Pretty Grim Morris dancers - melodeon player

Image: © Evelyn Simak Taken: 14 Sep 2019

Performing at Norwich today, together with 23 other groups at different locations in the city is this Morris dancing group, or side, called Pretty Grim. In England, melodeon is the term used for all button-keyed diatonic accordions, whereas in Ireland and Scotland the term is more specific to the one row 10-keyed variety. Irish players call a two-row melodeon a button accordeon, reserving the word melodeon for the single row instrument which seems to be used in competitions rather than general playing. Pretty Grim > https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6266091 are based in Blaxhall, Suffolk. Formed in November 1999, Pretty Grim comprises a mixture of experienced dancers and new faces. The group is a traditional dance side performing in the Welsh Border tradition. Welsh Border Morris Dancing hails from the border between England and Wales, from villages in the counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. Many traditional dances were collected by Cecil Sharp in the early twentieth century, and the tradition was revived in the 1960s and 70s, and has grow in popularity ever since. The style is characterised by tatter jackets (jackets or waistcoats with strips of fabric sewn on), stick-clashing and black or covered faces.

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