The Sword Dance (Gillie Challum)
The Sword Dance is mentioned in documents going back to the reign of
Malcolm III, King of Scots in the eleventh century. Known in Gaelic as
"Canmore", "Great Head", he allegedly danced over his bloody claymore,
(the ancient two-handed sword of Scotland), crossed with the sword of his
defeated enemy .
After this the Sword dance was traditionaly danced by Scottish Warriors on
the eve of battle, to touch the swords was considered a bad omen for the
impending battle, and the soldier would expect to be wounded, if he kicked
the sword he would expect to be killed, if many dancers touched their
swords the clan would then believe they would lose the battle. Following
this tradition today; in a competition if a dancer touches a sword they
will at least loses
marks. However, if the dancer kicks the sword, they are instantly
disqualified.
Heather(no742) doing the 'Sword Dance' in the Finals of the 2015 World Championships at Dunoon in Cowal; she didn't kick her swords!