Les Bouffons (Buffons) performed by Leominster Morris for Priory 900

Les Bouffons is a 16th C dance evoking the spirit of young men clowning about probably intoxicated...not at all like modern Morris dancing. The dance was first described in Thoinot Arbeau's "Orchésographie".  It's a matachine dance, meaning it involves mock sword combat.  The dance as originally described was performed by four dancers dressed in gilded cardboard armor, with bucklers and swords. It's thought to be a predecessor of the sticking type of Morris dancing practiced by today's dancers. Leominster Morris perform the dance as part of the celebration of 900 years of the life of the magnificent Leominster Priory.