About Us
We are Stone the Crows Border Morris. We are based in Leyland, Lancashire. Border Morris is a dance tradition which traces its origins to the English / Welsh border counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire.
Many of the dances we perform are traditional and come from towns / villages such as Upton-upon-Severn and Much Wenlock. We’ve also created some of our own dances and we share / exchange dances with other Border Morris teams.
As regards Stone the Crows‘ history – the content below was written by our Foreperson, Linda Sever. It was originally published in the Morris Federation Newspaper in 2025. The picture was taken at the Windmill in Lytham St Annes where we organised a dance-out with friends as part of our 30th birthday celebrations in May 2024.
It is 1994. The first National Lottery is launched, the first episode of “Vicar of Dibley” was aired and Wet Wet Wet’s “Love is All Around” is the best-selling single in the music charts.
Somewhere in the depths of Lancashire a group of people came together to form a Border Morris side. They wanted to try something different from the North West Morris style they all practised.
After much deliberating over the name, someone suggested a connection to pirates. Figures of Eight and Shiver Mi Timbers were quicky dismissed. How about Stone the Crows? Perfect!
It was quickly decided that the kit would be all black, top hats with crows feathers and black tattered jackets shaped like crows wings and tails. Stone the Crows Border Morris was born.
After their first performances and articles in local newspapers, the side slowly started to grow. An important addition came in the form of Murray Riggs, who had moved from Devon to Preston and, having danced with Grimspound, brought quite a few dances with him, including Tinners Rabbit, which is still the staple dance we teach to audiences at every dance out.
Murray also wrote quite a few of our now signature dances and for many years was the side’s foreman. Our then Squire was Brent Platt, famous for his huge white beard and sporting a long black wig. He really made an impact on audiences — and also made a great Santa Claus in our annual Mummers plays. Although no longer dancing, Murray and Brent still turn up regularly to watch the current side’s performances.
Over the years, we have appeared at many folk festivals, including Shrewsbury, where we were voted the stewards’ favourite side, as well as Gate to Southwell, Shepley, Chippenham, Sidmouth, Upton and Rebellion punk festival in Blackpool.
Our many exploits have involved dancing with an inflatable sausage at a black pudding festival and with Chewbacca, as well as at the more traditional dancing up the sun on May Day and down on the Summer and Winter Solstices. We have also appeared in music videos and short films. Oh yes, and the Preston Guild in 2012, whose procession nearly killed most of us.
An EFDSS magazine article stated “Stone the Crows are able to entertain the crowds without resorting to pantomime”.
In 2015, as part of our 21st Birthday celebrations, we attempted and succeeded in entering the Guinness Book of World Records for the most Morris dancers dancing one dance at the same time. Hundreds of people turned up to Preston Flag market to watch us become record-breakers.
2024 was our 30th Birthday. No record -breaking attempts this time. We decided to hold a day of dance for all our local friends and dance sides in Lytham, on the Fylde coast in May.
It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day. Eight local sides joined us: Newburgh, Malkin, Fylde Coast, Singleton, Amounderness, Lancashire Wallopers, 400 Roses, and Regency Rejigged. We had an excellent day, dancing along the sea front and in the town square, ending with all sides coming together at the Mussel Palace, a large outdoor space overlooking the beach and sea.
We all then made our way to Lytham Ex-servicemen’s club for lots (and lots) of cake, in fact we had that many Crows birthday cakes they had to be taken away and put into people’s freezers.
Our second birthday celebration was the weekend of 6th-8th September. We had received a paid booking to dance at a newly-formed festival at Halkyn Castle woods in North Wales, so decided to combine that with a camping weekend. We stayed at the beautiful Wernog Wood, near Ruthin, which provided us with glamping facilities as well as space for camper vans and tents.
On Friday evening, we held a 1970s event, dressing up and making dishes from that era, even though some of the side were not born or just born in that decade. The TV Themes quiz was an experience, as was the playing of Seventies games such as Kerplunk. And yes, we had more cake, along with what was left over from the May birthday event.
Saturday brought glorious sunshine and we had a great day dancing. Many festival attendees had never seen Border Morris before so loads of photos and videos were taken and they participated in Tinners Rabbit with much enthusiasm. The campsite owners provided a lovely meal for us all in the evening.
Sunday was another matter as, due to the teeming rain, we couldn’t dance. So, instead, we hung around and ate even more cake, plus requiring everyone to take cake home with them.
As we enter into autumn and practice season, we are lucky to have a solid group of dancers and musicians who turn up for practices and dance-outs on a regular basis.
There are none of the original founder members in the side anymore, but we do have some longstanding members of over 20 years. We have sadly lost a number of members, including John, Gill, Steve, Keith, Julie and Mark. We take time out every year to honour their memories.
Stone the Crows is, in my opinion, unique. Our dancing and performances cross over into many areas beyond the traditional Morris world, whilst maintaining the traditional look and style of dancing. People who have never seen Morris dancing live before are often spurred on to find out more about Morris dancing and even to join a side. Let us raise a glass to another 30 years, even though many of us, including myself, will not be with us or be too old to dance by then. We look forward to celebrating our 40th in 2034. But wait, we have the next Preston Guild to prepare for in 2032. Thank goodness it is only every 20 years. At least we won’t have to make cake for it.