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The Corporation
Country Dances, Ancient and Modern

Dances in The Country Dance Book (Part 2) (Cecil Sharp, 1911)

Table of Contents

0-9 A B C D F G H J L M N O P R S T W

0-9

The 29th of May ~ SharpJohn Playford 1686
Cecil Sharp 1911
Colin HumeDuple Minor

A

À la Mode de France
À la Mode de France ~ Playford BallJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp (mod) 1911 Playford Ball
no music4 Couple Longways permutation: 4312
À la Mode de France ~ SharpJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
no music4 Couple Longways permutation: 4312
AmaryllisJohn Playford 1670
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
At the Ball
Bare Necessities
Duple Minor

B

The Beggar BoyJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
By Choice
Bare Necessities
3 Couple Longways
Black JackJohn Playford 1670
Cecil Sharp 1911
no musicDuple Minor
The Black Nag ~ SharpJohn Playford 1657
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
Colin Hume3 Couple Longways
The Black Nagg ~ SharpJohn Playford 1657
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
Colin Hume3 Couple Longways

C

Cheerily and Merrily ~ SharpJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
no music4 Couple Longways
ChestnutJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
A Playford Ball
Bare Necessities
3 Couple Longways
Cuckolds all a Row ~ SharpLovelace Manuscript ~1649
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
A Playford Ball
Bare Necessities
Facing Couples
Cuckolds all Awry ~ SharpLovelace Manuscript ~1649
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
A Playford Ball
Bare Necessities
Facing Couples

D

DargasonJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
A Playford Ball
Bare Necessities
Custom
Dove's FigaryJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
A Playford Ball
Bare Necessities
3 Couple Longways
Dull Sir JohnJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
no musicSquare

F

The Fine CompanionJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
no musicSquare

G

The Galloping Nag ~ 2John Playford 1657
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
Colin Hume3 Couple Longways
Gathering PeascodsJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
Colin HumeCircle as many as will
The Glory of the West ~ SharpJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
no musicFacing Couples
GoddessesLovelace Manuscript ~1649
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Assembly
no music4 Couple Longways
Grimstock ~ SharpJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
Colin Hume3 Couple Longways

H

Hey, Boys, up Go We (Sharp)Lovelace Manuscript ~1649
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
A Playford Ball
Bare Necessities
Facing Couples

J

Jamaica ~ SharpJohn Playford 1670
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
Colin HumeDuple Minor
Jenny Pluck PearsJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
A Playford Ball
Bare Necessities
3 Couple Circle

L

London is a Fine TownJohn Playford 1657
Cecil Sharp 1911
no musicDuple Minor

M

Mage on a Cree ~ SharpJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
Colin HumeSquare permutation: 3412
Mr. Webb's Fancy ~ SharpJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
no music4 Couple Longways
My Lady CullenJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
Colin HumeDuple Minor

N

New Bo-Peep ~ SharpJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
no musicLongways as many as will
Newcastle ~ SharpJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
Colin HumeSquare
Nonesuch
Nonesuch ~ Playford BallJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp (mod) 1911 Playford Ball
no music4 Couple Longways permutation: 4312
Nonesuch ~ SharpJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
no music4 Couple Longways permutation: 4312

O

Oranges and Lemons ~ SharpJohn Playford 1657
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
Colin HumeSquare
Oranges and Limons ~ SharpJohn Playford 1657
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
Colin HumeSquare

P

Parson's Farewell ~ SharpJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
At Home
Bare Necessities
Facing Couples
Pickadilla ~ SharpJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
no musicLongways as many as will
Pickadilly ~ SharpJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
no musicLongways as many as will
Putney FerryJohn Playford 1670
Cecil Sharp 1911
no music3 Couple Circle

R

Rufty TuftyJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
By Choice
Bare Necessities
Facing Couples

S

Saint Martin'sJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
no musicFacing Couples
SedanyJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911 Playford Ball
A Playford Ball
Bare Necessities
Custom
Staines MorrisJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
no musicLongways as many as will
Stanes MorrisJohn Playford 1651
Cecil Sharp 1911
no musicLongways as many as will

T

Ten Pound LassLovelace Manuscript ~1649
Cecil Sharp 1911
no music4 Couple Longways
The Twenty-Nineth of May ~ SharpJohn Playford 1686
Cecil Sharp 1911
Colin HumeDuple Minor

W

Watton Town's EndJohn Playford 1657
Cecil Sharp 1911
no musicDuple Minor
Number
of dances
Number
of interpretations
Number
with music
303117

After being disappointed by the country dances which he could find still extant in England Sharp turned his attention to the various editions of The Dancing Master — and only them, he did not publish interpretations of any later works.

Sharp clearly felt that Country Dancing fell into a decline after about 1670:

A critical examination of these successive editions (of Playford) shows that the dance degenerated very rapidly during the period covered by them, and the large number of dance-manuals subsequently issued by Walsh, Thompson, Waylett, and others furthermore proves that this decline continued during the two following centuries...
—Cecil Sharp, The Country Dance Book part 5, 1918, p. 9

I'm not sure what his metrics were for this decline, but he was convinced of it. Perhaps he just didn't like duple or triple minor dances?

Dealing with Playford's text presents challenges which do not arise when you record a living tradition. Playford is sometimes consise to the point of obscurity, he did not seem to employ a proof reader and there are mistakes in his text (in that the figures he describe don't work together, or don't fit the music, etc.), and finally he used words whose meanings have now been lost.

Sharp had to do his best to figure out what was meant from these descriptions. And he did an amazingly good job of it too. Not always perfect. Now with 100 years of hindsight we know things he didn't, but if he hadn't started we won't have that hindsight.

Playford frequently says "Sides all". What does that mean? The concept of siding had died out in the Country Dance tradition around 1700 (the last Playford dance that used it was in 1670) and no one in England in 1900 knew. Sharp came up with an interpretation, and later in his life a different interpretation. We don't know if either is correct.

Or take the word "salute" Sharp interprets that as "honour" — which certainly fits the modern meaning of the word (a respectful greeting). But the Lovelace Manuscript makes it clear that "salute" meant "kiss" on the dance floor.

Look at Row well ye mariners, Playford describes the dance as:

Lead up a D. forwards and back · That again : First man two slips cross the Room one way, the woman the other · Back again to your places : Fall back both · Meet again : Clap both your own hands, then clap each other's right-hands against one another's; clap both your own hands again, then clap left-hands, then clap both hands again, then clap your breasts, then meet both your hands against one-another · The same again, only clap left-hands first :

First man sides with the next wo. and his wo. with the next man, doing the like till you come to your own places, the rest following and doing the same.
The dance consists of two 16 bar parts. The first is well defined, but for the second we have only that people should "side" (whatever that is) with their neighbors and then (somehow) progress. Now siding is a move which takes 4 bars and leaves one where one started. It does not progress and it leaves 12 bars of music unaccounted for.

Sharp faced all these challenges and presented us with well over 100 danceable reinterpretations of Playford.

The various parts of the Country Dance Book are:

This website is copyright © 2021,2022,2023,2024 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.