Originating in the Northumberland and Durham coal fields and recorded there by Cecil Sharp in 1911, the rapper style of dancing has certainly been performed in the North East since the early 19^th century and probably earlier. Today rapper dancing has been exported all over the UK and to several other countries, notably America, Canada and Norway.

Yorkshire and Sheffield in particular, has always been a stronghold of the longsword style of dancing.  Grenoside and Handsworth are traditional teams with long and well documented histories. The longsword dances and the swords have their roots in a militaristic tradition whereas the evolution of the rapper dance is rather more obscure and the swords (or rappers) have little in common with the military version.  Both styles of dance do feature and conclude with the tying of a lock, in the case of rapper dancing this is a five pointed star.  In occult symbolism, the pentatuke is a powerful symbol and is also know as the endless knot (it can be drawn without removing the pencil from the paper).

Rapper dancing requires strong but flexible steel swords that will bend repeatedly without breaking and Sheffield is the home of high quality spring steel.  In the early 20^th century, Joseph Tyzack & Son of the Meersbrook Works manufactured rapper swords using his patented method of attaching the handles to blades which proved both durable and effective.  The swords carry the Tyzack “Legs of Man” trade mark.  The Tyzack family were Huguenot glass makers with a branch of the family in the Newcastle area.  Perhaps there was movement of miners between the Northumberland and Yorkshire coalfields.

How a Sheffield firm came to produce swords for a dancing tradition that was confined to mining communities in Northumberland and Durham, and how Tyzacks came to undertake this work is not clear.  Family links with the North East may be a factor, the movement of miners between coalfields may be significant. There is no doubt that in the early 20th Century Sheffield was the world leader in the production of high quality spring steel and tool making. The right materials and skills were in Sheffield.  Perhaps Joseph knew about rapper dancing from his relatives in the North East and saw a business opportunity.  For whatever reason and for a considerable period Joseph’s company produced high quality swords many of which are still in use today. 

Joseph was the brother of another famous Tyzack, William, who leased and developed the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet site for almost 100 years. 

Abbeydale is managed by the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust whose headquarters are at Kelham Island Museum.  By the way, Kelham Island is named after one Kellam Homer who, it is recorded, was the “town armourer” in the 16^th century making swords for the Lord of the Manor - full circle or what!!  Joseph Tyzack’s patent for the handle fixing is dated 1902, and where are the patent records stored? - Kelham Island!!