Note Footnote 11: — PART II

It is the custom here that the same ballad should not be sung more than once a year11 in the 'dancing-chamber,' so that the repertoire is obviously extensive, seeing that they dance at wedding feasts, generally for three days and nights without cessation. In the special dancing season from Yule till Lent, the ballads are danced not only on Sundays but also on the so-called 'Feast Days.' (They do not dance again from the beginning of Lent till the day after Christmas.) The dance at Sumbø has characteristics of its own which differ from those of the rest of the Faroes. The people here generally sing well and know how to put expression into the actual dance. Elsewhere on the Islands this is now for the most part reduced to a uniform stamp with the feet, marking the melody of the ballad. Moreover they still continue here in common use both the 'Walking Verse' (stigingar stev) and the more rapid measure 'Tripping Verse' (trókingar stev) of the Round Dance, in which, as a rule, the dancers hold one another by the hand, forming a circle, dancing backwards while the verse (örindi) is sung, and reversing the movement with considerable energy during the singing of the refrain (viðgangur, niðurlág, stev). This round dance is characteristic of Sumbø12.