|
One bright, cold December afternoon, a troupe of young men dressed in red, beribboned jackets arrived unannounced at the village of Greatham. It was Boxing Day, 1967, the beginning of the revival of an ancient tradition.
The story really starts in the May of that year, when Colin Mather having discovered Norman Peacock’s article on the Greatham dance, canvassed other members of the Cutty Wren Folk Song Club in Redcar about the possibility of staging a revival. There was an enthusiastic response, despite the almost total lack of any practical knowledge of even the rudiments of sword dancing! The ages of these new recruits to the world of sword dancing ranged from the late teens to the late twenties, coincidentally echoing the ages of Armstrong and his fellow team members when they first learned the dance. Using Peacock’s article as their ‘bible’ and the precision of the Loftus Sword Dancers as their role model they began to practise and a team was born. The team’s first musician, Dave Wood, soon left the side to take up a staff post with the English Folk Dance and Song Society and was replaced by twelve year old Robin Petch on fiddle. Robin was joined by his mother, Hetty, (always called ‘Mrs.’ Petch or ‘Mrs. P’ by the team members) who continued to play for us until 1989 having given twenty years service to the team. Mrs. Petch was then in her late seventies! It was during the early years that the basic dance tune supplied by Tom Armstrong was added to. Mrs. P supplying the ‘Dingles Regatta’ element and Ian Rodgerson, I believe, was responsible for the ‘Harry Cox’s Schottische’ section. Our uniform follows the description given by both Carpenter and Peacock, comprising red military style jackets decorated with ribbons and badges and dark blue trousers with a red stripe. The King’s jacket is black and more ornate than the others with gold braid in addition to the ribbons and badges. The first King’s jacket was a Royal Flying Corp bandsman’s jacket, which dates it to no later than the end of the First World War when the RFC became the Royal Air Force. It was used by Redcar Sword until 1991 and then replaced by a replica, as it was starting to become fragile with age. The other dancers were also fitted out with new jackets at the same time. The clowns wear an assortment of old ragged clothes and hats and the costumes can vary from year to year. Both clowns also ‘black’ their faces using the soot from a burnt cork. The Doctor is smartly attired in top hat and dinner jacket and carries a bag containing his instruments and the ‘cure’. The swords are made of steel, 39 ½ inches (1004mm) long (inclusive of a 4 ½ inches [115mm] wooden handle), 1 inch (25mm) wide with a thickness of 1/16 inch (1.5mm). The tip of the sword is slightly tapered and rounded at the end with a hole for the attachment of ribbons. Incidentally, this is something that we have never done. The same swords have been in use throughout the life of the team. Since that first Boxing Day, Redcar Sword Dancers have returned to Greatham every year on 26th December to continue the tradition, performing in the early years on the edge of the village Green itself, but by the mid 1970’s we had moved across the road to the Hospital gates. For a number of years, the performance at the Hospital gates was followed by one inside the Smith’s Arms but it was decided to discontinue this in 1999 as the pub was becoming too crowded and it was difficult to find sufficient space to dance. The spiritual home of Redcar Sword in Greatham is the Hope and Anchor - initially chosen, no doubt, because it is the first public house that you come to on entering the village from the direction of Billingham! The team meets there before going up to the gates to dance at 12 noon and returns afterwards to enjoy a good singaround. In addition to keeping the Boxing Day tradition alive, over the years we have danced Greatham at many different events both at home and abroad. Venues have ranged in grandeur from the starkness of Northallerton Gaol to the opulence of the Royal Albert Hall, London. A feature of the sword tradition in the North East of England is the dance competition. Two competitions existed until recently, Darlington and Whitby, both under the auspices of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Redcar have competed, successfully, at both venues and on one or two occasions even managed to beat a team for whom we have the greatest admiration and respect – Loftus Sword Dancers. We have also had some success in teaching other sides the Greatham dance. In 1975, Stevenage Sword invited us to give a workshop, following which both they and East Saxon Sword took up the dance. Both teams still include it in their repertoires, although there are now some discernible differences in style. An attempt was made in 1974 to train a village team following an approach from a resident, David Sandwick. Six teenagers were found who had an interest in learning the dance and a practice session took place in the Village Hall. Sadly, David died the following week at the tragically young age of 32 and in the absence of some-one else in the village to lead the project, it did not continue. Redcar Sword has been fortunate over the years in having had a fairly stable team. Four of the present side have been with the team for more than 30 years, and we are still able to call on ‘old boys’ should the need arise. One year an ‘old boy’ drove up from Dover on Boxing Day morning just to see the dance! In conclusion, I would just like to say that we have all got a great deal of pleasure over the last forty-odd years performing Greatham, and hope that we have given some! At the same time we have taken our responsibility for keeping the tradition alive seriously and tried to give it the dignity that it deserves. I hope that we have succeeded in this aim. Long may the dance continue! |