Hi Linda Coincidentally I am helping with a childrens holiday scheme in Burscough Lancashire and last week we had a lady in teaching the children clog dancing!! She has many many different styles of clogs including the ones you mentioned , that looked like boots. We are hoping to have her back soon (before September) as the children loved it and with any luck I will try to get a photo of the clogs for you. She mentioned she managed to purchase some cheaply on ebay so it could be worthwhile you checking the site over time Many of the clogs had irons on the bottoms like horse shoes which gave off sparks on the cobbles. Some were extensively embroidered and others had many eyelets as decorative features. There was even a pair about 2 inches long which were probably given as a baptism present. Alongside clog dancing there was also quite prolific clog fighting going on the localities. Some clogs had extra irons added on the inside toes. The object was to kick the opponent as hard as you could until they either gave up or their legs etc were broken or at worst fatalities !!! This was for prize money and gambling. Needless to say objections were made against this by employers and it was banned sometime in the 1800's due to so many labourers becoming so badly injured they couldnt work and cost the parish to keep them and their families. It did continue though, like many other prohibited sports eg dog fighting but went underground , often on canal barges and in the basement of public houses. Clog dancing was a lot more tamer!! Predominantly competitive by males on tables!! Was this the origins of table dancing. This was to ensure people could judge the steps easier and resulted in faster fancier footwork. Again gambling took place . Hope to get the photo for you soon Best wishes Helen in Lancashire

Strange clogs should come up on the site, last Sunday I attempted to push my husband to the clog factory in Halifax, to no avail. Still working on it. Suzanne

Hi Helen Thank you very much for the information. I hadn't realised that clogs were so varied in styles and uses until I found the Walkley clog shop website. And didn't realise that they were still made for everyday use. I would love to see clog dancers - sounds like the working men's hobnailed boot dancing over here in Oz (much later than clog dancing though!) Thank you - I would love to get other pictures of clogs so that I get a good idea of the possible different types worn at that time. Dad told me about clog fighting too - sounds like he'd seen it himself when he was young. I wouldn't like to! Cheers Linda ----- Original Message ----- From: <Ottypotty@aol.com> To: <LANCSLIFE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2005 4:14 AM Subject: Re: [LANCSLIFE] Clogs Linda > Hi Linda > > Coincidentally I am helping with a childrens holiday scheme in Burscough > Lancashire and last week we had a lady in teaching the children clog > dancing!! > > She has many many different styles of clogs including the ones you > mentioned > , that looked like boots. We are hoping to have her back soon (before > September) as the children loved it and with any luck I will try to get a > photo of > the clogs for you. She mentioned she managed to purchase some cheaply on > ebay so it could be worthwhile you checking the site over time > > Many of the clogs had irons on the bottoms like horse shoes which gave off > sparks on the cobbles. Some were extensively embroidered and others had > many > eyelets as decorative features. There was even a pair about 2 inches > long > which were probably given as a baptism present. > Alongside clog dancing there was also quite prolific clog fighting going > on > the localities. Some clogs had extra irons added on the inside toes. > The > object was to kick the opponent as hard as you could until they either > gave up > or their legs etc were broken or at worst fatalities !!! This was for > prize > money and gambling. Needless to say objections were made against this by > employers and it was banned sometime in the 1800's due to so many > labourers > becoming so badly injured they couldnt work and cost the parish to keep > them and > their families. It did continue though, like many other prohibited > sports > eg dog fighting but went underground , often on canal barges and in the > basement of public houses. > > Clog dancing was a lot more tamer!! Predominantly competitive by males > on > tables!! Was this the origins of table dancing. This was to ensure > people > could judge the steps easier and resulted in faster fancier footwork. > Again > gambling took place . > > Hope to get the photo for you soon > > Best wishes > Helen in Lancashire > > ______________________________