For hundreds of years Englishmen have donned colourful dress, hitched bells to their knees and danced around waving handkerchiefs in celebration of ancient and half-forgotten rites.  Now, even as Squires across the land summon their dancers to prepare for revels in car parks, shopping centres and market squares, the morris men of England face extinction because the younger generation regards it as rather embarrassing.The Morris Ring, which represents 200 troupes, issued a dire warning yesterday that morris dancing could die out within two decades.

Tim Sexton, 57, Squire and Fool of the Chipping Campden Morris Men, introduced his son, Paddy, to the side.“I joined in 1981 and when my son Paddy came along we thought it would be a good idea to dress him up. At the age of 4 we had him pulling a cart at the Scuttlebrooke Festival.

“Paddy is quite a traditionalist, he has a British flag above his bed and he’s interested in British history. This feeling of Englishness, a lot of people mock it. A lot of people will mock morris dancers, but I say to them: ‘You try it, see how long you last’. It’s far more vigorous than a lot of people realise.”