Rapper Sword - History

History

Whilst substantial evidence for the origins of the rapper sword tradition do not exist, as of 2012, it is generally accepted that the dance was originally performed in the mining villages of the Northumberland and Durham coalfield in North East England, with an intensity of activity traced to Tyneside. A "hilt-and-point" sword dance also existed in Yorkshire, where rigid longswords were used, and a documented account of this dance has been located in a 1715 article in which a fairly accurate description can be read.

At some stage in the nineteenth century, the rigid swords were replaced by flexible rappers. Very little is known about this major development in the tradition, due to an absence of sufficient evidence, and it may have been entirely accidental. It is commonly thought that the flexible version was used for removing dirt from the backs of pit ponies, but, there is no available documentation to verify this theory. It seems that two factors have influenced interpretations of when the rapper sword was introduced: firstly, the relocation of a steel works operation by Alistair Crowley to the Derwent Valley, before which time it is believed that suitable steel for flexible swords would most likely have been unavailable; and secondly, the prohibitive expense of such instruments before the Bessemer process in 1855 that allowed steel to be made inexpensively.

The dance involves five people, with many including characters, such as "Tommy and Betty", who announce the dance and engage the audience. The performers are connected by short, two-handled (on one end is a fixed handle, with a swiveling handle on the other), flexible rapper swords forming an unbroken chain. The dance is related to the Long Sword dance of Yorkshire, as well as other sword dances in Europe. Some of the earliest teams used hornpipes rather than the jigs used in the modern era.