A bit about Us
|
Pebworth Morris Men are a men's morris side based in the Vale of Evesham.
"Vale of Evesham" was included in our official title at some point in the 80's to further indicate where we come from. The Vale of Evesham is situated in the county of Worcestershire in England. Click here to see A bit of History Pebworth Morris Men were founded in the spring of 1979 by Kevin McLeish and Peter Harrison. They had been encouraged and taught by Ilmington Morris Men, a very unselfish gesture on Ilmington’s part considering the proximity of Pebworth to Ilmington. The original side were formed at The Masons Arms pub in Pebworth and practiced on Sunday mornings at The Windmill (then the site of a local haulage firm). The side first performed in public on 16th June 1979 to mark the 25th anniversary of Pebworth Village Hall. The line-up on the day consisted of: Musicians: Edwin Hall (Piano Accordion), Rob McLeish (Drum) Dancers: Kev McLeish, Peter Harrison, Robin Bowen, Tony Smith, Geoffrey Bennet, Brian Hay, Michael Jeffrey. Kit The kit has varied over the years. Originally the baldricks were blue and gold. The red was added soon after to distinguish the Pebworth side from Ilmington. The dancers wore straw hats until a gust of wind blew several across a road and under a passing lorry (that was the end of that!). Arm bands were added in the 80’s after a brief flirtation with rosettes (they kept falling off). The general kit now consists of: White shirt, black breeches, white knee length socks, Blue Red and Gold Baldrick, blue red and gold armbands, black trainers or shoes, white handkerchiefs. The Squire is distinguished by a formal hat, top hat in the past, bowler hat at present. The Fool wears a smock and a straw hat. The Foreman wears a smile or frown depending on the quality of the dancing. The Bagman wears the biggest smile in an attempt to conceal the stress. Musicians wear various things that allow them to distance themselves from the rabble of dancers should it become necessary. Dancing Pebworth Morris’s dancing has never been simple to classify. A Cotswold side would probably think of us as Border, but a Border side would say we are “Cotswoldy”. The reality is we are neither Cotswold or Border but a hybrid of the two, “robust” being a word that well describes our performance. This style has evolved since the side was formed according to the mixture of traditions danced. The original dances learnt were Cotswold tradition, yet dances such as Upton Stick have been part of our repertoire for as long as most of the side can remember. Each dance learnt from a recognised tradition has been subject to our own interpretation and moulded to fit the way we like to perform. The learnt dances do however retain their core ingredients and are instantly recognisable to other sides. Click here to see our dance listing The Pebworth Tradition? Doesn’t exist (as such). It is generally recognised that in morris terms, in order for something to be a tradition it has to have ceased at some point in time to later be revived. At the very least it ought to have been around for a good 100 years, have been written down, debated, discussed, argued over and performed entirely differently by a number of different sides. Hence we simply have “The Pebworth Dances” that are unique to Pebworth as they have been devised by and kept within the side. The origins of these dances are varied and owe a lot to different influences at different times. “The Windmill” was the first dance put together by Pebworth. The dance is based on very simple and standard Cotswold movements which were at the core of the dances first learnt by the side. “Marston Camp” (The Fourman) was devised at a time when Lichfield’s Ring O’ Bells was part of the regular set and some of the movements can be attributed to that tradition. The two man jig “Froggin in Friday Street” was inspired by the leap-frogging exploits of Adlington and Sherbourne as witnessed by Pebworth in the late 1980’s. Music The original musical force behind Pebworth’s style of dancing was the Piano Accordion. Edwin Hall our first musician played a beast of an instrument (honestly, it was bloody heavy!). The broad and deep sound produced by Edwin had a significant effect on the way in which Pebworth interpreted Cotswold dances. This is partly why dances such as Black Joke and Shooting are performed more forcefully and less delicately by Pebworth than by other sides.* After Edwin passed away, the mantle of principal musician was taken up by Kevin on the melodeon. Over the years we have had fiddles, mandolins, pipes, mouth organs and various percussive devices adding to the overall sound. The current musicians are Kevin on Melodeon, Peter on Piano Accordion and Ken also on Melodeon. Various members of the side will also play a drum if,,,, a) there is one to hand and b) there are enough of us out. * another reason might be that we couldn’t be bothered with the fancy / difficult bits. Ben The side “mascot” is Ben. Ben has had a colourful life since he was born in the mid 80’s. He has been assisted by various friends over the years but his soul-mate is undoubtedly Geoff “they seem to be of one mind and purpose”. Ben’s own page is coming soon. Events Over the years Pebworth Morris have travelled all over the UK to perform at a variety of dancing events. Past highlights include Scarborough Fayre, Upton Folk Festival and smaller scale weekends of dance hosted by other sides such as Slubbing Billy's, Palatine Clog Morris and Bobbins & Reelers. Other highlights include our cultural exchanges with Dreux in France and Melsungen in Germany as members of Evesham Twinning Association. 2003 saw our first trip to Madrid organised by Mick. We had such a good time we resolved to return in 2004 to see if we could remember the place! |