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The Corporation
Country Dances, Ancient and Modern

1910s

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
The Devil's Dream - BurchenalElias Howe 1858
Elizabeth Burchenal 1918
no musicDuple Minor

1920s

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
Delvine SideWilliam Campbell ~1800
RSCDS 1925
no musicTriple Minor
Dumbarton Drums ~ RSCDSThomas Wilson 1816
RSCDS 1929
no musicTriple Minor

1930s

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
The Pleasures of the Town ~ AptedThompson 1777
W. S. Porter, M. Heffer, A. Heffer 1931
Colin Hume3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
A School for Scandal ~ AptedThompson 1778
W. S. Porter, M. Heffer, A. Heffer 1931
Colin HumeTriple Minor

1950s

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
The Birks of EndermayThomas Skillern 1776
RSCDS 1951
no musicTriple Minor
The Birks of InvermayThomas Skillern 1776
RSCDS 1951
no musicTriple Minor
Lord Hume's Reel ~ RSCDSThomas Wilson 1816
RSCDS 1951
no musicTriple Minor
Woo'd and Married and A'Thomas Wilson 1816
RSCDS 1951
no musicTriple Minor
Lady Baird's ReelThomas Wilson 1816
RSCDS 1955
no musicTriple Minor
Leith Country DanceAnonymous (date unknown)
RSCDS 1955
no musicDuple Minor
Rakish Highlandman ~ RSCDSThomas Wilson 1816
RSCDS 1957
no musicTriple Minor
The College Hornpipe - RSCDSWilliam Boag 1797
RSCDS 1959
no musicTriple Minor

1960s

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
Stowe HallPreston 1791
Pat Woods ~1960
no music3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Dartford Camp #1 ~ 3 CoupleThomas Skillern 1781
A. Simons 1961
no music3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Dartford Camp #1 ~ TripleThomas Skillern 1781
A. Simons 1961
no musicTriple Minor
My Only Jo and Dearie, O ~ RSCDSThomas Wilson 1816
RSCDS 1961
no musicTriple Minor
Morpeth RantThomas Wilson 1816
Pat Shaw ~1965
Colin HumeTriple Minor
Morpeth Rant ~ 3 CoupleThomas Wilson 1816
Pat Shaw ~1965
Colin Hume3 Couple Longways permutation: 231

1970s

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
The Carl cam' ower the Croft ~ RSCDSThomas Wilson 1816
RSCDS ~1977
no musicTriple Minor
Lady GlasgowAnonymous (date unknown)
RSCDS ~1977
no musicTriple Minor

1980s

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
Hame Came Our Gude Man ~ RSCDSThomas Wilson 1816
RSCDS 1981
no musicTriple Minor
Clutha ~ RSCDSKate Hughes ~1867
RSCDS 1983
no musicSquare

1990s

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
Tunbridge CastleThompson 1786
A. Simons ~1990
no music3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Fête ChampêtreThompson 1776
Philippe Callens 1999
no music3 Couple Longways permutation: 231

2010s

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
First of SeptemberThomas Kilvington ~1785
Green Ginger 2019
no musicTriple Minor

2020s

Dance TitleTypeDeviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date,
Interpreter
Music
Performers
Formation
SicilianG.M.S. Chivers 1821
George Williams 2021
no musicTriple Minor
The Ayr Promenade ~ GilbertRoy Goldring ~1990
Ilse Gilbert 2022
no music3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Queen of Hearts - Cahusac/3 CoupleWilliam Cahusac 1785
Roland Suhr ~2022
no music3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Queen of Hearts - Cahusac/TripleWilliam Cahusac 1785
Roland Suhr ~2022
no musicTriple Minor
The Doubtful Shepherd ~ WilliamsThompson 1780
George Williams 2023
no musicTriple Minor
The Carle came o're the Craft ~ WilliamsThomas Wilson 1816
George Williams 2024
no musicTriple Minor
Hame Came Our Gude Man ~ WilliamsThomas Wilson 1816
George Williams 2024
no musicTriple Minor
Lady Baird's Reel ~ WilliamsThomas Wilson 1816
George Williams 2024
no musicTriple Minor
Let Glasgow Flourish ~ WilliamsJ. F. Wallace 1872
George Williams 2024
no musicTriple Minor
My Only Joe & Deary O ~ WilliamsThomas Wilson 1816
George Williams 2024
no musicTriple Minor
The GracesThompson 1778
Colin Hume ~2025
Colin HumeTriple Minor
The Pleasures of the Town ~ HumeThompson 1777
Colin Hume 2025
Colin Hume3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
A School for Scandal ~ HumeThompson 1778
Colin Hume ~2025
Colin HumeTriple Minor
Number
of dances
Number
of versions
Number
with music
38387

Warning: The figures for each dance is generated programmatically by regular expression matching and may be in error. Also, for old dances, they reflect the figures used by the interpreter which may not match those of the deviser.


Three Couple Promenade Round

Bars: 8.

Three Couple Promenade In Scottish Country dance the dancers start the figure in the center of the set, in promenade hold with partner, facing up. While in English dance you tend to start from the sidelines and quickly move into that position. Dancers move up, pivot round to face the men's line, move across, pivot to face down, move down to the bottom, pivot to face the women's line, move into the center, pivot to face up, and dance up to original places, and retire to the sidelines.

Variants

The (R)SCDS introduced both two and four couple longways promenades in Book 18. Leith Country Dance, and Longwise Eightsome Reel.

History

Sharp uses a three couple promenade in his interpretation of Adson's Saraband, Playford, 1651. But I'm not sure he is right to do so. Playford says:

First cu. lead down between the rest, come with a compass to your places, the rest following

Which sounds rather different to me.

The concept of "promenading" came over from France with Cotillions.

Thomas Hurst, in his The Cotillons Made PLAIN and EASY, 1769, (page 9), defines promenading:

TWELFTH CHANGE, The Promenade, or Walk.
Every Gentleman takes his Partner by the Left-Hand; and putting his Right-Hand round her Waist; in this Manner they follow each other all round in a great Ring, and finish in their proper Places.

Note, this is not the modern skaters' hold promenade

I think Wilson may be the first to suggest joining hands in front, in his The Quadrille and Cotillion Panorama:

6.—PROMENADE, THE GREAT
All the four couples cross hands with their partners, and move round in a circle to places.

But these are all in a square set. The first examples (that I can find) in a longways set occurred in 1776, and both Thompson and Skillern published dances which used this figure.

In the US, Saltator, 1802, specifies a three couple promenade in his dance College Hornpipe: each promenade their own partners round. While Howe, 1862, uses a 2 couple promenade in Whipple's Hornpipe.

In (R)SCDS Book 11, both the source descriptions of Glasgow Flourish (one by Anderson, and one by Wallace) contain three couple promenades, but the (R)SCDS replaced it with a lead down and up. However the next time the figure occurred (in Fidget, Book 16) it is translated unchanged.

This website is copyright © 2021-2026 by George W. Williams V
Creative Commons License 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.