Summary: Vol. 31 Issue 3
Editor: Jeff Lawson
Published: August 2024

Table of contents

• Summer Dancing
• Peter Bearon: 27 January 1984- 25 June 2024
• A surprising discovery about the Escrick
  longsword dance
• Editorial

Editorial

I’m writing this editorial after returning from Whitby Folk Week and the Saddleworth Rushcart. The Goathland Plough Stots set up a women’s side some years ago, after eight or nine decades of being men only, and have gradually become a mixed team, as have many other longsword sides. The Saddleworth Rushcart has until the last few years been determinedly a men’s event, this year there were a lot of women’s and mixed teams dancing and pulling the cart. This all makes Kevin Holland’s research into the Escrick dance so interesting. He hasn’t yet established if the Hutton sisters performed publicly nor if they were learning in a girl’s or mixed side. Going to the effort of learning a dance sufficiently well to be able to teach it 35 or so years later does seem pointless if they were not performing. Evidence, either way, may be difficult to find but it would be interesting to know.

Totally irrelevant to anything, I don’t usually use photographs of heys, pousettes and rolls. I often feel they are unfocussed, movement is the essence of these figures and the snapshot in time just shows a random distribution of people. Contrary to my normal practice there are lots of them in this issue taken at the lots of excellent events that have featured longsword this summer.

Peter Bearon has contributed to Rattle Up My Boys for over 25 years. He has danced and played and on a personal note entertained me at beer festivals over the years—a great loss.

The Longsword Tournament will be held in Northallerton on Saturday 2nd November. I’m told the plans are proceeding smoothly and it is going to be a good event, more details can be found in the last issue. All has gone very quiet about the Sword Dance Union AGM which may or, more likely, may not happen at the same time. Even without the AGM the Tournament will be a fun event and I urge teams and audience to plan to be there.