In 1998 The Mail ran a feature about Furness Morris Men and spoke to Dermot O’Connor, a 39-year-old religious education teacher at St Bernard’s Roman Catholic School, who explained how he got involved in morris dancing.

“I went to a ceilidh on St Patrick’s Day in 1994 organised by Furness Morris Men and they asked if I would like to come and see what they do,” said Mr O’Connor.

“So I did and I was dancing out within a month.”

Furness Morris Men had around 15 members, of which about 12 do the dancing.

They performed all over the country at folk festivals and fairs and also danced regularly on Friday nights between May and September at various venues in the Lake District.

“We go to places like Hawkshead Square, Bowness Pier and Ambleside, places where we are likely to get a good crowd,” said Mr O’Connor.

“I am the Squire so it’s my job to get the crowd going and explain what we are doing.”

Mr O’Connor said each Morris Man had an individual design on the back of his tunic, which depicted a notable feature of life in the Furness area.

“I have to point out the designs and explain where they are from and what they depict,” he said. “That hopefully encourages people to come to Furness.

"We go all over the Lakes and promote Furness.”

The men danced in half-hour stints, doing around six dances in each.

"The money we collect pays for our expenses and at the end of the year we give the rest to charity," said Mr O'Connor.

"Last year we had £500 and gave £100 to five charities."

He said that after the dancing they usually visited the local pub for a sing-song.

Mr O'Connor said morris dancing was good fun and a kind of exercise. "And the crack with the lads is great. It's also the history and tradition of the thing, because it's something that has been going on for centuries and it's us that keep it going."