Scottish sword dances
Ancient Highland war dances performed around crossed swords.
The Scottish sword dances are ancient war dances performed with crossed weapons on the ground, most famously the gillie callum or Highland sword dance. These dances are among the best known of all Highland dances, with performance recorded in Scotland from as early as the 15th century. Related customs appear in the Morris dance of England and Wales, as well as in Austria, Germany, Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Romania.
Quick Facts
- Earliest recorded performance
- 15th century
- Earliest written reference
- Scotichronicon, compiled in the 1440s by Walter Bower
- Traditional weapon types
- Lochaber axe
- broadsword
- targe and dirk
- flail
- Basic sword arrangement
- Crossed in an X or + shape
Facts from the source article.
History of the Scottish sword dance
The Scottish sword dance, known as Gille Chaluim, has a legendary origin story involving a figure named Gillidh Callum, who was said to be Noah's bagpiper. According to this apocryphal folk belief, when Noah first tasted fermented wine, he crossed two vines and danced over them while Gillidh Callum played the bagpipes, creating the dance's ancestor. Other theories offer different beginnings. One claims King Malcolm III killed a rival chieftain and celebrated by dancing over the swords of both men. Another holds that the dance was performed before battle; if the dancer's foot touched a sword, it was a bad omen predicting defeat. Recognized as a war dance with ceremonial importance in the Scottish royal court, it was part of the Highland Games, where kings and clan chiefs used the event to select their best warriors. The dance’s discipline showcased a man’s strength, stamina, and agility. The basic rule involves crossing two swords on the ground in an X or plus sign shape, with the dancer moving around and within the four sections. Bagpipe music traditionally accompanies the performance. The earliest known reference to such dances in Scotland comes from the Scotichronicon, compiled by Walter Bower in the 1440s. It describes a procession at Jedburgh on 14 October 1285, during the marriage of Alexander III and Yolande de Dreux. Skilled musicians playing various pipe music, including bagpipes, led the way, followed by performers executing an intricate war-dance with weaving steps. At the rear came a ghostlike figure that seemed to glide rather than walk, and when it appeared about to vanish, the entire procession suddenly stopped, the song and music ceased, and the dancers froze.
Types of sword dance
The old Skye dancing song Buailidh mi thu anns a' cheann may indicate some form of weapon play to music, as breaking the head was the winning blow in cudgelling matches throughout Britain. C. N. McIntyre North describes a clockwise-moving Sword Dance in his 1880 Book of the Club of True Highlanders, with nine steps, the first beating rhythm in time with the tune Gillie Calliun. A combative sword dance called the Highland Dirk Dance still exists, often linked to dances called Macinorsair, the Broad Sword Exercise, or the Bruicheath, performed in duelling form or as a solo routine.
Tradition in Highland Regiments
Highland Regiments have preserved the traditional dance with some changes. A soldier arranges two crossed swords and dances a choreographed series of steps between and around them to bagpipe music, keeping his back straight, arms raised, and hands posed. The dance can be performed by more than one individual, with a long tradition of exhibition and competitive dancing using additional crossed swords and dancers. This style became integral to bagpipe band performances. The crossed weapons are not limited to basket-hilted broadswords; dancing around crossed Lochaber axes is mentioned as an older version. The Broadsword indicated the basket-hilted sword worn by Highland Regiment officers, sometimes miscalled the claymore. The original Broadswords Dance described in MacLellan's book has steps—four strathspey and one quick-time—and drill for marching on and off a stage less elaborate than some present-day forms. It is not an Old Thyme dance and not regimental in origin.
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