MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE OF THE COXBENCH LONGSWORD DANCE

Thomas Ratcliffe, Coxbench MSS original Ann Cockburn,10 Gorse H111, Ravenshead, Nottingham (Page headed - Christmas Day in Derbyshire - circa 1895)

"Guisers and Sword Dancing

These went about the village in the week or the week after Christmas with St. George Owd Hos Derby Tup and the sword dancers wore quaintly dressed coats becked with ribbons & bits of bright cloth sewed on, in black shoes which made no sound except when brought down with a smack, small bells on bottoms of trousers. Pipe or flute [quiet] fiddle and always a jigging tune, wooden swords or made of shiny iron.. The dance always ended by the seven dancers so engaging their swords that the whole was held by the leader above his head then the seven dancers each took his own sword by the hilt and at one pull disengaged them." Manuscript.

-Sword dancing saw some changes in my own time; for I have a recollection of the men who came round as sword dancers beginning by laying the swords cross bladed on the ground and dancing in and out before beginning their hand play in the air. Yet it is rather a puzzle to me when locking back wards, for I cannot reconcile what I read with my own faint memories or my more distinct ones. (Notts Guardian 21st February 1914).

The last time I remember seeing a sword dance performance was in the year 1851. Hearing the skirl of a fiddle I and all our village ran to the doors and saw a fiddler at the head of six men dressed in conical tall hats, ribbons streaming from hats shoulders and knees, and the fiddler was on a simple melody to which the six other dancers stepped or danced. They stopped and formed a ring, the fiddler outside.

They danced round in a circle three or four times and then , at a signal from the fiddler, each man brought his foot down with a smack and the music went on at a quicker pace, the fiddler playing the same tune.

About four changes took place in the dancing to quicker music and then came the last in which three sets of swords were put on the ground crossed, one set at the apex of the other in a line, and the leader danced right up the row, footing it in each angle, while the rest kept stepping to the music. Then the other five followed the leader and it ended with the usual stamp. The last item reminded one of the hop-scotch but without the pot "scotch". Is not this children's game a relic of the sword dance.

{Notts Guardian 10th September 1920)

Sword Dancers

It is near Christmas so let me keep the Xmas spirit a going. Once on a fine frosty morning the sound of a fiddle and a sort of raffle on a keffle drum brought us to the door. It was in Christmas week and we found seven men on the road, one playing the fiddle and the other six rigged out in gay coloured dress with streamers on head and shoulders and knees. Each man had a tin or some other metal and they capered about snapping and beating leather breeches which accounted for the snapping. They made a sort of frame on the ground and began to dance holding swords on high, clashing there next door they put them on the ground and dance over and through first by one the leader and then by all. It looked to me like the game of "hopscotch" for they danced into squares, crosses and triangles. It last six or seven minutes and ended with all the swords crossed in a bunch and one carried the lot round and at last with a stamp of the feet each man took his own sword. The men also came again in summer. I was told they were sword dancers from Codnor.

(The Derbyshire Advertiser, 28th December 1923

For many years, the Guisers or Mummers came to my fathers house at Coxbench, near Derby with the play of St. George. These were about a dozen in number dressed in fantastic style, some half soldiers with ribbons and streamers on conical hats at the shoulders and other parts of their dress and three of the guisers had blacked faces and they were called Betsy Beelzebub, Devil Dowt and one called the Fool and they were dressed in more fantastic fashion than the others and the soldiers were played often by the same actor with different names and the Devil Dowt and the Fool each had a bladder at the end of a short stick a loud knock at the front door and a shout through the keyhole announced the guisers the voice (shouting) saying "Dow you'r want 't guisers" then the troupe crowd inside and Betsy Belzebub came forward flourishing the bladder and began the play as follows:

Text of the Coxbench Longsword Dance

Betsy Belzebub - Black Face Fool - Black Face and Bladder

Devil Dowt-Black Face & Money Box Turkish Knight

Father Christmas-a soldier Bold Bonaparte-a soldier

Noble Slasher Noble Captain-Black Face and Leader

Venture In-a soldier St George- a soldier

Doctor Prince Paradine-a soldier

Betsy In come I Betsy Belzebub

On my shoulder I carry a club

In my hand a dripping pan

Don't you think I'm a jolly Woman

Fool (swinging a bladder to make room)

A room, a room to sport

Stir up the fire and make a light

To see how many act tonight

For in this place St George hold shout

Make room and let our actors come

We are the merry actors from the street

Let Venture In come and clear the way

Venture In I 'ope the door I'm Venture In

I hope some favour for to win

Whether I rise or whether I fall

I'll do my best to please you all

Saint George is here and swears that he'll come in

And if he does I know he'll pierce any skin

Father Christmas In come I Father Christmas

If welcome I am or welcome not

I hope Old Father Christmas will never be forget

St George In come I St George

The man of courage bold

With my good sword and spear

I won ten crowns in gold

I fought the fiery dragon

And gave him up to slaughter

And by rude means I won

The King of Egypt's daughter

Boneyparte (next fights with St Gerge)

In comes I Bold Boneparte

I'll cut and slay with all my heart

A thousand give at every station

I'll fight King George and all his nation

St George I'll fix a shot upon the ground

And lay him there with dreadful wound

Now see what I have done

I've laid him low this warring son

If he rise again with courage bold

I'll quickly make his hot blood run cold

Enter Slasher I am a noble soldier and Slasher is my name

With sword and buckler by my side

Hope to win this game

And for to fight with me I sure think not able

With my broad sword I'll soon thee disable

St George Disable it lies not in my honour

With my shiny sword and spear I will thee devour

Stand off Slasher let no more be said

For if I draw my sword I'm sure to break thy head

As I came from Egypt my journey to complete

From savage Moors I rest and three I slew (Exit Slasher)

Prince Paradine I am the Prince of Paradine being of high renown

And I can fetch St George's courage down

If thou be liar my words I will make good

And from thy body run thy precious blood

St George Stand off thou black treacherous dog

Or by my sword thou'll die

I'll make thy body full of holes

And make thy buttons fly

Prince Paradine Draw out thy sword and play

Pull out thy purse and pay

For I will have a recompense

Before I'll go away

Noble Captain In comes I the Noble Captain

And Valiant Soldier is my name

Now let us play the game

Fool Enters Alas alas my noble son is slain

What shall I do to bring him up again

He lies here before you all

and only wants a doctor.

A doctor! Ten pounds for a doctor

St George The Noble Slasher's dead and gone

No more of him you'll see

His body's dead his blood is shed

What will become of me

Is there a doctor neat and good

Who with his hands can stop the blood

Ten pounds for a doctor

Doctor Here I am who can I cure

I'm not some shark doctor I can do good

Blue one's I've got golden drops

I put a drop on his lip see him rise again

Fool Are you a doctor?

Doctor Yes. That you may plainly see by my activity

Fool Well! What's your fee to cure this fallen man?

Doctor Ten pounds, yet if thou'st an honest man

I only ask five off thee

Fool Well how far have you travelled

Doctor To M'aly, Pitely, Germany, France and Spain

Then to Old England once again

Fool And no further

Doctor Yes! From fireside, upstairs and into bed

Fool What can you cure?

Doctor The itch, the hitch, the palsy and the gout

If a man holds nineteen devils I can drive twenty out

I've crutches for lame ducks

Glasses for pigs, tressles for broke back mice

Here Slasher take a drop out of my bottle

Let it run down thy throttle

Rise up Slasher and fight again

Slasher(rises up) O my back, my back is wounded

My heart confounded

I'm knocked from seven senses into four score

The like never seen in Old England before

Hark! I hear the trumpet sound

That calls me from this bloody ground

Farewell St George! I can no longer stay.

Devil Dowt with money box

Here come I Devil Dowt

Money I want to put in this clout

Money I want, money I have

If you dont give me money

I'll sweep you all to the grave

In come I that hasn't been before

I have a big head and very little wit

As my head is so large and wit so small

We'll dance you a dance to please you all

Home Page