Gelding of the Devil
Gelding of the Devil is an English Country Dance. It was published by John Playford (website) in 1657 in The Dancing Master, 3rd ed.. It was interpreted by Cecil Sharp (website) in 1916 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 4). It is a 3 Couple Circle dance. There is no progression in this dance. It is a USA dance. The dance lasts 96 bars.
Hands and two D. round That again First man lead his wo. forward and back Lead her forward again between the other four cast off the man come to his place on the outside of the cu. on his left hand, and the wo. on the outside of the Cu. on her right hand to your places The 2. cu. as much ·: The 3. as much Sides all That again As before ·: Sides all That again As before ·:
The animation plays at 120 counts per minute. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color.
| I.A1 | 1-4 | Circle left |
| I.A2 | 1-4 | Circle right |
| II.A1 | 1-4 | Right shoulder siding |
| II.A2 | 1-4 | Left shoulder siding |
| III.A1 | 1-4 | Arm right |
| III.A2 | 1-4 | Arm left |
| B1 | 1-4 | 1s lead forward a double and back |
| 5-8 | 1s lead through the opposite two (who are not a couple), separate, and cast back to place | |
| B2 | 1-4 | 2s lead forward a double and back |
| 5-8 | 2s lead through the opposite two and cast back to place | |
| B3 | 1-4 | 3s lead forward a double and back |
| 5-8 | 3s lead through the opposite two and cast back to place |
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=GeldingOfTheDevil
The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. The interpretation is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2021 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This website is copyright © 2021,2022,2023,2024 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.