Thomas Swallow was an agricultural labourer and fiddle player from Lower Guiting.

In 1909 Cecil Sharp noted of the Swedish: 
This is danced all over this district and with the following dance is always [ever?] nowadays. Miss [Mayward?] corroborates this.
A B C D E F G H
A,B,C, etc each consist of a man with a woman on each arm. A & B face each other, C & D, E &  F, G & H ditto.
A1 Pairs advance and retire and then cross over, A passing to left of B & both turning round so as to face.
A2 Same in reverse giving original positions.
B1 6 hands round 4 bars left to right, 4 bars right to left
B2 Triplets cuddle up and swing to change places each facing same direction as before. This gives B A D C F E H G. those facing down move down one place, those facing up move up one place.

The tune is a version of the Carnival of Venice, based on a Neapolitan folk tune Oh Mama, Mama Cara and popularized by violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840), who wrote twenty variations for violin and orchestra on the original tune. He titled the work Il Carnevale Di Venezia, Op. 10, 1829.

Note by Charles Menteith