The dance was last performed Christmas 1926. It was usually performed at Christmas but during the Depression it was danced at other times as well. The dance was taught to the team by a man who came over from the White Elephant (an area to the north of Bedlington). There had been another team in the village prior to the Great War but they performed a different dance. All the dancers were from the Muldouan family with occasional help from their close friends. Their mother occasionally danced an Irish jig. The team had come across other teams from Amble, Ashington, Bedlington Station, and Newbiggin. They also knew of a team from Earsdon. If they met another team whilst out dancing an informal dancing competition was held; the winner was decided by the acclamation of the crowd and the prize, was the total "bag" that both teams had collected; but usually ended with a quarrel and fighting.
The 5 dancers wore white shirts, with a bow tie, knee length pit hoggers dyed green, ribbons (mainly red and fairly long) hanging down from the knee; off white woollen stockings, and clogs with irons on them. (They normally wore clogs, outdoors and down the pit at that time)
There were two Bettys; the Man Betty wore a top hat and a black coat (very posh), the Female Betty wore a skirt, a green shawl, and a hat with a veil over a ginger moustache. Once when their usual Betty was not available they had a Betty from Ashington. They could not understand why he kept disappearing to the "Netties". So one of them went and secretly watched him, to find that he was creaming off most of the take into a long bag hanging down inside his skirt. So they took the money off him, and made him walk home without a penny.
The rappers were made from old pit saw blades and manufactured (unofficially) in the pit workshops. They were about 24in long and had swivel handles at one end. The other end was wrapped over with canvas and bound with string. Luke said that if we removed the fixed wooden handles of our rappers (Standard EFDSS pattern 26in. long) and wrapped the ends as described they would be about right. The rappers were marked by each dancer at both the ends he held so that he could see which handles to grab after the nut had been raised and lowered.
At various times they danced to the accordion, fiddle, pipes, and piano, but felt that the pipes and fiddle were too quiet, and preferred the accordion. (Note: The instrument referred to was with two rows of mother-of-pearl buttons on the melody side 8 buttons on the other side usually now called a melodeon to distinguish it from' the piano-accordion.)
If they went inside a pub the accordion player usually sat down at the piano and played for them. The tunes played included: 'Jack's the Lad', 'The Washerwife', 'Blackthorn Stick', 'Rollicking Irishman', 'Cock of the North' and 'Irish Whiskey'. There was a song with the dance sung by the Bettys but this was only occasi6nally used, i.e. only when the dance was started from a stationary position usually indoors. Nobody could remember the words of the tune but Peter said it had something about them being Pitmen from Bedlington. I played them the tune of the Old Earsdon Song:-They didn't recognise it. I played them the tune to the High Spen Song and they instantly recognised the tune and said that theirs was similar to that. They assured me that I could buy the words to the 'Sword Dancers Song' from the Music Stall in Newcastle Market. (I tried this but found that I couldn't)
The village of Bedlington has a very
wide main street. Looking down; the road in the middle is flanked on the
left hand side by a green slope up to a wide pavement and frequent pubs,
or clubs in between the houses, the right hand side is similar but with
less green and fewer pubs. At the top end of the street on a road running
at right angles to the main street is the Red Lion, a large pub but with
only a small pavement in front of it. The dance was normally done in a
processional form down and up the main street of Bedlington; doing a few
Nuts on the pavement outside each pub, and then dancing on to the next.
They usually ended up at the top end of the village at the Red Lion where
they danced inside the pub. They also danced at Ashington, Blyth
and Morpeth, and in aid of the "Sally Army Soup Kitchen.
Bedlington Index