Theories abound for who started clog dancing - North of England mill workers, Dutch cloggers, immigrants to Appalachia, even Blackfoot Indians. I'll keep out of that debate...
Here are nine clog dances from Albert Baur's 1883 publication (New York). Baur was a minstrel banjo player, who lost a leg in the civil war - no clog dancing for him, then. His book contains clogs, minstrel tunes, Irish tunes, and Gilbert and Sullivan song arrangements. See this thread here for a free copy of his book: http://www.banjohangout.org/topic/234521
These clogs dances are full of wild leaps, characteristic of the dance movements, I imagine. Despite being for wooden shoes, the titles give an indication of how graceful a good clog dancer could be: ''Neat and Graceful'', ''Aesthetic'', ''Light and Airy''. I play fingerstyle, but they can be played stroke or modern clawhammer style if that's your thing.
Can anyone fill in some background on the clog dance in your area?