Welcome to the implausibly famous website of Kits Coty Morris. We are a mixed morris side, with both men and women embracing a variety of ages all having an interest in morris dancing, folk music, fun and good fellowship.
Nobody really knows when or where morris dancing originated, some think it derives from moorish dancing –possibly from North Africa - and its first mention seems to have been in the 15th century. But undoubtedly both men and women will have danced together for fun, fine weather and fertility as long ago as legs were invented. Towards the end of the 19th century morris dancing was lapsing into obscurity but it enjoyed a major revival thanks to Cecil Sharp, who toured England noting down a huge number of dances – both steps and music. Various composers such as Percy Grainger, Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams did likewise, collecting a vast number of folk songs and dance tunes from throughout the land.
Various types of morris dancing enjoyed a revival and Kits Coty Morris dance in the Cotswold tradition, using bells, sticks and white handkerchiefs.
The side takes its name from Kits Coty House (known to us as ‘The Stones’) on Bluebell Hill - three standing stones and a very large capstone, which are all that remain of an ancient long barrow tomb where an important chieftain was once laid to rest, looking out over the North Downs and the Medway Valley. Our oldest member is ‘Iggy’ otherwise known as Iguanodon Mantelli (OK so the name's been changed a couple of times - but you don't want to ruin the story...), Maidstone’s own dinosaur, revived some years ago after a sleep of more than 120 million years in a nearby quarry.