Down the Middle and Back

Also known as: Lead Down the Middle and Back.

Bars: 4,8.

The active couple joins hands. In English usually inside hands, in Scottish usually right hands in right, and leads down. After 4 bars they turn and lead up to places.

Variants

Often this is part of "lead down the middle and back and cast off". The timing of this is handled slightly differently in Scottish than in English. English dancers will generally lead down sedately for 4 bars, then skip up more quickly in two bars, and cast off in two, while Scottish dancers will lead down for 3 bars, lead back up for 3 bars (at the same pace) and cast off.

History

The earliest dance I can find that uses this figure is Playford's Black Jack from 1670: The 1. cu. leads down the middle and back again.

Playford was more likely to have the 1s lead down and cast around the 2s and return to place, rather than just leading down and back.

During the 18^th century the simple lead down and back became more common while the lead and cast back faded.

Some dances which (probably) use this figure

• Dances for which I have animations
• Dances in (R)SCDS Books

Note: This list may be incorrect or incomplete.

See Also

• Down the Outside and Back

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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.