Dances in The Country Dance Book (Part 6) (Cecil Sharp, 1922)

An online copy of the original may be found here.

(No Album)

Apley House ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1702 Cecil Sharp 1922	Brett Larsen	Duple Minor
Drive the Cold Winter Away ~ Sharp		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922	Colin Hume	4 Couple Longways
Love Neglected		Henry Playford 1703 Cecil Sharp 1922	Colin Hume	Duple Minor
Nowill Hills		Henry Playford 1703 Cecil Sharp 1922	Colin Hume	Duple Minor
Old Noll's Jig ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1702 Cecil Sharp 1922	Colin Hume	Duple Minor

A Playford Ball

Childgrove ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1701 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Ball	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	Duple Minor
Childgrove ~ Sharp (mod)		Henry Playford 1701 Cecil Sharp (mod) 1922	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	Duple Minor
The Geud Man of Ballangigh ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1696 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Ball	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	Duple Minor
Hunt the Squirrel ~ 1709		Playford (John Young) 1709 Cecil Sharp (mod) 1922	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	Triple Minor
Indian Queen		Henry Playford 1701 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Ball	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	Duple Minor
Mad Robin ~ Sharp		John Playford 1687 Cecil Sharp 1922	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	Duple Minor
Mr. Beveridge's Maggot ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1695 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Ball	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	Duple Minor
The Queen's Jig		Henry Playford 1701 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Ball	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	Duple Minor
The Round		Henry Playford 1701 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Ball	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	Duple Minor

At Home

Epping Forest

John Playford 1670 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Ball

At Home Bare Necessities

3 Couple Circle

At the Ball

The Mulberry Garden		John Playford 1670 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Assembly	At the Ball Bare Necessities	Duple Minor
Never Love Thee More ~ Sharp		John Playford 1679 Cecil Sharp (mod) 1922 Playford Assembly	At the Ball Bare Necessities	Duple Minor

By Choice

The Princess 1701 ~ Sharp

Henry Playford 1701 Cecil Sharp 1922

By Choice Bare Necessities

Duple Minor

Favorites of the Boston Centre

Bury Fair ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1696 Cecil Sharp 1922	Favorites of the Boston Centre Bare Necessities	Triple Minor
Jack's Maggot		Henry Playford 1702 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Ball	Favorites of the Boston Centre Bare Necessities	Duple Minor

More Favorites of the Boston Centre

From Aberdeen		Henry Playford 1698 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Assembly	More Favorites of the Boston Centre Bare Necessities	Triple Minor
Up With Aily		Henry Playford 1703 Cecil Sharp 1922	More Favorites of the Boston Centre Bare Necessities	Duple Minor

Mrs. Beveridge's Triumph

Fourpence, Ha'penny, Farthing #1		John Playford 1688 Cecil Sharp 1922	Mrs. Beveridge's Triumph Bare Necessities	Duple Minor
The Jockey #1		John Playford 1688 Cecil Sharp 1922	Mrs. Beveridge's Triumph Bare Necessities	Duple Minor

Old Friends

Mundesse

John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922

Old Friends MGM and Reunion

3 Couple Circle

Strong Roots

Sion House

John Playford 1686 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Assembly

Strong Roots Bare Necessities

Duple Minor

(No Music)

The Britains		Henry Playford 1696 Cecil Sharp 1922		Duple Minor
The Country Farmer		Henry Playford 1702 Cecil Sharp 1922		Duple Minor
Crosbey Square ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1701 Cecil Sharp 1922		Duple Minor
Dick's Maggot ~ Sharp, 24 bars		Henry Playford 1702 Cecil Sharp 1922		Duple Minor
Dissembling Love		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922		3 Couple Longways
The Friar in the Well		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Ball		6 Couple Longways
Fy, Nay, Prithee John		Henry Playford 1703 Cecil Sharp 1922		Duple Minor
Greenwich Park - Playford ~ Ball		Henry Playford 1698 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Ball		Duple Minor
The Jack's Farewell		Henry Playford 1698 Cecil Sharp 1922		Duple Minor
Jack-a-Lent		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922		3 Couple Longways
The Lost Heart		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922		3 Couple Longways
The Maid in the Moon		John Playford 1670 Cecil Sharp 1922		3 Couple Circle
The Maid Peept out at the Window		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Ball		6 Couple Longways
Mall Peatly ~ Sharp		John Playford 1670 Cecil Sharp 1922		4 Couple Longways
Mill-Field		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922		Square
Mr. Eaglesfield's New Hornpipe ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1696 Cecil Sharp 1922		Duple Minor
Mr. Englesfield's New Hornpipe		Henry Playford 1696 Cecil Sharp 1922		Duple Minor
My Lady Foster's Delight		Henry Playford 1702 Cecil Sharp 1922		Duple Minor
My Lord Byron's Maggot ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1701 Cecil Sharp 1922		Duple Minor
The Night Piece		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922		3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
Parson upon Dorothy ~ Sharp		John Playford 1652 Cecil Sharp 1922		4 Couple Longways
Pepper's Black		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp (mod) 1922		Circle as many as will
Portsmouth ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1701 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Ball		Duple Minor
The Queen's Birthday ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1703 Cecil Sharp 1922		Duple Minor
Rose is White, and Rose is Red		Lovelace Manuscript ~1649 Cecil Sharp (mod) 1922		Circle as many as will permutation: 456123
Roses White, and Roses Red		Lovelace Manuscript ~1649 Cecil Sharp (mod) 1922		Circle as many as will permutation: 456123
Round O		Henry Playford 1703 Cecil Sharp 1922		Triple Minor
Sage Leaf ~ Sharp		John Playford 1670 Cecil Sharp (mod) 1922		Square
Saturday Night and Sunday Morn		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922		Duple Minor
The Shaking of the Sheets		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922		3 Couple Longways permutation: 231
The Shepherd's Daughter		John Playford 1652 Cecil Sharp 1922		4 Couple Longways
The Siege of Limerick		Henry Playford 1695 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Assembly		Duple Minor
Slaughter House		Henry Playford 1702 Cecil Sharp 1922 Playford Assembly		Duple Minor
The Slip		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922		4 Couple Longways
The Whish		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922		3 Couple Longways
The Wish		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1922		3 Couple Longways

Number of dances	Number of interpretations	Number with music
53	53	24

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:

• The Country Dance Book (Part 1), 1909 — Country dances actually danced in England at the time.
• The Country Dance Book (Part 2), 1911
• The Country Dance Book (Part 3), 1912
• The Country Dance Book (Part 4), 1916
• The Country Dance Book (Part 5), 1918 — This is devoted to "The Running Set", an early form of Square Dance, and I have no animations of it.
• The Country Dance Book (Part 6), 1922

This website is copyright © 2021-2025 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.