Kemps Nine Daies Wonder: Performed in a Daunce from London to Norwich

In Short

This brief Elizabethan chronicle recounts the actor William Kemp’s remarkable nine-day morris dance from London to Norwich in 1600. Traveling over a hundred miles through mud, snow, and dense crowds, Kemp transforms a physical challenge into an engaging public performance. Written to defend his reputation against cheap ballad-mongers and setting the record straight on his adventures, the text offers a vibrant slice of Renaissance social history. Its enduring appeal lies in its infectious humor, vivid historical detail, and first-person glimpse into early English theatrical culture.

The Story

The narrative opens as William Kemp sets out from the northeastern suburbs of London, surrounded by thousands of cheering onlookers. Striking out past Mile-End to Stratford Bow, he dances to the beat of his taborer’s pipe while carefully refusing the heavy drinking pressed upon him by eager well-wishers. As he moves through Essex, he encounters obstacles both physical and social, from muddy, hole-ridden roads to two fighting horses whose flailing hooves he narrowly escapes. In Chelmsford, the enthusiasm of the crowds grows so overwhelming that he must lock himself inside an inn to rest, speaking to the throngs from a window. There, he also accepts a dance challenge from a spirited fourteen-year-old girl, who keeps pace with him in a large room for a full hour before tiring.

Moving onward through Suffolk, Kemp faces wretched roads, sinking up to his waist in mire through thick woods. Yet the journey is brightened by hospitality and eccentric companions. A local fool belonging to a gentleman named Master Colts joins him to dance a full mile, while a wealthy, hospitable widow named Everet hosts him alongside dozens of local gentry. Upon arriving at Bury St. Edmunds, the sheer size of the crowd gathered to gape at Kemp actually diverts the townsfolk away from the Lord Chief Justice, who happens to be entering through another gate at the very same time.

Snowstorms force Kemp to rest for several days in Bury before he makes a swift, ten-mile sprint over the open heath to Thetford in just three hours. As he nears his final destination, local youths line the roads to offer conflicting directions, eager to guide the famous dancer through their own villages. Arriving outside Norwich, Kemp pauses to avoid a dangerous stampede of eager spectators, riding a gelding into the city first to give the local authorities time to prepare. The Mayor of Norwich, Master Weild, and the city officials welcome him warmly, postponing his final dance through the city to the following Saturday so that knights, gentlemen, and their families can gather. When Kemp finally performs his grand finale through Norwich, he is showered with gifts, including a sum of forty shillings yearly for life and a freedom in the merchant venturers. He closes his account by addressing the false rumors spread by profit-driven ballad-makers and demanding payment from those who bet against his success.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins Setting off from London toward Stratford Bow, Kemp navigates dense crowds of well-wishers and politely declines endless offers of alcohol to preserve his health for the road ahead.

Dangers on the road Passing through Essex by moonlight, Kemp narrowly avoids injury when two fighting horses rear their forefeet directly over his head like smiths working over an anvil.

Testing endurance and skill In Chelmsford, after retreating from exhausting crowds, Kemp matches steps with an energetic fourteen-year-old girl who morris-dances alongside him for an entire hour.

Battling the elements Advancing through deep mud and snowy tracks toward Bury St. Edmunds, Kemp scales hazardous, waterlogged roads and dances a mile with a nobleman's house fool.

Triumphant arrival Kemp reaches Norwich, where the Mayor and city leaders organize a delayed grand entry, granting him lifelong annuities and civic honors while Kemp uses his written pamphlet to denounce slanderous ballad-singers.

The People

• William Kemp: A famous comic actor, clown, and dancer who undertakes a nine-day morris dance from London to Norwich. Driven by a desire for fame, profit, and harmless mirth, he faces brutal weather and hazardous roads while trying to maintain his sobriety and stamina amidst wildly enthusiastic crowds.
• Thomas Slye (Tom the Tabrer): Kemp’s dedicated musician who accompanies the journey on pipe and tabor. His relentless rhythm sets the pace, striking the alarum whenever Kemp needs to start dancing again across the English countryside.
• Master Weild: The Mayor of Norwich who receives Kemp into the city. Wanting to ensure the surrounding gentry and their families can witness the spectacle safely, he organizes a formal reception and rewards Kemp with a yearly pension of forty shillings and a civic honor.
• Widow Everet: A rich, polite, and hospitable yeoman’s widow living near Clare who hosts Kemp and over thirty local gentlemen, providing a plentiful feast that gives the weary dancer much-needed rest.

In Its Own Voice

"Farwell, Congruitie, for I meane now to be more concise, and stand upon eeuener bases; but I must neither stand nor sit, the Tabrer strikes alarum."

Kemp lightheartedly dismisses high-sounding vocabulary in favor of hitting the road the moment his musician begins to play.

"I had the heauiest way that euer mad Morrice-dancer trod; yet, With hey and ho, through thicke and thin, The hobby horse quite forgotten, I follow'd, as I did begin, Although the way were rotten."

Struggling through deep mud and waterlogged lanes, Kemp maintains his light spirits with a rhyming verse as he pushes forward.

"Its good being merry, my masters, but in a meane, and al my mirths, (meane though they be) haue bin and euer shal be imploi'd to the delight of my royal Mistris..."

Reflecting on his journey, Kemp defends the honest intentions behind his antics against false rumors spread by sensational street ballads.

What It's Really About

Behind its lighthearted surface, the text explores the nature of celebrity and public spectacle in Elizabethan England. Kemp’s journey exposes the sharp divide between formal cultural institutions and the vibrant, untamed world of popular entertainment. By documenting his physically demanding stunt in print, Kemp seeks to control his own public narrative, wrestling authority back from opportunistic street poets who profit from sensationalized lies. The work also highlights the strength of local communities, showing how a shared celebration can briefly bring together commoners, country fools, wealthy widows, and civic elites in a collective moment of harmless joy.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in Shakespearean drama, early modern social history, or eccentric travelogues will find this brief account delightful. It offers a rare, first-hand look at Elizabethan popular culture away from the formal playhouses of London, captured through the energetic voice of one of the era's most famous comic performers. While the archaic spelling and regional 17th-century references require a bit of patience, the narrative moves at a brisk, infectious pace. What lingers long after reading is the sheer warmth of the encounters—a world where an entire town abandons the Lord Chief Justice just to watch a clown dance through the snow.