Morris dancing is a very old form of ritual dancing that comes from England. Its roots are lost in antiquity, though there are records of Morris Dancing from as early as 1458. "Morris" is believed to have derived from "Moorish", as the dancers were thought to resemble the Moors, who occupied Spain in the Middle Ages. Morris dancing is traditionally performed to promote fertility and good fortune.

There are several forms of Morris dancing, associated with different regions in England. The wild, unruly style of the Not For Joes comes from the English counties near the Welsh border, hence it's called "Welsh Border Morris". It is very much a blue-collar, working man's tradition.

Most of what we know of the Welsh Border Morris dancing tradition comes from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when it was particularly popular in that region. In those years it was not uncommon to find Morris dancers performing in the streets of their villages on Boxing Day, the English "working man's Christmas". They danced their way from house to house and pub to pub, passing the hat to bring in a little money to brighten the holidays.

The Morris dancers blackened their faces with burned cork and wore old jackets decorated with brightly colored rags, a necessary economy as they weren't well-to-do. The dancers of Much Wenlock decorated their clothes with strips of paper, but had to abandon this practice because mischevous lads would set them alight.