Confesse, his Tune ~ Cecil Sharp
The Court Lady ~ Cecil Sharp
Confesse, his Tune ~ Cecil Sharp or The Court Lady ~ Cecil Sharp is an English Country Dance. It was published by John Playford (website) in 1651 in The English Dancing Master, London. It was interpreted by Cecil Sharp (website) in 1912 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 3). It is a Custom3 dance. There is no progression in this dance. It is a multipart dance. The dance lasts 96 bars. It is in the key: G Minor.
Playford writes:
Men all a D. Back again That again Men go between the we. on your left hand, leading them from the other, change hands, meet again, turn them you meet Lead your own wo. from each other, meet again, turn them as you meet Go all cross the Room to the left hand Back again One man go forwards alone, take one wo. with one hand, then the other, hands all four and go round The other as much Go all cross the Room to the right hand Back again The two we. at each end lead to each wall, while one man goes up and the other down, the three we. meet, hands and go round, men turning S. Go all as before, men hands and go round, we. turning S Meet all as at first The men lead the we. at one end to the wall and back, while the other we. go up on the outside, and come each under the others arms and turn each other, men turning each a wo. as much with the other we.
In The English Dancing Master Playford provides two titles for this dance: Confesse his Tune in the table of contents, and Confesse on the dance's description, after 1670 he provides a third name: The Court Lady. The Playford Ball calls it Confess. Mr. Confesse was a dancing master from the seventeenth century.
The version found in The Playford Ball is attributed to Sharp, but is actually William Palmer's. This version is Sharp's.
Playford prints a stock picture for a 3 couple longways set, but it is clear from reading the text that this is not the actual arrangement, and the center dancers should be men, with the sides as women.
The tune was published by Playford in 1651 with a dance of the same name, and the music was synthesized by Colin Hume's software.
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 | In a double and fall back |
| 5-8 | That again | |
| I.B1 | 1-4 | Centers lead two on their left away (up or down), turn alone, lead back |
| 5-8 | Centers two hand turn once and a three quarters as side four turn once | |
| I.B2 | 1-4 | Centers lead original partners out, turn alone, lead back |
| 5-8 | All two hand turn opposite | |
| II.A | 1-4 | Face men's wall, lead out two doubles |
| 5-8 | Turn alone, lead back | |
| II.B1 | 1-2 | Center on men's line and left corner balance back and forward make an arch |
| 3-8 | Others circle four around this center through the arch | |
| II.B2 | 1-2 | Center on women's line and left corner balance back and forward make an arch |
| 3-8 | Others circle four around this center | |
| III.A | 1-4 | Face women's wall, lead out two doubles |
| 5-8 | Turn alone, come back | |
| III.B1 | 1-4 | Side people lead opposite away, turn, lead back as centers move out, turn, move back |
| 5-8 | Sides circle four around centers, centers turn single right, then left | |
| III.B2 | 1-4 | Repeat: sides lead away, turn, lead back as centers move out, turn move back |
| 5-8 | Sides turn single right, then left as centers two hand turn | |
| IV.A | 1-4 | In a double and fall back |
| 5-8 | That again | |
| IV.B1 | 1-4 | Centers lead the person above them down a double, turn alone, lead back making an arch, while the other person in each line casts up and returns to place under the arch |
| 5-8 | Centers two turn the same person as the others two hand turn | |
| IV.B2 | 1-4 | Centers lead the person below them up a double, turn alone, lead back making an arch, while the other person in each line casts down and returns to place under the arch |
| 5-8 | Centers two turn the same person as the others two hand turn |
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=Confess-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 © 2022 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.