Confesse, his Tune ~ Hume
Confesse, his Tune ~ Hume is an English Country Dance. It was published by John Playford (website) in 1651 in The English Dancing Master. It is a dance for 6 people (in trios). It is a multipart dance. The dance lasts 96 bars. The tune is a jig. It is in the key: G Minor.
Playford writes:
Men all a D. Back again That again Men go between the we. on your left hand, leading them from the other, change hands, meet again, turn them you meet Lead your own wo. from each other, meet again, turn them as you meet Go all cross the Room to the left hand Back again One man go forwards alone, take one wo. with one hand, then the other, hands all four and go round The other as much Go all cross the Room to the right hand Back again The two we. at each end lead to each wall, while one man goes up and the other down, the three we. meet, hands and go round, men turning S. Go all as before, men hands and go round, we. turning S Meet all as at first The men lead the we. at one end to the wall and back, while the other we. go up on the outside, and come each under the others arms and turn each other, men turning each a wo. as much with the other we.
Playford is not much help on how this dance should be oriented. He prints a stock picture of a three couple longways set, while the text makes clear that there should be two facing trios of dancers with men in the center of each trio and women on the sides.
The tune was published by Playford in 1651 with a dance of the same name, and the music was synthesized by Colin Hume's software.
The animation plays at 120 counts per minute. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color.
An online description of the dance may be found here.
| I.A | 1-4 | Lines on the sides in a double and fall back |
| 5-8 | That again | |
| I.B1 | 1-4 | Centers lead two on their left away (up or down), turn alone, lead back |
| 5-8 | Centers two hand turn three quarters as side four turn once | |
| I.B2 | 1-4 | Centers lead original partners out, turn alone, lead back |
| 5-8 | All two hand turn opposite | |
| II.A | 1-4 | Face men's wall, lead out two doubles |
| 5-8 | Turn alone, lead back | |
| II.B1 | 1-2 | One of the center dancers and one of its corners balance and make an arch |
| 3-8 | Others circle four around this center through the arch | |
| II.B2 | 1-2 | The other center and one of its corners balance back and forward make an arch |
| 3-8 | Others circle four around this center | |
| III.A | 1-4 | Face women's wall, lead out two doubles |
| 5-8 | Turn alone, come back | |
| III.B1 | 1-4 | Bomb-burst: Side people lead opposite away, turn, lead back as centers move out, turn, move back |
| 5-8 | Sides circle four around centers, centers turn single | |
| III.B2 | 1-4 | Repeat: sides lead away, turn, lead back as centers move out, turn move back |
| 5-8 | Sides turn single as centers two hand turn | |
| IV.A | 1-4 | In a double and fall back |
| 5-8 | That again | |
| IV.B1 | 1-4 | Centers lead the person above them down a double, turn alone, lead back making an arch, while the other person in each line casts up and returns to place under the arch |
| 5-8 | Centers two turn the same person as the others two hand turn | |
| IV.B2 | 1-4 | Centers lead the person below them up a double, turn alone, lead back making an arch, while the other person in each line casts down and returns to place under the arch |
| 5-8 | Centers two turn the same person as the others two hand turn |
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.
If you wish to link to this animation please see my comments on the perils of youtube. You may freely link to this page, of course, and that should have no problems, but use one of my redirects when linking to the youtube video itself:
https://www.upadouble.info/redirect.php?id=Confess-Hume
The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. The interpretation is copyright © 2025 by . My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2025 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This website is copyright © 2021-2025 by George W. Williams V
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.