An Old Man, a Bed Full of Bones

Playford says this is for "as many as will, but I think 3 couples probably best, it's very dull for the middle couples who just stand with the top and bottom couples show off.

Hmm. It might work even better with only 2 couples.

Lovelace writes:

Leade up once, & sett once, then that agayne, then the first man shall take his woeman by both hands and shall leade her down side long, allmost to ye bottome, very quickly, and then half way up agayne, and then leade her downe agayne; and turne her quite round, and leave her there, and then take up that woeman, in her steade, that was last before, after the same manner, that he carryed down the other; and then the last man shall bring up that woeman, and fetch downe his owne, just after the same manner, as it was done before, and doe you are all in your places;

Sides all 2, and sett twice, then the last man shall begin, and leade up his woeman to the top, and fetch downe the other as before was done, and then the first man shall carry her downe agayne, and fetch up his owne, all after the same manor just as it was done before;

Doe the first part over agayne, after halfe tune, just like as is described before, only at this, if you please, you may turne her arme over her head, and salute her, if you like your mate, when you turne her above, and below;

Playford writes:

Lead up all a D. forward and back , set and turn S. That again	First man lead down his wo. between the rest a D. forward and back, then lead her to the lower end and turn her and leave her Bring up the last wo. in the same manner Then the last man do the like to fetch his own.
Sides all, set and turn S. That again	This as before, only crossing both hands in the middle
Arms all, set and turn S. That again	This as before, holding your wo. by one hand, and let her turn under your arm, and kiss her

There are a number of differences between Playford and Lovelace, and I'm going to pick an choose as suits my fancy.

In the introductory figures, Playford consistently says "set and turn single" while Lovelace says "set once" after "up a double" and "set twice" after "sides all". I'm not sure why "set once". It doesn't fit the timing. I prefer "set ans turn single" to "set twice" so I will follow Playford on that.

Lovelace says the third part should be the same as the first, but I presume he intends it to begin with arming rather than another round of "up a double". Anyway, I'm going to use arming for the third part.

Playford wants the 1s to lead down a double, come back, and lead to bottom. While Lovelace wants the 1s to lead to bottom, lead up and then back down. It's a small difference, but Lovelace is freer with the timing which I think works better.

Playford says the second figure is just like the first except the dancers cross both hands (promenade position?) in the middle. Lovelace, on the other hand, says the figure begins with the last man rather than the first (and doesn't mention crossed hands). I like having the last man start.

Both agree that the third figure is the same as the first except that instead of a two hand turn, the woman turns under the arm and then Playford says "kiss" and Lovelace "salute". (Sharp interprets both kiss and salute as "honour", but he was a bit of a prude).

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