Mr Sharp has collected seven sword dances, including those of Earsdon, Flamborough, and Kirkby Malzeard, but probably none are danced as they were in the old days before more modern amusements took the place of the old folk festivals.
The sword dance, like the Morris, was essentially a man’s dance, and whereas many of the Morris dances are quite suitable for women, the sword dance should be kept strictly as a man’s dance.
VII. THE FURRY DANCE
The Furry dance comes under the heading of a genuine folk-dance and is part of an old ritual of May Day. Mrs Lily Grove gives the following account of it:—
“The Fadé or Furry dance takes place in the parish of Helston, on Furry Day, May 8th, which to dwellers in those parts is like Christmas Day to most English people.”
Fadé is an old Cornish word meaning “to go,” and is often corrupted into faddy, while furry is by some authorities derived from the Cornish fuer, signifying fair or merry-making. Mr Quin, in the Royal Cornwall Gazette of May 13th, 1864, gives the following description of the dance:—
“There were forty-one couples. They just trip it on in couples hand in hand, during the first part of the Furry dance tune forming a long string, the gentleman leading his partner with his right hand: second part of the tune, the first gentleman turns with both hands, the lady behind him and her partner turns the same way with the first lady, then each gentleman in the same manner with his own partner; then trip as before, each part of the tune being repeated. The other couples pair and turn the same way and at the same time. The movement is elegant. The party proceed up one side of the street and down the other, passing through all the houses they choose.”