Long sword dance
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The long sword danceTemplate:Refn is a hilt-and-point sword dance recorded mainly in Yorkshire, England. The dances are usually performed around Christmas time.
History
Hilt-and-point sword dances, of which English long sword dance is an example, have been found across northern, western, and central Europe, with records dating from at least the fifteenth and possibly the fourteenth century.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It is unclear to what extent the existing continental European sword dance traditions influenced the English long sword dance.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In England there is little evidence about the history of sword dancing before the mid-eighteenth century.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first reference to the characteristic "lock" in England comes from 1777, and the earliest references to sword dancing in Yorkshire come from the early nineteenth century.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Cecil Sharp and other 20th Century folklorists believed that the dances originated from a religious or magical ceremony that was performed around Plough Monday to promote fertile soil;Template:Sfn later researchers have cast doubt on such findings.<ref>Ronald Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon Oxford (1999) Chapter 7</ref>
The long sword dance is related to the rapper sword dance of Northumbria, but the character is fundamentally different as it uses rigid metal or wooden swords, rather than the flexible spring steel rappers used by its northern relation.<ref name=":SS:">Template:Cite news</ref>
Location
Long sword dances are most commonly found in Yorkshire and the southern part of County Durham,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with particular concentrations of dances in East Cleveland, the northern part of the North York Moors and around Sheffield.Template:Sfn Outliers were also recorded in the East Midlands and elsewhere in Northeastern England.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Performances
Unlike many traditional dances in England, which are mainly performed by revival teams, long sword dances are often still performed by their own village teams, such as Grenoside Sword Dancers,<ref name=":SS:"/> the Goathland Plough Stots<ref name=":TG:" /> and Flamborough Sword Dancers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> These teams generally maintain the traditions of their dances, such as traditional performances on Boxing Day or Plough Monday.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Long sword dances vary in the way they are performed, with some being slow and militaristic,<ref name=":TG:">Template:Cite news</ref> such as the Grenoside or performed with pace and speed like Handsworth dances from near Sheffield. Others have different features including variations of numbers of dancers and distinctive movements.Template:Sfn
In addition to performances by traditional long sword teams in their own location, long sword teams also appear at folk festivals such as the Sidmouth Folk Festival and the Beverley Folk Festival.
Dedicated long sword festivals have also been held in the UK. The International Sword Spectacular took place in Whitby, England, in May 2004 and was held again in York in May 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Gallery
Some photographs of Grenoside Sword Dancers performing the Grenoside sword dance on Boxing Day, the traditional day the dance is performed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Long sword dancing
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Boxing Day 2005 - The Grenoside Sword Dance Captain holds aloft the sword lock before placing it around his neck
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Boxing Day 2004 - The Grenoside Sword Dance Captain is ritually "beheaded" as the dancers withdraw their swords sharply from around his neck
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The final figure in the Sword Dance
Further reading
- Rattle Up My Boys (RUMB), a print journal for those with an interest in sword dance
- Trevor Stone, Rattle Up, My Boys, 1980
Notes
References
Sources
External links
- Rattle Up, My Boys (journal archive, 1987 to present)
- Rattle Up, My Boys: The Story of Longsword Dancing - A Yorkshire Tradition original booklet (1980).
- World Millennium Sword Spectacular
- The Sword Dance Union
- Grenoside Sword Dancers
- Newcastle Kingsmen
- Bishop Gundulf's Morris
- Lingdale Primrose – archive photos, press cuttings and other material
- Star Of Swords Sword Dance