This article first appeared in Tradition Winter Solstice - 21st December 2002
reproduced by kind permission   www.traditionmagazine.com

PRETTY GRIM

By June Shaw


Picture yourself on a warm summer’s evening, wandering down to the local village pub for a quiet relaxing drink only for the calm to be shattered by yelling and general mayhem as a team of Border Morris dancers take over the car park – this was the case when I visited the Griffin at Yoxford a few weeks ago. I managed to catch up with the squire of the offending team, Jem, to discover what it was all about…

How did the team get together?

The was side first formed in 1999 from a couple of the original members of the then disbanded Black Shuck, one of the first Border sides in the Ipswich area, and members of Old Glory who dance Molly over the winter and wanted something to do in the summer. Since then, although the numbers fluctuate a bit, we now have around 14 regular dancers (both men and women), musicians and a few groupies (mainly other halves who occasionally join in).

How did you get your name?

The team discussed lots of names but couldn’t agree until Martin (our original squire) said that the team’s dancing was pretty grim and that stuck. Now we prefer to explain that the boys are pretty and the girls are grim – either way they’re accurate descriptions.

What style of dancing do you do?

The team dances in the Border style which comes from the Welsh borders, as opposed to North West or Cotswold styles. We chose this because some of the team just don’t do ‘Bells and White’ (the most commonly known features of the outfits worn by Cotswold Morris sides), North West Morris is too regimented and we enjoy the violence which Border dancing allows. We feel that Cotswold and North West styles looks best danced by men – women just don’t move in the same way, and although we don’t object to other mixed or women’s sides dancing those styles, we knew that neither of them were right for us. We feel that Border lends itself far better to a mixed side. It can be boisterous and looks more exuberant and aggressive, which is a great way for keeping fit and gives Martin (also known as Whacker as he likes to stick somewhat hard) the opportunity to break as many sticks as possible. Although we do dance some traditional dances we mainly perform new ones – this is also an attraction as there are always new dances to learn which means you don’t get stuck in a rut performing the same dances for 50 years.

Why tail coats and purple?

There are lots of Border teams with tatter coats and we wanted something a bit different. Tailcoats aren’t often used by dancers and they’re relatively easy to get hold of. The team colour started off as burgundy for shirts and trousers but, for some reason, Dylon burgundy dye tends to make things purple. But it does have the added benefit of covering up red wine stains a treat.

Why do the women wear masks and the men have black faces?

The custom of disguising yourself stems from many many years ago, dancers used to paint their faces with coal or burnt ashes from the fire so that they wouldn’t be recognized. In the case of Molly dancing, done by Plough Teams in the Fens when they weren’t in work, the dancers black up but also remain expressionless throughout their performances, again to remain unrecognised as a smile can instantly reveal a person’s identity. This meant that when the hat was passed around, nobody knew who they were and so they couldn’t be prosecuted, as begging was illegal. It’s also been attributed to the times when dancing was frowned upon by the Puritans so, again, nobody knew who you were. The tradition can also be traced back to the 17th Century when, during the Christmas period, the Lord of Misrule took to the streets, generally partying, entertaining people with singing and dancing and creating chaos in the process – a pastime that Henry VIII was known to enjoy on occasion. If suitable payment or refreshments were not received by the Lord of Misrule and his attendants, pranks would be paid on the audience. If the pranksters weren’t known, there could be no retaliation. I’d been impressed by a Border team I’d seen at a festival. They wore full facemasks with tatters on them and long tatter coats, and it was totally impossible to tell whether they were male or female. We also saw the masks used by the baddies in Lord of the Dance, which hid the identity of the people wearing them and made the dancing appear more mysterious. The men in Pretty Grim decided they wanted to be blacked up mainly so that nobody from work would recognise them and give them grief. The women started off by painting their faces with intricate patterns but as this was somewhat time-consuming they opted for masks to hide their identity. It’s also easier to get changed afterwards – there’s nothing worse that being stuck with the Ozzy Ozborne look for the next 3 days!

How did you get involved in morris dancing?

I was in a pub with a friend who mentioned something about dancing, got dragged along to a practice and to my surprise found that I quite liked it. This seems to be the case with most of the team – a few have been dancing or singing for years and gradually drifted towards Morris, but most were pulled in by friends and got hooked. It’s not just the dancing that’s great fun, it’s the social side too.

We pride ourselves on not being political and manage to avoid the problems that seem to go with many teams – we have no power struggles, everybody mucks in and does their bit. We don’t have an AGM, just a general discussion once a year to decide any major issues and get an idea of which festivals to visit. We then just discuss anything else that comes up at our regular Tuesday night practices.

The team is made up of a wide range of people from jewellers, IT professionals, and social workers to childminders and engineers, but we all seem to fit together and although there are some strong characters in the team we rarely have any disagreements – the very occasional heated discussions we do have are usually settled over a pint or five.

Tell us about the team

In the team we have Deadly Jedley (leader of the mass orchestra) on whistle vocals and occasional guitar, Bazzer the Drum (guess what he plays), Justine (also known as Tapper for her fancy footwork with English and Appalachian clog) and Steve on bodrhans, Ali on whistle and melodeon, Pip, Mo, Roger and Martin on melodeons. Many of the team can sing or play something and so an evening dancing out often winds up with a musical session inside the pub. The first love of most of the musicians is dancing so they flit between playing and dancing as the mood takes them (or depending on how exhausted we all are). There’s me (Jem) also known as Slapper – for the part in one dance which involves a considerable amount of sticking, Big Bad John – he’s big, he’s bad and he has a wickedly dry sense of humour. The list goes on…

Where do you dance?

We meet to practice on Tuesday nights in Hasketon, near Ipswich but we’re willing to dance anywhere. During the summer months we dance out at various Suffolk pubs, either on our own or together with other Morris teams. We’ve taken part in a range of festivals such as Rochester Sweeps Festival (May Day bank holiday Weekend), Sherringam Potties Festival (June), Faversham Hop Festival (September), Walton Folk Festival (July) as well as dancing at weddings, school fetes, and birthday parties. We’ve just been the entertainment for a corporate training course – aimed at giving the candidates an interactive taste of English culture by making them learn a dance. We have our own annual ‘Chill Out’ camping weekend which normally consists of very little dancing and loads of socialising, including boat trips, zip wires, pedalo races and much more. And next year, apart from the festivals, we’re planning a long weekend in Ironbridge.

We’ve just formed a spin-off team – the Grimlets (the side has several members with children who are being nurtured and trained up to perform their own dance).

How can I get involved?

Well we’re always on the look out for new dancers, especially men. Yes, we are a mixed side, but there are more women than men in the team at the moment so we could do with a few more males to balance the numbers out a bit. This doesn’t mean we’ve got a ban on more women – far from it – new members of both sexes are always welcome, especially if you’re fit (well it helps as a day of dancing can be exhausting), have some sense of rhythm and an even better sense of humour. Obviously previous Morris dancing experience is an asset, though any dancing can help. A willingness to muck in, camp in all weathers at festivals and a yearning for bacon butties at 3 am are also essential requirements. It helps if you’re pretty happy go lucky, willing to look a complete idiot in front of an audience, yet can remain calm and easy going when arrangements alter at the last minute (as they frequently do at events). Our dance-outs are definitely more than an excuse for a booze up – you need to be willing to work hard to learn the dances as we do attempt to put on a good display whenever we dance.

If you’re interested in joining us or want to book us for an event please contact Jem Worrall on 01473 403637 Email: johnworral@ntl.com or Justine Salmon on 01473 785180 email justinesalmon@yahoo.co.uk for more information.

Since the time or writing we have moved practice venues. We now meet in Otley, a few miles north of Ipswich; the membership of the team has evolved - sadly we lost Pip to cancer in 2003, some people have moved on; but others have joined, but our dancing is still pretty grim!