Blecko Anders

he brought the oldest melodies into our time

Blecko Anders Olsson, also called Blickus, was born in 1831 and lived until 1922.

His profession was as a shoemaker, but it is as a fiddler that he is known. He is the man who brought the oldest melodies into our time. Blickus could be a grumpy old man. When some young fiddler approached him - or worse, one of those who insisted on transcribing his songs - he could mess them up and play them the wrong way!

The respect he enjoyed as a fiddler was great. Sometimes he appeared unannounced at a dance with his violin. Then, the fiddler who was playing usually packed his instrument and left the place to the champion.

As a shoemaker, Blickus often had to go on long hikes, not least to Hälsingland. He had the violin with him, of course, and got himself a very large repertoire that way. That is also part of the reason why many of our songs after Blickus have features of the Hälsinge dialect in them.

Fortunately, younger fiddlers like Gössa Anders got Blickus' trust and were able to bring this treasure of folk songs into the modern times.