Fain I Would ~ Sharp
Parthenia ~ Sharp
Fain I Would ~ Sharp or Parthenia ~ 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 1912 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 3). Found in The Playford Ball. It is a Square dance. There is no progression in this dance. It is a USA dance. The dance lasts 96 bars. It is in the key: G minor.
Playford writes:
The 1. and 3. cu. meet, the 2. and 4. falling back, the 1. and 3. cu. fall back four abreast, the 2. man and 4. wo. with the 1. cu. the 4. man and 2. wo. with the 3. the 1. man and 3. wo. the 3. man and 1. wo.
Lead all out, lead all in again, 1. man and 4. wo. the 1. wo. and 2. man change places by both hands, the other doing the like, then the 1. man 1. wo. and 2. and 4. wo. change by both hands, the other 4 doing the like then each man hands with the wo. on his left hand, lead out and in as before, changing places, back as before Arms and fall into the 4 and 2. places, whilest the 2. man and 4. wo. the 4. man and 2. wo. arms behind and fall into the 1. and 2. places The other as much As in Oxford.
Sides and change places as before Sides again and change places back again The 1. and 3. cu. cast off, and come into your places all again, the 4. wo. following the 1. man, the 2. man the 1. co.. the 2. wo. the 3 man, the 4. man the 3. wo. the uppermost and lowermost 4 hands round to your places The 2. and 4. cu. cast off, and the other follow to your places four and four of each side, hands round to your places. Arms and change as you sided That again to your places The 1. and 3. cu. meet, turn back to back, the other four hands about them, and go round to the right and fall into each others places, the 2. and 4. wo. into the 1. place, the 4. man and 2. wo. into the 3. place, the 1. man and 3. wo. to the 4. place, the 3. man and 1. wo. to the 2. place Other four as much
(The typography is odd, but I think the text in the right table cell at top is intended to flow into the right cell underneath it.
This dance, along with Dull Sir John and Hide Park, is described by Playford in 1651 as "A Square Dance for eight". On the other hand Newcastle , Mage on a Cree, If All the World Were Paper, etc. are described as "Round for eight".
Colin Hume suggests that the backward circles in III.B are probably not what Playford intended. He proposes that the inner dancers stand still.
The tune, Fain I Would, was published by Playford with the dance. It was performed by Bare Necessities (Earl Gaddis, Mary Lea, Peter Barnes, and Jacqueline Schwab) on the album At Home. The music is used with permission from the Country Dance Society, Boston Centre, Inc.
The animation plays at 94 counts per minute. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color.
| I.A1 | 1-4 | Partners lead out a double, turn, lead back |
| 5-6 | Corner two hand turn about half, ending in two lines on the sides | |
| 7-8 | Opposite two hand turn half, ending in square | |
| I.A2 | 1-4 | Current couples lead out a double, turn, lead back |
| 5-6 | Corner two hand turn half, ending in two lines on the sides | |
| 7-8 | Opposite two hand turn half, ending in square | |
| I.B1 | 1-4 | Heads forward a double as sides face, join hands in lines of four and fall back |
| 5-8 | Arm right with opposite, for side couples opposite is a the end of the line, end improper, sides in nearest head spot, heads in nearest side | |
| I.B2 | 1-4 | New heads forward a double as new sides face, join hands in lines of four and fall back |
| 5-8 | Partner arm left to home (head men cross the set) | |
| II.A1 | 1-4 | Partners side right |
| 5-6 | Corner two hand turn about half, ending in two lines on the sides | |
| 7-8 | Opposite two hand turn half, ending in square | |
| II.A2 | 1-4 | Current couples side left |
| 5-6 | Corner two hand turn half, ending in two lines on the sides | |
| 7-8 | Opposite two hand turn half, ending in square | |
| II.B1 | 1-4 | Heads cast in a circle back home and sides follow them |
| 5-8 | Heads and their followers circle four, all end home | |
| II.B2 | 1-4 | Sides cast in a circle back home and sides follow them |
| 5-8 | Sides and their followers circle four, all end home | |
| III.A1 | 1-4 | Partners arn right |
| 5-6 | Corner two hand turn about half, ending in two lines on the sides | |
| 7-8 | Opposite two hand turn half, ending in square | |
| III.A2 | 1-4 | Current couples arm left |
| 5-6 | Corner two hand turn half, ending in two lines on the sides | |
| 7-8 | Opposite two hand turn half, ending in square | |
| III.B1 | 1-2 | Heads lead in to meet, face out, form back-to-back circle |
| 3-8 | Heads circle right (clockwise), fall back to nearest side with opposite woman, while sides circle four around the heads and fall back to nearest head spot | |
| III.B2 | 1-2 | New heads lead in to meet, face out, form back-to-back circle |
| 3-8 | New heads circle right (clockwise), fall back home, while sides circle four around the heads and fall back home |
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.
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 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.