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[Thrupenny Bit]

Swoon... 

[Tone Dumb Greg]

Greg, you may well be right. I would think though, as articulate as Kimber was, C# allowed him to become known and be a celebrity.
I'm not sure that would have happened without the catalyst of C#, but who knows.....
Q

My point is that the perpetuation of the morris did not not come from celebrity. Quite the opposite. Celebrity nearly killed it.
Mr Sharp had the narrowest of narrow view points, which could easily have resulted in the demise of everything except his favoured forms of morris and morris practice.

Look at the vigour of what what survived in other parts of the country. This wasn't Sharp's doing and it happened without the need for fame.

Anyway, back to melodeons...

[Julian S]

And did Cecil ever express any opinions regarding melodeons ? I can make some guesses !

J

[Jesse Smith]

This is such an interesting thread! I would agree that Cecil Sharp probably was instrumental at preserving morris and English country dance, but clearly at the same time he ossified it in an unnatural way and overlaid many of his own personal biases or interpretations on the material. I think one of the Brass Monkey CDs keeps going on in the liner notes about Sharp's "bizarre editorial choices" (such as naming the "Radstock Jig" when it clearly is not a jig).

Of course once you introduce the pursuit of a wholesome hobby in the name of tradition the dynamic shifts dramatically and the nipping off to the pub with your mates becomes a noble pursuit.

Ah, but was morris dance considered a wholesome hobby back then? My very first exposure to morris dancing was in an old 1971 episode of "Doctor Who" in which a country village's morris side (played by Headington Quarry!) surround the Doctor on the village green while dancing "Young Collins", trap him with their sticks, and tie him to the maypole to the strains of "The Black Joke". It did seem like there was a predisposition to considering them a bit shifty at the time!

[Helena Handcart]

My very first exposure to morris dancing was in an old 1971 episode of "Doctor Who" in which a country village's morris side (played by Headington Quarry!) surround the Doctor on the village green while dancing "Young Collins", trap him with their sticks, and tie him to the maypole to the strains of "The Black Joke". It did seem like there was a predisposition to considering them a bit shifty at the time!

Mine?  The year would have been about 1977. I was in the beer garden of the Rose and Crown pub in Cotgrave, Nottingham. My Dad was inside the pub and I was sitting there with my bottle of coke with a straw and a packet of salt'n'shake. The morris men (probably Dolphin or Sherwood Foresters given the geography) were dancing in the beer garden.  One of the villagers, sitting on a low wall, said something along the lines of 'I think these bloody morris men are a bunch of (insert homophobic term of your choice here)'.  One of the lead morris men turned to his heckler and punched him square on the nose, knocking him backwards off the wall on which he was sitting. Five year old Nellie put down her crisps to watch.

[Eshed]

My very first exposure to morris dancing was in an old 1971 episode of "Doctor Who" in which a country village's morris side (played by Headington Quarry!) surround the Doctor on the village green while dancing "Young Collins", trap him with their sticks, and tie him to the maypole to the strains of "The Black Joke". It did seem like there was a predisposition to considering them a bit shifty at the time!

For me it was mentions in Pratchett's books (which weren't very informative) and the endless quips in Red Dwarf. The latter definitely made me prejudiced.

[Roger Hare]

My very first exposure to morris dancing was...

...at the Village Pump Folk Dance and Song Club at a huge pub (The Bell?) on the Binley Road(?) in Coventry
in the '69-'70 academic year. It was a rapper side - I can still remember the buzz I got when they did that
business with the interlocked swords. It was also an interesting juxtaposition of 'ritual' and 'social' dance...

The second was Abingdon on May Day  in '71.

I didn't realise it at the time, but those two outings were quite a contrast.

[Thrupenny Bit]

Devon County Show 1976.
I remember saying it was good to see but something I'd never do. In just over a year I joined a side and have never escaped. Never wanted to...
Q

[Graham Spencer]

My very first exposure to morris dancing was...

...at the Village Pump Folk Dance and Song Club at a huge pub (The Bell?) on the Binley Road(?) in Coventry
in the '69-'70 academic year. It was a rapper side - I can still remember the buzz I got when they did that
business with the interlocked swords. It was also an interesting juxtaposition of 'ritual' and 'social' dance...

The second was Abingdon on May Day  in '71.

I didn't realise it at the time, but those two outings were quite a contrast.

The Bull's Head, Binley Road, run (the club, that is, not the pub!) by Jim Brannnigan. In 69/70 there would have been two choices of rapper side in the West Midlands - Green Man or Wayfarers. It would probably have been us (Wayfarers) as we had quite close ties with The Village Pump. If so, I'm glad we were able to inspire you!

Graham

[Tone Dumb Greg]

For me it was mentions in Pratchett's books (which weren't very informative) and the endless quips in Red Dwarf. The latter definitely made me prejudiced.

  The first time I ever danced morris was doing the Stick and Bucket dance in performances of Mr Pratchet's Lord's and Ladies, under the tutalage of one Ivor Read, the, then, Squire of Trigg Morrismen. Topical comment alert (well, nearly): I just discovered that they have become a mixed side and are inviting ladies to join. The times they really are a changing.

My first exposure was probably by the Two Ronnies

[Chris Ryall]

Superb programme. It explored tradition, sociology, history, and quite frankly a few modern social trends pretty bravely, well shot, and a personal journey too!

Personal journey: I joined Sallyport sword at 27, to watch the team fall apart in front of me (all happy again now). Switched to Newcastle MM, and slowly moved to musicanship after age 33 when my wife bought me 1st melodeon (my attempts at concertina was torturing both wife, and cat)!  Career then took me to Wirral and joining Mersey Morris … a lot of instant friends. Isn't that what it's all about?

[Ray H]

Having read the various comments and opinions on this this thread I settled down this evening  to watch the program with some trepidation and was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was in fact a lovely example of serious TV journalism dealing carefully with a tricky subject and at the same time entertaining and possibly educating the audience. A follow up in three or four years time would be very interesting.

[Roger Hare]

The Bull's Head, Binley Road...

Thanks. I wasn't sure I'd got the pub name correct! A great club - I first saw Finbar and Eddie Furey there too...