Here is a reminder of the Ten Commandments.
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The ten lords a-leaping most likely refers to leaping dancers who performed leaping dances between courses at feasts. This type of wild and strenuous dancing probably evolved from more ancient war and fertility dances. Such as the rituals of the early Roman priests. Roman priests, in honor of Mars, the Roman god of vegetation and war, would leap as high as they could in the air in hopes of inducing the corn to grow during the Salii ritual. It was believed that the height of their leap would be the height of the corn. Part of the costumes for these rituals included swords, which also finds its way into dances of the, Morris dancers. In Britain, the lords a-leaping are assumed to be Morris dancers, highly costumed ceremonial folk, who performed between the courses of a Christmas feast. One form of Morris dancing included swords. In this dance, ten men in two teams performed intricate patterns, ending with the swords being braided together to form a Lock or Nut above the Lord of Misrule (during the Twelfth Night Celebration). In other Morris dancing, instead of swords, antlers were worn. Unlike the nine ladies dancing in the previous stanza where the dancers appear to have been guests dancing for enjoyment, these were professional dancers brought in to entertain the guests while they dined.
Morris dancing itself was a popular form of folk dancing in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and possibly earlier. Both King Henry VIII and his daughter Queen Elizabeth I had professional Morris dance troupes perform as part of the entertainment at feasts. Many parish church records from this period show both expenses for the purchase of costumes and the bells that the dancers wore while performing as well as income from the rental of the costumes to neighboring parishes. While the royal court and other nobles would probably hire professional Morris dance troupes to perform at social functions year round, local amateur groups seem to have done most of their performances in conjunction with annual May Day and other outdoor spring festivals. Morris dancing declined following the English Civil Wars of the mid-seventeenth century which brought Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans to power with their dislike and banning of any type of frivolity such as singing and dancing. The twentieth century brought a revival of the Morris and other folk dancing traditions in the UK and other parts of the world including the U.S. Today there are local Morris dance troupes and competitions in the UK as well as other parts of the world.
Adding spice to your life,
Lia
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Nine Ladies Dancing . . .
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Eight Maids a-Milking . . .
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Seven Swans a-Swimming . . .
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Six Geese a-Laying . . .
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Five Golden Rings . . .
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Four Colly Birds . . .
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Three French Hens . . .
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Two Turtle Doves . . .
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, A Partridge in a Pear Tree . . .
