Dick's Maggot ~ Sharp, 24 bars
Dick's Maggot ~ Sharp, 24 bars is an English Country Dance. It was published by Henry Playford (website) in 1702 in Twenty Four New Country Dances. It was interpreted by Cecil Sharp (website) in 1922 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 6). It is a proper Duple Minor dance. The minor set lasts 24 bars.
For some reason Sharp published two different versions of Dick's Maggot; this one has 2 B parts and takes 24 bars, the other has 1 B and takes 16 bars. This is the one found in my copy of The Country Dance Book (Part 6); the other interpretation can be found in The English Country Dance, Graded Series Vol. 7 or online at The Round. Playford calls for a single B.
Playford writes:
The 1. cu. cross over, and the 2. cu. casts off Then change places across Then cast up in your own places, and back to back, then Right and Left and turn
Pat Shaw claims that Cecil Sharp's interpreation of this dance is more like "Double the Cape" and that his interpretation of that dance is more like "Dick's Maggot". Both are to the same tune. And the figures are very similar.
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.
| A1 | 1-2 | 1s cross (w/ hands) and lead down as 2s cast up |
| 3-4 | Balance back, cross over | |
| A2 | 1-2 | 2s cross (w/ hands) and lead down as 1s cast up |
| 3-4 | Partner back to back | |
| B1 | 1-4 | Face partner, four changes of a circular hey (no hands) |
| 5-8 | Partner two hand turn twice | |
| B2 | 1-4 | Circular hey, 3 changes (go long on last change and loop back) |
| 5-8 | Partner two hand turn twice |
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=DicksMaggot-24bar
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 © 2021-2025 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.