The Papa Stour Sword Dance, or Shetland Sword Dance, is a British linked sword dance involving seven dancers, who represent the Seven Champions of Christendom: St. James of Spain, St Denis of France, St. David of Wales, St. Patrick of Ireland, St. Anthony of Italy, St Andrew of Scotland, and St. George of England. [1] The dance originated on the island of Papa Stour in Shetland. [1]
According to popular tradition the dance was on the brink of extinction by the early 1800s, until Sir Walter Scott wrote a fictional account of it in his novel The Pirate . Scott included a description and the script of the real dance in the notes to the Magnum Opus edition of the novel. [2]
The music for the Papa Stour Sword Dance is a muckle reel mostly in quadruple meter. [3] There are multiple versions of the lyrics. [1]
An account of the Papa Stour Sword Dance is supposed to have been included in Reverend George Low's A Tour through the Islands of Orkney and Shetland around 1770. [4] In 1814 Sir Walter Scott mentioned in his diary that he had been regaled with a verbal description of the Papa Stour Sword Dance. In 1820, Scott published his novel The Pirate which included a scene of a fictional account of the Papa Stour Sword Dance performed by his protagonists. In his Magnum Opus edition of The Pirate, published in 1831, Scott wrote a description of the real sword dance, along with a script of the lyrics, calling it "A Danish or Norwegian Ballet. [1] [5] [2]
In 1822, Dr. Samuel Hibbert published his Description of the Shetland Islands in which he described the Papa Stour Sword Dance and gave a script of its lyrics with his own revisions. [1]
Alex Johnson wrote an article about the Papa Stour Sword Dance for the Shetland Times in 1926. [1]
The music for the Papa Stour Sword Dance was preserved and published by Peter Cook in Fiddle Tradition of the Shetland Isles. [3]
The dance has been revived in performance on and off since the 19th century. [1] It is currently performed by 25 members between a junior and senior team. [6]
The music for the Papa Stour Sword Dance is in the key of A major and performed usually by a solo fiddle. It is divided into two parts, a short introduction called "The Tripp", followed by the Dance Proper. [3]
The "Tripp", in quadruple meter, is used as a solo introduction for each of the dancers' pas seul. [1]
After each of the Seven Champions has been introduced, the Dance Proper begins. The Dance Proper is described as a "muckle reel" by Peter Cook. It has three sections that are played repeatedly as needed until the dance is finished. The A section is in duple meter, the B section shifts to quadruple meter, the C section to triple meter. [3]
There are different versions of the lyrics, which are spoken before each repetition of the Tripp to introduce each character. [1]
Sir Walter Scott, in his notes to the Magnum Opus edition of The Pirate, gave a script of the lyrics that he received from a Dr. James Scott. Dr. Samuel Hibbert also published an edited version of the lyrics in his book Description of the Shetland Isles. These are the versions usually referred to by performers when practicing. [1]
Scott's version of the lyrics is much longer but in both his and Hibbert's St. George introduces each of the Seven Champions and orders them to "prove their manhood" by dancing. He gives a brief description of each champion, including their country of origin and mentions one of their exploits. [5]
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels Ivanhoe (1819), Rob Roy (1817), Waverley (1814), Old Mortality (1816), The Heart of Mid-Lothian (1818), and The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), along with the narrative poems Marmion (1808) and The Lady of the Lake (1810). He had a major impact on European and American literature.
A trow is a malignant or mischievous fairy or spirit in the folkloric traditions of the Orkney and Shetland islands. Trows may be regarded as monstrous giants at times, or quite the opposite, short-statured fairies dressed in grey.
Unst is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third-largest island in Shetland after Mainland and Yell. It has an area of 46 sq mi (120 km2).
Papa Stour is one of the Shetland Islands in Scotland, with a population of under fifteen people, some of whom immigrated after an appeal for residents in the 1970s. Located to the west of mainland Shetland and with an area of 828 hectares, Papa Stour is the eighth largest island in Shetland. Erosion of the soft volcanic rocks by the sea has created an extraordinary variety of caves, stacks, arches, blowholes, and cliffs. The island and its surrounding seas harbour diverse populations of wildlife. The west side of the island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and the seas around the island are a Special Area of Conservation.
Papa Westray, also known as Papay, is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, United Kingdom. The fertile soil has long been a draw to the island.
The Northern Isles are a chain of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The climate is cool and temperate and highly influenced by the surrounding seas. There are two main island groups: Shetland and Orkney. There are a total of 36 inhabited islands, with the fertile agricultural islands of Orkney contrasting with the more rugged Shetland islands to the north, where the economy is more dependent on fishing and the oil wealth of the surrounding seas. Both archipelagos have a developing renewable energy industry. They share a common Pictish and Norse history, and were part of the Kingdom of Norway before being absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland in the 15th century. The islands played a significant naval role during the world wars of the 20th century.
The Dread Pirate Roberts is the identity assumed by several fictional characters in the novel The Princess Bride (1973) and its 1987 film adaptation. Various pirates take on the role of Roberts and use his reputation to intimidate their opponents, before retiring and secretly passing on the name to someone else.
Selkies are mythological creatures that can shapeshift between seal and human forms by removing or putting on their seal skin. They feature prominently in the oral traditions and mythology of various cultures, especially those of Celtic and Norse origin. The term “selkie” derives from the Scots word for “seal”, and is also spelled as silkies, sylkies, or selchies. Selkies are sometimes referred to as selkie folk, meaning 'seal folk'. Selkies are mainly associated with the Northern Isles of Scotland, where they are said to live as seals in the sea but shed their skin to become human on land.
The Bride of Lammermoor is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1819, one of the Waverley novels. The novel is set in the Lammermuir Hills of south-east Scotland, shortly before the Act of Union of 1707, or shortly after the Act. It tells of a tragic love affair between young Lucy Ashton and her family's enemy Edgar Ravenswood. Scott indicated the plot was based on an actual incident. The Bride of Lammermoor and A Legend of Montrose were published together anonymously as the third of Scott's Tales of My Landlord series. The story is the basis for Donizetti's 1835 opera Lucia di Lammermoor.
The Antiquary (1816), the third of the Waverley novels by Walter Scott, centres on the character of an antiquary: an amateur historian, archaeologist and collector of items of dubious antiquity. He is the eponymous character and for all practical purposes the hero, though the characters of Lovel and Isabella Wardour provide the conventional love interest. The Antiquary was Scott's own favourite of his novels, and is one of his most critically well-regarded works; H. J. C. Grierson, for example, wrote that "Not many, apart from Shakespeare, could write scenes in which truth and poetry, realism and romance, are more wonderfully presented."
Castle Dangerous (1831) was the last of Walter Scott's Waverley novels. It is part of Tales of My Landlord, 4th series, with Count Robert of Paris. The castle of the title is Douglas Castle in Lanarkshire, and the action, based on an episode in The Brus by John Barbour, is set in March 1307 against the background of the First War of Scottish Independence.
The Pirate is one of the Waverley novels by Sir Walter Scott, based roughly on the life of John Gow who features as Captain Cleveland. The setting is the southern tip of the main island of Shetland, towards the end of the 17th century, with 1689 as the likely date of the main incidents.
The Ve Skerries or Vee Skerries are a group of low skerries three miles (4.8 km) north west of Papa Stour, on the west coast of Shetland, Scotland. They define the southwest perimeter of St Magnus Bay.
The Maiden Stack or Frau Stack is a tiny stack in the western Shetland Islands to the north of Brei Holm and east of Housa Voe about 140 metres (150 yd) off Papa Stour. Reaching 7.6 metres (25 ft) above sea level the stack is the highest of several in the area and also known locally as Muckle Fru.
Hew Scott (1791–1872) was a minister of the Church of Scotland parish of Anstruther Wester. He is largely remembered as a religious researcher and author. His "magnum opus" is the comprehensive, multi-volume work, Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae: The succession of ministers in the parish churches of Scotland, from the reformation, A.D. 1560, to the present time. This is a detailed, biographical record of each of the ministers of each of the parishes of the Church of Scotland from 1560 to 1870.. It was first published between 1866 and 1871 but it is regularly updated by the Church of Scotland.
Hom Bru are a folk group from Shetland who formed in 1978. They moved to Edinburgh in 1980 and using the city as their base, toured all over Europe. In 1982 they moved back to Shetland and continue to perform regularly.
Funzie Girt is an ancient dividing wall that was erected from north to south across the island of Fetlar in Shetland, Scotland. Some sources describe it as having been built in the Neolithic, but the date of construction is not certainly known. The line of the wall, which ran for over 4 kilometres (2.5 mi), once divided the island in two almost equal sections. Also known as the Finnigirt Dyke, it has vanished in places at the southern end, although the ruins are clearly visible along much of the uninhabited north of the island, where it is a conspicuous feature of the landscape. The dyke's original purpose is not known, nor is its relationship to other archaeological sites of a similar age nearby. There are various folk tales about its construction, and it is the subject of various pieces of Shetland folk music.
St Magnus Bay is a large coastal feature in the north-west of Mainland Shetland, Scotland. Roughly circular in shape with a diameter of about 19 kilometres (12 mi), it is open to the North Atlantic Ocean to the west. The indented coastline to the north, south and east between Esha Ness in the north and the Ness of Melby in the south contains numerous bays, firths and voes and there are several islands around the perimeter. The waters of the bay are up to 165 metres (541 ft) deep and may have been the site of a substantial meteor impact.
Mummers' plays are folk plays performed by troupes of amateur actors, traditionally all male, known as mummers or guisers. Historically, mummers' plays consisted of informal groups of costumed community members that visited from house to house on various holidays. Today the term refers especially to a play in which a number of characters are called on stage, two of whom engage in a combat, the loser being revived by a doctor character. This play is sometimes found associated with a sword dance though both also exist in Britain independently.
The White Boys is the traditional mummers' play of the Isle of Man.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)