Catching of Quails
Catching of Quails is an English Country Dance. It was published by John Playford (website) in 1670 in The Dancing Master, 4th ed.. It was interpreted by Cecil Sharp (website) in 1912 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 3). It is a Square dance. There is no progression in this dance. It is a USA dance. The dance lasts 72 bars. It is in the key: G Major.
Hands all and two D. round Set and turn single That again First man faces with his own wo. and go ad D. back, she following him The second as much The third as much ·: The fourth cu. as much Sides all That again First man take his own wo. by the hand and shake it three times and go half round, she following him The second as much The third as much ·: The fourth as much Arms all That again First man put his toe to his woman's toe three times The second as much The third as much ·: The fourth as much
Playford (and Sharp) number couples clockwise. I have changed their nomenclature to match that of modern square dances with couples numbered counter clockwise.
The animation plays at 120 counts per minute. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color.
| I.A | 1-4 | Circle eight left, ... |
| 5-8 | ... and back by the right | |
| I.B1 | 1-2 | M1 moves in front of his partner and faces her |
| 3-4 | M1 followed by partner backs to center | |
| 5-6 | M4 moves in front of his partner and faces her | |
| 7-8 | M4 followed by partner backs to center | |
| I.B2 | 1-2 | M3 moves in front of his partner and faces her |
| 3-4 | M3 followed by partner backs to center | |
| 5-6 | M2 moves in front of his partner and faces her | |
| 7-8 | M2 followed by partner backs to center | |
| II.A | 1-4 | Partner side right |
| 4 | 1-4 | Side left |
| II.B1 | 1-2 | 1s shake hands three times |
| 3-4 | 1s box the gnat | |
| 5-6 | 4s shake hands three times | |
| 7-8 | 4s box the gnat | |
| II.B2 | 1-2 | 3s shake hands three times |
| 3-4 | 3s box the gnat | |
| 5-6 | 2s shake hands three times | |
| 7-8 | 2s box the gnat | |
| III.A | 1-4 | Partner arm right |
| 5-8 | Arm left | |
| III.B1 | 1-2 | M1 taps his partner's right foot three times |
| 3-4 | 1s move to their original place | |
| 5-6 | M4 taps his partner's right foot three times | |
| 7-8 | 4s move to their original place | |
| III.B2 | 1-2 | M3 taps his partner's right foot three times |
| 3-4 | 3s move to their original place | |
| 5-6 | M2 taps his partner's right foot three times | |
| 7-8 | 2s move to their original place |
If you find what you believe to be a mistake in this animation, please leave a comment on youtube explaining what you believe to be wrong. If I agree with you I shall do my best to fix it.
If you wish to link to this animation please see my comments on the perils of youtube. You may freely link to this page, of course, and that should have no problems, but use one of my redirects when linking to the youtube video itself:
https://www.upadouble.info/redirect.php?id=CatchingOfQuails
The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. The interpretation is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2021 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This website is copyright © 2021,2022,2023,2024 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.