I first saw my grandfather, William Papworth, known as "Tulla", dance the Broom in 1937. He was 80 years of age at the time and only performed the "Dance Round" and "Legs Over Broom". For many years I performed the dance in the same way, until about 1965 when my uncle, Wallace Papworth, saw me dance. He told me I had not done all of it and gave me information about the "Step Dance Up The Broom" and kicking the broom up. As the youngest of the family, his knowledge of the actual steps was vague but it enabled me to add to what I already knew. At a later date (1973) my aunt, Lily Badcock, told me about the Hobby Horse figure and how my grandfather ended the dance. From her I learned many traditional points: the "Step Up" coming early in the dance and the "Hobby Horse" near the end. Her memory was not so clear about the "Fools Jig Figure", "Broom Under Legs". She thought grandfather may well have done it, and spoke of him throwing the broom round his back. Thus it took me about 36 years to learn the dance, and the accompanying notation is my impression of how the Broom was danced in Comberton.
At one time I danced to the "Keel Row", the tune my grandfather used, but now I prefer to dance to a Comberton Feast Dance tune "The Cross Hand Polka", which was given to me by another of my aunts, Mary Ellis, who often played it at the "Old Folks Socials", at which dancing was part of the evening's entertainment.
There was no special occasion for the Broom Dance in Comberton. It was mostly performed as part of a social evening in the pub, especially during Feast Week, or at the time of Harvest Suppers when the barns were swept out for the evening's merrymaking, and brooms would be readily available.
In April 1973 I was able to dance the Broom at Little Downham where broom dancing had also been a local custom. A former Molly dancer, Alfred Shelton, told me I did much the same as them, the rattling of the broom being a distinctive feature of both villages.
Broom dancing in Comberton and East Anglia has no connection with Morris and I have no record of the Molly Men performing it on Plough Monday at Comberton, although this may have happened at Little Downham and elsewhere. (Palmer 1974.)
The Comberton dance seems to have been a spontaneous event with no costume, except for rosettes worn on the knees.