts the average Mouse outfit into some sort of perspective.

I think it also shows that there is so much crazy stuff going on in the UK, which maybe contributes to why we can skirt with nobody paying much attention.

[Barleymower]

Fantastic! It had not escaped me that quite a few of our number heralded from the east anglia part of the UK

I don't like the term "crossdrsser" but I have no problem with Molly. Maybe because crossdresser sounds like an illness but Molly sounds fun, like the dancers

[STEVIE]

I don't like the term "crossdrsser" but I have no problem with Molly.

Check the usage BM, "Molly" as applied to a male was no term of endearment, worse than tranny or crossdresser nowadays for sure.
The wearing of alternative clothes in this context is in the same line as panto, twelfth night and halloween etc.
All good fun and a great excuse for a guy to wear a dress.
After all, any excuse has to be better than none.
Steve.

[SatinDea]

Great to know that the UK is keeping the world balanced with its traditions. Thanks Mouse

[robehickman]

A lot of the people in gogmagog are also involved with the contra dance community / other kinds of folk dance, like other morris groups, they can be seen at many folk events around the country. 'Men wearing women's clothing' has been a thing in folk traditions for a long time. However I see gogmagog's style as costuming rather than 'crossdressing'.

[Barleymower]

I don't like the term "crossdrsser" but I have no problem with Molly.

Check the usage BM, "Molly" as applied to a male was no term of endearment, worse than tranny or crossdresser nowadays for sure.
The wearing of alternative clothes in this context is in the same line as panto, twelfth night and halloween etc.
All good fun and a great excuse for a guy to wear a dress.
After all, any excuse has to be better than none.
Steve.

Oh yes I should have said Steve. The term Molly has a long history such as Molly houses to a Moll to Molly (MDMA). Still I don't mind.

[timemeddler]

Good to know of one more dance where men wear skirts.

[familyman34]

My “local” Molly Dancers are Old Glory.

Their home page, https://old-glory.org.uk/ quotes: "Dance macabre: Suffolk troupe revives rural tradition of the menacing Molly. Looking sinister is essential. Not for nothing are they called ‘Morris dancers with menace’.” - The Guardian

I’m hoping to attend their final event of the 2025-26 winter - A celebration of Imbolc at the Locks Inn, Geldeston on Saturday 31st January.

[Mouse]

My “local” Molly Dancers are Old Glory.
I’m hoping to attend their final event of the 2025-26 winter - A celebration of Imbolc at the Locks Inn, Geldeston on Saturday 31st January.

It appears from their events page that they were also at the "WHITTLESEA STRAW BEAR FESTIVAL" where we started the thread! Many thanks for the link.

[familyman34]

My “local” Molly Dancers are Old Glory.
I’m hoping to attend their final event of the 2025-26 winter - A celebration of Imbolc at the Locks Inn, Geldeston on Saturday 31st January.

It appears from their events page that they were also at the "WHITTLESEA STRAW BEAR FESTIVAL" where we started the thread! Many thanks for the link.

I’ve only seen them once before, about ten years ago, also at the Locks Inn (OpenStreetMap geo:52.46415,1.51789?z=15), but it was an experience - pitch-black night, flaming torches, highly atmospheric simple repetitive drum-based music and these stern, expressionless men stamping out their complex routines on the crunching gravel, dressed in farm labourers' garb from the 1930s and heavy hob-nailed boots … and then they disappeared back into the darkness.

Much ale was consumed when they came back later.

I do hope that I’ll be able to be there next Saturday!

[Mouse]

.....Much ale was consumed when they came back later.
.....
I do hope that I’ll be able to be there next Saturday!

I hope the ale is flowing and you have a great night.