Abingdon and Headington have some of the oldest dance sides in England, writes CHRIS KOENIG

Perhaps it is the growth of English nationalism that we have to thank for the increase in popularity of English folk songs and dances - as opposed to Irish, Welsh, or Scottish ones.

Certain it is, in any case, that from the late 17th century until the early 20th, when Cecil Sharp began recording tunes and steps at Headington Quarry, there were more Morris dancers in Oxfordshire than anywhere else.

He spent Christmas of 1899 at Sandfield Cottage, London Road, Headington, home of his mother-in-law, Mrs Burch. On Boxing Day he met William Kimber, an employee of Knowles the builders, who called at the house to discuss some forthcoming building work. They talked about Morris dancing, since Mr Kimber was a leading member of the Headington Quarry side, which, shortly afterwards, he brought round to perform outside the cottage.

So began Cecil Sharp's lifelong interest in English folklore, which, many now maintain, saved some tunes for posterity that would otherwise have disappeared forever. He believed, by the way, that the term Morris derived from the word "moorish" (or morisco) and that the dances had a pagan past.

Morris men over the centuries have seen terrific swings in popularity. In Puritan times they were subjected not only to ridicule but actual persecution. The Royalists, however, encouraged them. The 17th-century historian Anthony à Wood noted that in May 1646 "some six or seven country fellows with napkins and scarfs, and ribbons tyed about them . . . fell a dansing and capering".

Be that as it may, Morris dances were in the late 19th century in decline, the subject of much ridicule, derision, and even snobbery, with many literate people looking down on rural working-class traditions.

Sadly, at the same time, dancing became of increasing financial importance to some workers, as enclosures of land lessened their independence and their earnings from agriculture.

Ironically, though, some troupes, who danced mainly in the comparatively slack farming month of June -from Whitsun onwards - were kept alive by landowners' patronage.

The dances also suffered because many of the occasions on which they occurred, such as May Day or Whitsun, traditionally involved getting drunk - a habit that the higher classes discouraged, at any rate among workers.

In Cecil Sharp's day, as now, the main Morris dancing centres were at Headington Quarry, Bampton and Abingdon - though, of course, Abingdon was, until 1974, part of Berkshire.

Christine Bloxham notes in her book Mayday to Mummers (The Wychwood Press, 2002) that the Berkshire style of dancing differs from the Cotswold Morris found in Oxfordshire in that it is set to a distinctive regular beat and the dancers use high leg movements. Abingdon Morris men believed that the higher they jumped the higher the corn would grow.

Abingdon Morris men have the distinction of some of the earliest records. Churchwardens' accounts at St Helen's church of 1560 refer to them. They also maintain stoutly that they have the right to call themselves Royal Morris, having been given the privilege after dancing before Henry VIII, Victoria, and, indeed, the present Queen when she visited the town in 1956.

The dancers perform in Ock Street, Abingdon, on the nearest Saturday to June 19 during the Mock Mayor celebrations, held in the town since at least 1700.

In Bampton the dancing season really gets under way at Whitsun, usually in early June, the day on which the Holy Spirit (in the form of a White, or Whit, light) came upon the apostles.