1930 | Traditional Northumbrian Sword Dance [RESTORED VIDEO/AUDIO]

This video exists for educational purposes. The audio, which was poor in the original footage, has been significantly restored. The film has been artificially colorized and edited to remove outtakes and repeats.


This dance, performed mostly by miners in the Northeast of England, is known as the "Rapper Sword Dance" after the flexible swords which may have been used for removing dirt from the backs of pit ponies. The dance has been performed for at least 300 years. The musician in this video is playing a jig on an Anglo concertina.

The rights to this video belong to the British Pathé YouTube channel, who originally uploaded it here:    • Miner Dancers (1930)  
This video will not be monitised in any way.

Here are some other videos of the sword dance (silent videos from 1925/6) uploaded by British Pathé:
   • Miner Dancers (1925)  
   • Miner Dancers (1926)  
   • Cuts / Out Takes For Miner Dancers In G 13...  


Support this channel on Patreon: https://patreon.com/TheFolkRevivalPro...