Reference
This part of the site provides a a reference section with more detailed information about the rapper sword dance and its history.
The history of rapper page provides a comprehensive overview of the origins and history of the rapper sword dance, including the social context out of which it developed.
The traditional sides section describes some of the traditional village sides where the dance developed during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Notations of some of these dances are provided in the notations section.
The bibliography page provides a set of references for further reading, and the online archive provides some of the archive material in HTML and PDF formats.
The related traditions section has pages describing the related linked sword dances found elsewhere in the Brisith Isles and in various European countries. A profile of the forgotten but great Czech ethnographer and sword dance researcher František Pospíšil has just been added.
There are also pages on the North of England Musical Tournament and the Cowen Trophy.
Some pages have just been added to discuss the calling-on songs used to introduce rapper dances, including pages with the full text of some traditional calling-on songs from Earsdon (including an older song), High Spen and Winlaton
