As the sun rose on May Day, a group of garishly dressed men greeted the new dawn.

It was 5.25am ... and the Little Egypt Morris Men had been dancing and playing music at a farm in Glemsford since 4.30.

Twenty dancers and six musicians made it to Broom Farm as part of the ceremony which was being mirrored in towns across the country.

Brian Stephens said: "We do it to greet the dawn and see in the new season. It also marks the point at which we swap our dark uniforms for the whites.

"It might seem a bit daft but we all really enjoy it, even if it's a bit early to be dancing in a muddy farmer's yard."
Traditional folk music rang out from the shelter of a barn as the Morris men danced in the rain.

Several ancient routines were performed before the final Dancing in the Dawn which was celebrated with 16 men clacking sticks and whirling around in a dance called the Ring O' Bells.

Sadly the sun failed to break the cloud cover, but as the group reached its finale a firework was set off by farm-owner, and ex-Morris man Peter Ford.

Squire – or leader of the Morris men – Neville Parry, inspected the Morris men in their summer uniforms, which replace the darker, so-called Horkey Gear, which they wear all winter.

Having "fined" one of them up for having no badges and another for wearing an unofficial waistcoat, it was time to retire to the Black Lion, where landlord Ian Ward, also a Morris man, had prepared breakfast.

Squire Parry praised the Morris men – who include several women – for their efforts, despite the rain.

One man, Dave Harley, even drove all the way from Belgium for the weekend to take part in the unorthodox ceremony.

FACTFILE: Little Egypt Morris Men

The Little Egypt Morris Men are said to take their name from riots which took place in 1885, during an election.

Glemsford had no polling station, so villagers trekked to Long Melford to vote ... and had a few drinks on the way.

Disorder erupted and troops were called in to help quell the uproar. Officers read the Riot Act and made a few arrests.

The soldiers, so legend had it, had recently returned from Africa and described the fierce Glemsford men as "fighting like Egyptians".