Early Sources of RSCDS dances
None of the dances published by the RSCDS before book 13 were devised by the RSCDS, instead they were considered "traditional" dances. Many dances published in subsequent books fall into that category as well. I have tried to track down the sources of these dances and display here the earliest published versions of the dance's figure which I've been able to find.
In some cases the RSCDS mentions a source. Often I have found earlier examples of the dance. Sometimes I have been unable to find the RSCDS source and will present the earliest source I have found.
When I know the deviser, I mark the name in italics. In most cases for these old dances I only know the publisher.
When a dance source is marked with "†" it means I have been unable to verify the source of the dance, when it is marked with "‡" it means I have been unable to find any Scottish dance manual containing this dance (prior to 1924).
Hovering the mouse over a dance's devisor/publisher will (often) produce a popup containing the text of the original.By default the list below shows only traditional dances interpreted by the (R)SCDS. I believe that Book 34 (1986) was the last book to contain any traditional dances. Before Book 13 all (R)SCDS dances were traditional, but Book 13 contains The Reel of the 51st Division, the first published modern dance. No further modern dances were published until Book 22 (1963), and after that some books contained modern and some traditional dances until Books 31&34, which contains both.
At the end I have several tables of statistics.
Order by:
Include:
(R)SCDS Book Range:
Containing figure:
(R)SCDS Book 7, 1931
| Menzies Rant ~ RSCDS | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as transcribed by Jim Healy): 1st man turns 2d woman & casts off, then the 1st woman does the same then the 1st pair goes figure of eight through the 2d pair; then the 1st man sets to the 2d woman & turns her, then the 1st woman the same; then the 1st pair goes four hands round with the 2d pair & right & left |
RSCDS Book 16, 1951
| Lady Harriet Hope's Reel ~ RSCDS | Thomas Wilson, London, 1816‡ A Companion to the Ball Room In his A Companion to the Ball Room, 1816, Thomas Wilson published Lady Harriet Hope's Reel:, wherein he writes: SINGLE FIGURE (1st. strain repeated 2d. played straight thro') The music consists of a four bar strain and an eight bar strain. The RSCDS has picked the third figure (the one marked "DOUBLE FIGURE") which means the music should be played AABAAB. " " indicates two repetitions of a of the first strain, and " " indicates one repetition of the second (each accounting for 8 bars of music). Wilson defines most of his figures in his Analysis of Country Dancing, but he does not define what he means by set 3 hands 6 round & back again. It seems unlikely that he would have people do two bars of setting, then three bars circling left and three right; the RSCDS's suggestion of set, circle left half, set, circle right half seems better. The RSCDS has changed the first figure eight into a reel of four, and made it progressive. Wilson's lead down the middle up again takes only four bars, not the 6 given to it by the RSCDS and doesn't involve changing sides. Wilson's set should be for four bars, not two (he liked things in four bar chunks). Wilson's whole figure contrary corners means half figure eight down around the 3s then half figure eight up around the 2s (see his description). The RSCDS has turned this into a finishing reel with a cross by the right. |
RSCDS Book 19, 1957
| None So Pretty - Wilson ~ RSCDS | Thomas Wilson, London, 1816 A Companion to the Ball Room Wilson writes: SINGLE FIGURE1st. strain repeat 2d. played straight thro & D.C. Wilson has a different figure for this tune in his earlier book Treasures of Terpsichore, 1809. Preston has yet another figure in 1796. Cahusac gives two figures in 1795. Campbell has a figure in Campbell's 9th Book of New and Favorite Country Dances & Strathspey Reels from about 1794. While Rutherford, 1756 and Johnson, 1742 give the same figure (Rutherford's compleat Collection of 200 of the most celebrated Country Dances both Old and New, Vol. 1) — but the music they give is a different tune (for one thing it is a jig, not a reel). The following is an attempt to understand Wilson's DOUBLE FIGURE which is the basis of the Scottish Country Dance. In An Analysis of Country Dancing Wilson defines some of the terms he uses. A "whole figure" is just a "full figure eight" (as you might expect, Playford uses the same phrase). Wilson does not explicitly define "whole figure contrary corners" in his first edition, but he does in his second on page 104 of the 2nd edition of the Analysis (1811). Rather awkwardly, Wilson provides two different (contradictory) directions. In the first "the 1s cross down, W1 in front of M1, W1 around M3, M1 around W3, then cross up, W1 around W2, M1 around M2, and return home". In the second the "1s cross up, W1 around M2, M1 around W2, then cross down W1 around W3, M1 around M3, and return home. Chain figure for four is also defined in the second edition, on page 76 and it is what anyone else would call rights and lefts. Wilson gives a very unclear definition of "allemande" it might be a modern gypsy, or a back to back (he defines neigther of these figures). He says the two people doing the allemande walk in circles around one another, he does not mention taking hands, he does not say how their faces are oriented. |
RSCDS Book 22, 1963
| Balmoral Strathspey | John A. Charles, Kawerau, NZ., ~1963 RSCDS Book 22 |
RSCDS Book 24, 1968
| Saint Andrew's Day ~ RSCDS | Anonymous, date unknown† |
RSCDS Book 28, 1977
| The Cumbrae Reel | Anonymous, date unknown† |
RSCDS Book 29, 1979
| Fair Donald | Anonymous, date unknown† |
RSCDS Book 31, 1983 (Diamond Jubilee)
| The Diamond Jubilee | Robert M Campbell, Ontario, Ca., 1981 RSCDS Book 31 |
RSCDS Book 33, 1985
| Stuttgart Strathspey | Eberhard Müller, Denkendorf, Ge, 1982 RSCDS Book 33 |
RSCDS Book 36, 1990 (Frae A' The Airts, Vol. 1)
| Gang the Same Gate | Milton Levy, [Unknown City], 1990 RSCDS Book 36 |
RSCDS Book 39, 1996
| Swiss Lassie | Rosi Betsche, [Unknown City], ~1996 RSCDS Book 39 |
RSCDS Book 41, 2000
| Culla Bay | Ann Dix, [Unknown City], 2000 RSCDS Book 41 |
RSCDS Book 45, 2005
| The Dream Catcher | Eileen Orr, [Unknown City], 2001 RSCDS Book 45 | |
| The Fairbridge Reel | John Brenchley, [Unknown City], 1989 RSCDS Book 45 | |
| The Westminster Reel | Jeremy Hill, [Unknown City], 2005 RSCDS Book 45 |
RSCDS Book 48, 2014
| Lady in Red | Simon Scott, [Unknown City], 2004 RSCDS Book 48 | |
| A Summer Meeting | Irene Townshend, [Unknown City], 2014 RSCDS Book 48 |
RSCDS Book 49, 2015
| MacDonald of Keppoch | Chris Ronald, [Unknown City], 2015 RSCDS Book 49 |
RSCDS Book 53, 2023
| Niles Roberts' Farewell to Pasadena | Doug MacDonald, [Unknown City], 1991 RSCDS Book 53 |
Miss Milligan's Miscellany 1, ~1977
| Largo Law ~ Modified | Anonymous, date unknown† | |
| Largo Law | Anonymous, date unknown† |
Statistics
Number of dances published by city (or region)
| [Unknown] | 15 |
| London | 2 |
| Castle Menzies | 1 |
| Denkendorf, Ge | 1 |
| Kawerau, NZ. | 1 |
| Ontario, Ca. | 1 |
Number of dances published by semi century
| Unknown | 5 |
| 1700-1749 | 1 |
| 1800-1849 | 2 |
| 1950-1999 | 7 |
| 2000-2049 | 6 |
Number of dances by early publisher/devisor
References
| Castle Menzies | The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749. Found at the A K Bell Library, Perth |
| Thomas Wilson | A Companion to the Ball Room, London, 1816. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the British Library |
Scans of old dance manuals are scattered about the internet. The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, International Music Score Library Project, Scott Pfitzinger's Playford site, Richard Powers' website, Library of Congress, and The Library of Dance all provide primary sources. A number of other sites provide indeces of these sources: The Regency Dance site, The Library of Dance again, and my own site have all proven useful for finding old sources. Finally there is Robert Keller's index which does not provide sources directly but lists thousands of dances, the publications containing them, dates and a brief coded description of the figures. This last has proven invaluable for tracking down dances for which I had no complete sources.
And, of course, both the Scottish Country Dance Database and the Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary provide online descriptions of all the RSCDS books and often hint at early sources.
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.