More About Bondagers Dancing

Scottish country dancing as it may have been done in the Borders region in the 1930s ... https://www.facebook.com/TheBondagers/ http://thebondagers.com/ http://thebondagers.com/archive-film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqkL_ebTsjY Great clip. However sadly the film is locked away in a dusty archive in Edinburgh and will likely never be seen again in its entirety. Apparently in the 1930s / 40s the film was used as entertainment for a local establishment for the mentally ill; then during a clear-out it was thrown away into a skip: but luckily it was rescued and made available to the public. It was a regular feature at the film show organised by the late Barry Callaghan at the Reading Traditional Step & Dance Group's annual "Step and Clog Dance Festival." And the Reading Cloggies used the depiction of the bondagers' costumes for their own costumes for when they performed social dances from the Scottish Borders. These latter were part of their "Campaign for Real Reels" or "Campaign to put stepping back into social folk dancing." To see the Reading Cloggies in action in their bondagers' costumes search YouTube for "Dancing England - 1985". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPzSc-ReEQ0 CJB