About Molly Dancing and Pig Dyke Molly

What is Molly?

The Molly Dancers 'ould come round the fen from Ramsey and Walton all dressed up. One would have a fiddle and another a dulcimer or perhaps a concertina and play while the rest danced. This were really special for Christmas Eve, but o' course the dancers cou'n't be everywhere at once on one day, so they used to go about on any other special day to make up for it. They'd go from pub to pub, and when they'd finished there, they'd go to any houses or cottages where they stood a chance o' getting anything. If we ha'n't got any money to give 'em, at least they never went away without getting a hot drink.

Sybil Marshall was writing about her mother's memories of Ramsey Heights in the 1890's, in her book 'Fenland Chronicle'.

The local press was not enthusiastic:

A quantity of wild bucolic dances was executed in the street to the enchanting accompaniment of a hurdy-gurdy and a badly tuned fiddle, whilst passers-by were attacked mercilessly for coppers...
(Cambridge Chronicle and University Journal, 14 January 1865)

Molly dancing is from the Cambridgeshire Fens - last recorded in 1934 at Little Downham, near Ely. It was about entertainment in an area and at a time which saw little of it. It was about a challenge to the 'normal' rules: the Molly is a man dancing in women's clothes (in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, London had its "Molly houses" where homosexual men met to drink, dance (!), flirt, dress as women and... enjoy themselves). It happened in midwinter - especially Plough Monday (see the Whittlesey Straw Bear for a revived similar celebration). It was a cadging custom, to extract money, or a drink. Its dancers wore disguise such as painted faces, goggles, animal heads.

It lay almost forgotten for sixty years... then there was Pig Dyke Molly (and one or two other groups...)

This Article about Pig Dyke Molly (PDF) by Jane Lobb appeared on 6 December 2007 in The Northants Evening Telegraph

Pig Dyke and its Molly

Pig Dyke

Pig Dyke Molly (named after a drainage ditch) has been performing since the early 1990s. Our aim is to take the essence of Molly, shake it by the scruff of its neck, and present it in a way that entertains 21st century audiences.

Colour hasn't reached the fens yet so we dance in startling black and white. We dance with vigour, enthusiasm, enjoyment (ours and we hope yours) and a confidence you will respond. We tell tales of the fens as they were and as they almost were - tales that embrace the woman-eating cats of Ramsey Heights, the pocket sundials of Pondersbridge and the inevitable taxis that await us all.

We used to dance in midwinter only but global warming has changed all that and we perform throughout the year. Globalisation has exported Molly to Greek islands, to southern France, to New York and to St Patrick's Day parade in Sligo.

We are proud to aspire to be an equal opportunity group, and our ages span sixty five years. We welcome all who want to be part of our community. We will brighten your day in a monochrome sort of way and we look forward to performing for you.

Two Pig Dyke Dancers Download, print and enjoy the Pig Dyke FAQ Quiz (PDF)