Somerset House ~ #1, Pat Shaw
Somerset House ~ #1, Pat Shaw is an English Country Dance. It was published by Walsh in 1714 in Twenty Four New Country Dances For the Year 1714. It is a proper Duple Minor dance. The minor set lasts 24 bars. The tune is in triple time.
Pat says this came from Walsh, 1718, but it was published earlier by Walsh in 1714.
Walsh, in 1714, writes:
The first man go back to back with the 2d. wo. the first wo. go back to back with the 2d. man the men back to back, and the we. back to back at the Same time the first cu. go the half Figure and cross over .
Note: Each Strain is to be play'd twice over.
The 1st Man Back to Back with the 2d Wo The 1st Wo. Back to Back with the 2d Man The two Men Back to Back, and the 2 We. Back to Back at the same Time Then the 1st Cu. go the half Figure and cross over
Or thus: The two 1st Men change with their Partners, then the 1st Man with the 2d. Wo The Men change Places with their Partners, then the 2d Man change Places with the 1st Wo. (now all proper The Men and We. Back to Back and right and left with your Partners Then cross over two Cu. and cast up into the 2d. Place, then turn Hands
In 1714 Walsh provided only one figure for this dance, but in 1718 he provided two. This is Pat Shaw's interpretation of the first (the one dating back to 1714).
John Young republished this in 1718:
Note: Each Strain is to be play'd twice over.
The first Man Back to Back with the 2d Wo. The first Wo. Back to Back with the 2d Man The two Man Back to Back, and the two Women Back to Back at the same Time Then the first Couple go the half Figure and cross over
Or Thus: The two 1st Men change with their Partners, 1st Man with 2d Wo. Then the Men change Places with their Partners, the 2d Man change Places with the 1st Wo. (now all Proper) The Men and We. Back to Back, and Righ and Left with your Partners Then cross over two Couple, and cast up in the 2d Cu. Place, then turn Hands
Pat seems to have changed the music from a jig to triple time.
The animation plays at 120 counts per minute normally, but the first time through the set the dance will often be slowed down so people can learn the moves more readily. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color, however the border of each dancer indicates what role they currently play so the border color may change each time through the minor set.
| A1 | 1-4 | 1st corners right back to back |
| A2 | 1-4 | 2nd corners left back to back |
| B1 | 1-4 | Neighbor right back to back |
| 5-8 | Neighbor left back to back | |
| B2 | 1-4 | 1s half figure eight down through 2s |
| 5-8 | 1s cross, go below, as 2s lead up |
If you find what you believe to be a mistake in this animation, please leave a comment on youtube explaining what you believe to be wrong. If I agree with you I shall do my best to fix it.
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The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. I do not have a date for the interpretation, so it may be under copyright. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2022 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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My work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Most of the dances have more restrictive licensing, see my notes on copyright, the individual dance pages should mention when some rights are waived.