Unknown date

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Another Cure For The Claps		Bob Isaacs (date unknown) Rich Goss		Duple Minor
Bonny Breast Knot		English Traditional (date unknown) Maud Karpeles & Cecil Sharp ~1930		3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Cure For The Claps		Bob Isaacs (date unknown)		Duple Minor
Heartbeat Contra		Don Flaherty (date unknown)		Duple Minor
Kindred Spirits		Chris Page (date unknown)		Becket
The Lea Rig		Anonymous (date unknown) RSCDS 1961		Duple Minor
A Mooed Point		Erik Hoffman (date unknown)		Duple Minor
Old Time Elixer #2		Linda Leslie (date unknown)		Becket
Tica Tica Timing		Dean Snipes (date unknown)		Becket

1690s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
The Coronation Day ~ P. Shaw		Henry Playford 1698 Pat Shaw ~1970		Duple Minor
The Coronation Day ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1698 Cecil Sharp 1916		Duple Minor

1740s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Glasgow Lasses - RSCDS		Walsh 1748 RSCDS 1986		Duple Minor

1750s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Not I		Johnson ~1754 RSCDS 1977		Triple Minor

1780s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Money Musk ~ Contra 24 Improper		Werner/Preston 1785 Traditional		Triple Minor
Money Musk ~ RSCDS		Preston 1786 RSCDS 1936		Triple Minor
Monymusk		Preston 1786 RSCDS 1936		Triple Minor

1790s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
The College Hornpipe - RSCDS		William Boag 1797 RSCDS 1959		Triple Minor

1810s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Adieu Mon Ami		Thomas Wilson 1814 RSCDS 1968		Triple Minor
Donald Bane ~ RSCDS		Thomas Wilson 1816 RSCDS 1953		Triple Minor
Donaldbane ~ RSCDS		Thomas Wilson 1816 RSCDS 1953		Triple Minor
Dumbarton Drums ~ RSCDS		Thomas Wilson 1816 RSCDS 1929		Triple Minor
None So Pretty - Wilson ~ RSCDS		Thomas Wilson 1816 RSCDS 1957		Triple Minor

1820s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Petronella ~ Contra		Nathaniel Gow 1820 David Smukler 2005 Cracking Chestnuts	Colin Hume	Duple Minor
Petronella ~ Contra Variants		Nathaniel Gow 1820 David Smukler 2005 Cracking Chestnuts	Colin Hume	Duple Minor
Petronella ~ variants		Nathaniel Gow 1820	Colin Hume	Duple Minor
Rob Roy MacGregor ~ RSCDS		G.M.S. Chivers 1821 RSCDS 1972		Triple Minor
Grand Petronelle ~ Quadrille		J. P. Boulogne 1827 George Williams 2026	Colin Hume	Square
Petronella		J. P. Boulogne 1827 RSCDS 1924	Colin Hume	Duple Minor

1950s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
J. B. Milne		Hugh Foss 1954		Triple Minor

1960s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
1314		John Drewry 1967		Square

1970s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Pinewoods Reel		John Bowie Dickson 1970		Triple Minor
Schiehallion		Hugh A Thurston 1971		Square
Mrs. Stewart of Fasnacloich		RSCDS 1973		Triple Minor
Ysobel		John Drewry 1973		Triple Minor
Piper Frap		Mary Shoolbraid Brandon 1975		4 Couple Longways permutation: 2143
Piper Frap ~ 3 Couple		Mary Shoolbraid Brandon 1975		3 Couple Longways permutation: 231

1980s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Autumn in Appin		John Drewry 1982		4 Couple Longways permutation: 2413
The Micmac Rotary		John Drewry 1983		R96 Square
Edina's Pride		Alex Gray 1984		Triple Minor
Inverneill House		John Drewry 1986		Triple Minor
Major Ian Stewart		John Drewry 1986		Triple Minor
Laggan Bay		Bill Forbes 1988		Triple Minor
Lunar Eclipse		Elizabeth A. Snowdon ~1989		Duple Minor

1990s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
The Dancing Bees		Roy Goldring ~1990		Triple Minor
Gang the Same Gate		Milton Levy 1990		Triple Minor
Anna Holden's Strathspey		John Drewry 1991		Duple Minor
Anna Holden's Waltz		John Drewry 1991 Jenny Beer 2017		Duple Minor
The Dunsmuir Strathspey		John Drewry 1992		3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
The Dunsmuir Strathspey ~ Hamilton		John Drewry 1992	Bare Necessities	3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
The Dunsmuir Waltz		John Drewry 1992	Bare Necessities	3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Will Ye No Come Back?		Mike Richardson ~1992		Becket
The Rover's Rant		Roy Goldring 1994		Triple Minor
Many Happy Returns ~ Briscoe		Melbourne Briscoe 1995		Triple Minor
A Balanced Tern		Joseph Pimentel 1999		Duple Minor
Cranberry Tart		Terry Glasspool 1999		Triple Minor

2000s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Peggy and Arnold's Strathspey		Andrew Gillies ~2000		S3×32 3C permutation: 231
Rowena's Waltz		Gary Roodman 2000		Duple Minor
Jubilee Quadrille		Alan Macpherson 2001		R88 Square
At Nancy's House		Brooke Friendly/Chris Sackett 2002		3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Lady in Red		Simon Scott 2004		5 Couple Longways permutation: 24153
Eileen Watt's Reel		John Wilkinson 2005		3 Couple Longways permutation: 312
Eileen Watt's Strathspey		Lewis N. Derrick 2005		3 Couple Longways permutation: 312
Unstoppable Kate		Brooke Friendly/Chris Sackett 2005		Triple Minor
Sailor Hector		Stella Fogg & Moira Turner 2006		4 Couple Longways permutation: 3142
Susan Mann's Jig		Chris Sackett/Brooke Friendly 2006		Triple Minor
Symonds Yat		Colin Hume 2006	Dampier's Round	Circle as many as will
The Spark o' Water		Maggie & Duncan Keppie ~2007		Duple Minor
Barbarella		Tom Thoreau ~2008		Becket
Longborough Lanterns		Melissa Shaner 2009		Triple Minor

2010s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Banjo in a Bear Suit		Brooke Friendly/Chris Sackett 2010		Square
Orwell Lodge Strathspey		Ian Brookbank 2012		3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Trip to Timber Ridge		Linda Henderson 2012		Triple Minor
Ruins of Athens		Victor Skowronski 2013		Duple Minor
Under the Influence		Jenna Simpson 2013		4 Couple Longways permutation: 3142
Reciprocity		Jenna Simpson 2014		Duple Minor
A Summer Meeting		Irene Townshend 2014		3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Down Under, Hands Up!		Jon Reeves 2015		Triple Minor
Mistress Mary		Anthea Macdonald 2015		3 Couple Longways permutation: 312
Mistress Mary ~ 3 in 4		Anthea Macdonald 2015		Triple Minor
Reel Parenting		Laura Husman 2015		Triple Minor
Among the Cheviot Hills		John Cahill 2016		3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
The Anniversary - Thompson		Ella Thompson 2016		4 Couple Longways permutation: 2413
In Mr. McGregor's Garden		Audrey Ramsay Prest 2016		Triple Minor
The Orchards of County Armagh		Jinty Anderson 2016		3 Couple Longways permutation: 312
Atossa's Gift		Scott Higgs 2017		Duple Minor
Crazy Nella		Vic Ceder 2019		Duple Minor
Elspeth Gray's Reel		Tom Toriyama 2019		Triple Minor
Poussettronella		Charlie Abell 2019		Becket
Spinner's Delight		Vic Ceder 2019		Becket
Take the Lady		Vic Ceder 2019		Becket

2020s

Dance Title	Type	Deviser (or Editor/Publisher), Date, Interpreter	Music Performers	Formation
Dancing in Perthshire		Janet Macdonald ~2020		Square
Heartfelt		Jenna Simpson 2020		Duple Minor
Folderol		Jenna Simpson 2021		Duple Minor
The Genteel Weasel		Gaye Collin 2021		Triple Minor
A Hundred Years Since		Peter Knapman 2023		Triple Minor
Streamside Waltz		Gary Roodman 2023		Duple Minor
Dandelion in the Green		Jenna Simpson 2024		Duple Minor
Sylvia, Priestess of Atlanta		Susan Tumlin 2024		Triple Minor
Boo		Sue McKinnell 2025		Triple Minor
Boo ~ Dove		Sue McKinnell 2025 Jessie Dove 2025		Duple Minor
A Driving Reel		Lizzie Wratten ~2025		3 Couple Circle permutation: 231
Miss Lucy Clark		Valerie Farr ~2025		Triple Minor
A Smile Says It All		Rebecca Fant 2025		Triple Minor
Thank You Patricia		Deb Lees ~2025		Triple Minor
ATL 50		Lisa Guest ~2026		Triple Minor
Stone Mountain Schottische		Mary Ross ~2026		Triple Minor
Stone Mountain Strathspey		Susan Tumlin ~2026		Triple Minor

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.

Petronella Turn

Bars: 2.

A Petronella Turn has come to mean two different things, depending on which tradition of dancing you follow. Both come from the same source but evolved differently over time.

In US Contra Dance, a petronella turn means moving one place to the right around the minor set, while spinning over your right shoulder. Usually this takes 1 bar, so the next bar is used up by clapping.

In Scottish Country Dance, the petronella turn is done in pas-de-basque setting. The first step is out to the right and inward, and finishes with the active dancers facing out of the set, on the next bar they pas-de-basque over their right shoulders until they face in.

There is also a petronella figure, which involves 4 petronella turns and setting with the actives returning to places after 16 bars.

In Scottish Country Dance dancers, petronella turn, and set; petronella turn, and set; petronella turn, and set; petronella turn, and set.

But in Contra dance the set comes before the petronella turn, and then became a "balance the ring".

In the US, English Country Dances occasionally borrow the Contra dance version of a petronella turn.

History

The first source for the petronella turn comes from The Ball-Room, or the Juvenile Pupil's Assistant; Containing the Most Fashionable Quadrilles, with Les Lanciers of Sixteen, As Danced in the Public & Private Assemblies in Paris by J. P. Boulogne, published 1827, and he says:

1.

The first couple perform the figure of a diamond to their right, setting at the four corners

16

But since he neglects to say exactly how you move to make this diamond figure, the instructions aren't very helpful.

Looking elsewhere, the next earliest description of the figure I have found was published by the Lowes in Lowes' Ball-Conductor and Assembly Guide. of ~1831. The Lowes published in Edinburgh. They describe it thusly:

First couple chassé round to the right, and set in the middle; round to the right again, and set on the sides; to the right again, and set in places

Here the eponymous "Petronella Turn" is spelled out clearly as a chassé, I don't think you can turn while doing a chassé, so this was a much simpler move than it is now.

Also after doing a chassé, the pas-de-Basque setting of the (R)SCDS seems unlikely, the most natural setting would be the step-close-step-close style that English Dancing uses.

By 1853, the Lowes had become just Joseph Lowe, and he published a somewhat different version in his Lowe's Selection of Popular Country Dances:

First couple turn round to the right, and set opposite to each other in the middle of the Dance (4 Bars). Again round to the right, and set on the sides of the Dance, (4 Bars) Again round to the right, and set in the middle, (4 Bars) Again to the right and set in places. (4 Bars) (8 Bars)

Courtesy of National Library of Scotland, licensed under:

Here the Petronella turn is no longer a chassé, but has become turn round to the right. I suspect this means just pulling back your right shoulder and turning 270 degrees as you move, since this is way the move is done in the US, and it crossed the Atlantic at about this time.

The first version I've found in the US appears in an anonymous work from New Hampshire in 1858 (where the dance is called Patenella): The Ball Room Guide, A Description of the Most Popular Contra Dances of the Day,:

First couple balance, swing, balance, swing, and so continue four times

This is no help whatsoever on the way the turn was done, but it does show that the set moved before the petronella turn as soon as it crossed the Atlantic.

Then from Boston in Elias Howe's 1868: The Pianist's Matinee: A Collection of Music for the Piano-Forte, writes:

First couple turn round to the right, and balance opposite to each other in the middle of the dance. (4 bars) Again round to the right, and balance on the sides of the dance. (4 bars) Again to the right, and balance in the middle. (4 bars) Again to the right, and balance in places. (4 bars)

This is almost word for word what Joseph Lowe said, except that Howe replaces "set" with "balance".

There are a number of other sources of the dance from Scotland in the latter part of the 19th century, but all the ones I've found read very much like Joseph Lowe's version. Perhaps the way each figure was danced changed in this period, but the words describing them did not.

In 1897 in D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, (Dundee)

Time 2-4

Turn to right in centre with two steps facing each other, then set to each other with two steps.

Turn into each other's places with next two steps then set with other two steps.

Turn to right in centre facing each other with two steps then set to each other with two steps.

Turn into places next two steps then set with other two steps (the four quarter turns describe the figure of a diamond).

First gent then leads his partner down the centre and back to places, the first and second couples pousette.

Repeat from the beginning other three times

Courtesy of National Library of Scotland, licensed under:

This website is copyright © 2021-2026 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.