Adderbury

The tradition of Adderbury stems from the morris which was danced there, in an unbroken lineage until 1849. Details of the dances were collected by Cecil Sharp, from conversations with a former Squire called William Walton. These were recorded at the start of the Nineteenth Century, following the disbandment of the side in 1880. Janet Blunt also collected a lot of details about the dances and their music, and it was a combination of their work which lead to the tradition being revived in 1975.

Adderbury is traditionally accompanied by the Tabor and Pipe, they are primarily stick dances, but there are a few hankie dances, too.

Bledington

The Bledington area is rich in Morris history, one of the earliest recorded events being a paid performance by Morris dancers at a private house in Sherborne, 8 miles away, at Whitsun in 1711. Another recorded event took place in Churchill in 1721 just 3 miles to the north-east of Bledington when a Morris team (probably local) were paid six shillings for dancing at a Whitsun Ale. There is also evidence that sides were active in Rissington, Icomb and Milton all within 4 miles of Bledington, in the late 1700's

Bledington dances are primarily hankie dances, with just two stick dances having been recorded.

Leafield (Fieldtown)

Our present knowledge of Fieldtown comes through Henry Franklin, a member of the side then in his 20's, who spoke to Sharp when he was 81. Sharp collected 15 dances and jigs from Henry Franklin, 12 dances from George Steptoe (some of them different from Franklin's and 6 dances from Alec Franklin. From these records it is clear that dancers, families and musicians extended links throughout a number of the above sides and the emergent styles owed more to the teacher or musician than location.