Editing Rapper sword (section)

===Twentieth century===
By the early twentieth century, the tradition was beginning to die out, but was revived by the interest generated after [[Cecil Sharp]] published notations for five of the traditional village dances in his book, ''The Sword Dances of Northern England''. After the [[First World War]], the revival was marked by the fierce competition between pit villages in the rapper classes of the newly instituted ''North of England Musical Tournament'' held annually in Newcastle upon Tyne.

After the [[Second World War]], the tradition progressively declined in the original pit villages, partly as a result of social changes in the mining communities. However, another revival was initiated after the war, in 1949 by students at Kings College in Newcastle upon Tyne (now the [[University of Newcastle upon Tyne]]), which subsequently spread beyond the traditional area. Revival teams worldwide now perform the rapper tradition, sometimes learned from published notations, sometimes taught by rapper dancers in what is almost a continuation of the earlier oral traditions.