FTX-329 - BRASS NUTS

North Yorkshire Village Dances

George TREMAIN (melodeon). Here is one-row melodeon playing by the musician of the North Skelton Sword Dancers, Cleveland, North Yorkshire. An ironstone miner, he talks about the melodeon, the origins of the Sword Dance and plays the music for the dance. He also plays ten of the most popular of those he played locally for Village Dances.

1. BRASS NUTS (The Grand Old Duke of York) - 0.52

2. KENDAL GHYLL (Off she goes/Mulberry Bush/ Oyster Girl) - 1.15

3. THE TRIUMPH - 1.16

4. OLD TOWLER (for the dance: Huntsman's Chorus) - 1.34

5. SPEED THE PLOUGH - 1.26

6. THE NEW RIGGED SHIP (adapted from Goathland version) - 1.31

7. CORN RIGS (as previous) - 1.04

8. MAZURKA WALTZ - 0.32

9. TWO STEP SELECTION - 2.59

10. SOLDIER'S JOY - 0.40

11. Talk about himself, the Long Sword Dance, its distribution, competition & arguments, supposed origin as execution for a sheep-stealer, different from Scottish, the figures, the melodeon, in the old days 10 buttons was enough, his father, working in mines, grey ironstone that finishes up as steel, playing melodeon without his father knowing etc - 8.32

THE NORTH SKELTON DANCE:-

12. MARCH ON - 0.34

13. Figs 1 & 3 (The Lass o Dallogill) - 0.50

14. Figs 2 & 5 (The Oyster Girl) - 0.50

15. Fif 4 (The Keel Row) - 0.51

16. MARCH OFF - 0.33

This recording was made by Peter Kennedy at North Skelton, 2nd April 1953. Edited by Peter Kennedy and first published on Folktrax cassettes 1980.

As a youngster, Peter was loaned a melodeon by George Tremain, given a tune to learn ("We won't come home till morning") and told to report back to him the same day with the tune ready to perform. In this way Peter became one of his first pupils and the first to make melodeon records of English Folk Dances for the Gramophone Company and the BBC after the Second World War.

The full-length accompaniment for the dance is provided by Peter on melodeon on FTX-111 where there is also an actuality recording of a similar long sword dance from the neighbouring village of Loftus played by their musician, Arthur Marshall. The NORTH SKELTON SWORD DANCE, with the music, was noted down by Peter's father, Douglas Kennedy, and published by The English Folk Dance Society in 1927.

It should be pointed out that until the English Folk Dance Revival by Cecil Sharp the performers were not formerly called "Sword Dancers" but "Plough Stots", or even "Morris Dancers". They came out on Plough Monday and performed a ritual "Mummers- type" play, touring the local farms and villages. They took with them a plough, drawn by the Stots, and, if a farmer refused to give them food, drink or money, they would plough up his front lawn or "jag" up his front doorstep or hearthstone.

In times past the Stots would act as fools and play all kinds of practical jokes on the householders, such as climbing in the windows, raking out the fire or clambering up on the roof and pouring water down the chimney. In the old days, since the fire was kept burning all the year round, it would be considered very bad luck if it was extinguished in this manner.