The knee bells toll for Scotland's solitary troupe of morris dancers

The jingle of knee bells and thwack of pig bladders threaten to be silenced in Scotland because the only troupe of English morris dancers in the country faces a recruitment crisis.

The Banchory Morrismen, who have performed in the Aberdeen area for almost 30 years, are even considering recruiting women to their traditionally all-male team.

"There's a limit as to how far most Scotsmen are willing to go to make a fool of themselves," admitted Neil Bayfield, a founder member of the squad. "People think, incorrectly, that morris dancing is an English folk tradition but it did used to be very popular in Scotland in the Middle Ages. It can be traced back to the times of the Crusades in the 12th or 13th century."

The Banchory Morrismen have 10 active members, aged between 29 and 70, of whom only two are Scots. "We really need more men or we might die," said Mr Bayfield, 59. "We would like four or five but two or three would be good."

The team fears this summer could be the group's last as a traditional all-male dance team.

"If we can't find any men willing to join we will have to invite women to join which could lead to some more of the men leaving because they feel they don't want to break from the historical tradition on which the group was formed,'' he said.