Meg Merrilees ~ MS3860

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Meg Merrilees ~ MS3860 is an old Scottish Country Dance. It was devised by MS3860 in about 1825 and published in NLS MS 3860. It was interpreted by George Williams in 2026. It is a proper Duple Minor dance. The minor set lasts 24 bars.

Clementi published a dance of this name in London, but with a different figure (the book is undated, but Clementi published between 1798 and ~1828).

From The National Library of Scotlands' MS 3860:

1^st: G. turns the 2^d L. with the right hand; while 1^st: L. turns the 2^d Gentleman also w^t right hand
4 b

The same done back again each to each with left hands
4 b

These four join hands and down the middle all a:breast, or in a cross line:
4 b

At the bottom separate; wheel round, and up again also in a line
4 b

The 2^d: L. and 2^d G. forming the extremes of the line close up, at the top; [line hands four round]

These two Couple Poussette
8 b

In all
24 b

The Poussette is also described in that manuscript.

I'm not entirely sure what a cross line, but I'm guessing it means taking hands with the person on your left with your right hand, and using the left for the person on the right.

Found in J.P. Boulogne's The Ballroom page 43.

Bars

1. The first Lady turns the second Gentleman round with the right hand, and afterwards with the left; at the same time, the first Gentleman does the same with the second Lady, 8

2. Down the middle and up again, 8

3. Three and three, in a line, dance out and back again, 8

3. Turn to proper sides and four hands round, 8

Courtesy of the RSCDS archives
(and Mary Nisbet who went there for me)

In 1830 Smyth writes:

The two first couple figure partners first by the right and then by the left, all four down the middle arm in arm and up again, pousette and right and left.

The Lowes write:

First Lady swings the second Gentleman, first by the right hand, then by the left; at the same time the first Gentleman does the same with the second Lady; all four down the middle arm in arm, and up again, pousette, and right and left.

The Lowes' instructions suggest that the 1s must be improper though there is nothing specific in the text to confirm this.

In about ~1936 Maud Karpeles collected a dance of this name from Vermont and in it the 1s are improper. She published it in English Dance & Song

A Longways Country Dance

This dance is included in a printed collection of country dances belonging to a folk-fiddler in Vermont, who kindly allowed me to copy some of the material. The book lacks a title-page, but it is not of any great age— perhaps early nineteenth century. The dance-figures of "The Twin Sisters" were also taken from this book.

The following is a transcription of the notation:

Duple Minor Set

(First couple improper)"
B1B2

A1 1-4 First woman and second man turn with right hands, whilst first man and second woman do likewise.

5-8 As above with left hands.

All four stand in line, first couple in the middle, and link arms. All move down eight steps and fall back into original places.

First and second couples swing and change.

(It is hard for me to believe that a book which uses the term "duple minor" dates from the early nineteenth century. As far as I know that phrase was invented by Cecil Sharp in 1909.)

The animation plays at 120 counts per minute normally, but the first time through the set the dance will often be slowed down so people can learn the moves more readily. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color, however the border of each dancer indicates what role they currently play so the border color may change each time through the minor set.

The dances of George Williams (including interpretations like this one) are licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike: CC BY-NC-SA license.

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1-4	1s cross down to right turn 2s (M1+L2, L1+M2)
5-8	Same pairs left hand turns, ending in a line of four facing down, 1s (improper) in the middle of the line
9-16	Line of four lead down, drop hands, pull left shoulder back to face up, take hands, lead up and bend the line, ending close to partner
17-24	2s+1s poussette, 1s becoming proper

1^st: G. turns the 2^d L. with the right hand; while 1^st: L. turns the 2^d Gentleman also w^t right hand	4 b
The same done back again each to each with left hands	4 b
These four join hands and down the middle all a:breast, or in a cross line:	4 b
At the bottom separate; wheel round, and up again also in a line	4 b
The 2^d: L. and 2^d G. forming the extremes of the line close up, at the top; [line hands four round]
These two Couple Poussette	8 b
In all	24 b

		Bars
1.	The first Lady turns the second Gentleman round with the right hand, and afterwards with the left; at the same time, the first Gentleman does the same with the second Lady,	8
2.	Down the middle and up again,	8
3.	Three and three, in a line, dance out and back again,	8
3.	Turn to proper sides and four hands round,	8

A1	1-4	First woman and second man turn with right hands, whilst first man and second woman do likewise.
	5-8	As above with left hands.
		All four stand in line, first couple in the middle, and link arms. All move down eight steps and fall back into original places.
		First and second couples swing and change.