Cheerily and Merrily ~ Sharp or Mr. Webb's Fancy ~ Sharp is an English Country Dance. It was published by John Playford (website) in 1651 in The English Dancing Master. It was interpreted by Cecil Sharp (website) in 1911 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 2). It is a proper 4 Couple Longways dance. There is no progression in this dance. It is a USA dance. The dance lasts 288 bars. It is in the key: F Major.
Lead up all a D. forward and back That again Set and turn S That again The 2. man and 3. wo. change places, the 3. man and 2. wo. change the first four and last four hands and go round Then change as before, and hands round as before Sides all That again Set and turn S That again First and last cu. meet your own, with the other four go back, first and last cu. meet, while the 2. slip up, and the 3, down First and last cu. hands and go round, while the other turn their own Then do the same again Arms all That again Set and turn S That again Men hands and go round We as much Ment the S. Hey, while the we do as much
The animation plays at 120 counts per minute. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color.
An online description of the dance may be found here.
I.A1 | 1-4 | Up a Double, back |
I.A2 | 1-4 | Up a Double, back (again) |
I.B1 | 1-4 | Partners set and turn single |
I.B2 | 1-4 | That again |
I.A3 | 1-4 | M2+W3 change, then W2+M3 change |
I.A4 | 1-4 | Circle four at ends |
I.B3 | 1-4 | W1+M4 change, then M1+W4 change |
I.B4 | 1-4 | Circle four at ends |
II.A1 | 1-4 | Right Siding |
II.A2 | 1-4 | Left Siding |
II.B1 | 1-4 | Partners set and turn single |
II.B2 | 1-4 | That again |
II.A3 | 1-4 | Ends meet partners, then turn and move in, while middles fall back and move diagonally to nearest end spot |
II.A4 | 1-4 | New middles circle four while new ends two hand turn |
II.B3 | 1-4 | Ends meet partners, then turn and move in, while middles fall back and move diagonally to nearest end spot |
II.B4 | 1-4 | New middles circle four while new ends two hand turn |
III.A1 | 1-4 | Right Arming |
III.A2 | 1-4 | Left Arming |
III.B1 | 1-4 | Partners set and turn single |
III.B2 | 1-4 | That again |
III.A3 | 1-4 | Men circle |
III.A4 | 1-4 | Women circle |
A1 | 1-8 | Ends and middles face, parallel right shoulder heys for four on the sides |
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=CheerilyAndMerrily-Sharp
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 © 2020 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.