Greenwood

The Huntsman

Greenwood or The Huntsman is an English Country Dance. It was found in the Lovelace Manuscript (written somewhere around the 1640s) and later published in The English Dancing Master. It was interpreted by Cecil Sharp (website) in 1916 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 4). It is a 3 Couple Longways dance with the 2s improper. There is no progression in this dance. It is a multipart dance. The dance lasts 240 bars.

Lovelace writes:

Let them stand in this posture here over head, and note also that the double prickes stand for men, and the single for woemen,

and then standing soe they shall leade up towards each other, and then backe againe, and then that person that stands in the middle, be it either man, or woman, shall congee to both that shall be next unto him, first on the right hand, and then on the left, and then all turne halfe round with their faces from each other, and then holding hands shall leade up that way, and backe agayne, then the midle must congee againe first on the left hand and then on the right, and then turne round againe as they stood at first, and then they shall dance their hays, all ways as you may 3: or 4: or 5 times, and then all into you places after you have dancd it as many ways as you can;

Noe fading at all but leade up up againe the same way both forwards and backwards like as before, then three shall take hands, and goe round once, and then backe againe into their places, the other three doeing that like at the same time, and having done it soe all manner of ways like before the hayes, which in three in one company, and three in the other then every man shall return/retire to his place;

Playford writes:
Meet all back again, set and turn S. Lead from each other, change hands, meet again, set and turn S.
The middle cu. sides, while the two men side with each other, and the two we. sides, set and turn S. As much with the we. on their right hands, set and turn S. ·:
Meet all as at the first Arms all as you sided ·:
Meet all as at first Each three as you stand hands and go round, set and turn S The middle man take the two on his left hand and go round, while the other do the like, set and turn S As much with the two on the right hand, the other doing the like
Meet as at the first Then the S. Hey all as you handed round
Meet as at the first ·: Men hands and go round, set and turn S. ·: We. as much ·: :
Meet all as at the first Men the S Hey ·: We. as much ·: ·:
Meet all as at the first

Playford's little picture of the arrangement of the set shows the 2s improper.

I have taken the liberty of making several changes to Sharp's interpretation:

• Sharp has Part II A3,A4 be arm right and A5 arm left, to me this seems unlikely. Arming usually is first right then left, so I think a RLR pattern more likely. Playford is not helpful here, he says "arms all as you sided" and the siding does not specify a left or right either.
• In Part IV.A4 Sharp has W1 pass M2 by the right shoulder, personally I think a right shoulder cross with M1 is more in keeping with the hey, after all he says she passes between the men, which she does not if she passes M2 right.
• He makes a similar confusing statement in the heys in Part IV.

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.A11-4Lines of three lead in, fall back
5-8Partner set and turn single
I.A21-4M2 leads women 1+3 out a double, turns, and leads back
5-8Partner set and turn single
I.A31-42s side right as do other men and other women
5-8Partner set and turn single
I.A41-41s+2s side left with neighbor, 3s with partner
5-8Partner set and turn single
9-122s+3s side right with neighbor, 1s with partner
I.A51-4Partner set and turn single
II.A11-4Lines of three lead in, fall back
5-8Partner set and turn single
II.A21-4M2 leads women 1+3 out a double, turns, and leads back
5-8Partner set and turn single
II.A31-42s arm right as do other men and other women
5-8Partner set and turn single
II.A41-41s+2s arm left with neighbor, 3s with partner
5-8Partner set and turn single
II.A51-42s+3s arm right with neighbor, 1s with partner
5-8Partner set and turn single
III.A11-4Lines of three lead in, fall back
5-8Partner set and turn single
III.A21-4M2 leads women 1+3 out a double, turns, and leads back
5-8Partner set and turn single
III.A31-4Same sex circle three on the sides
5-8Partner set and turn single
III.A41-41s+M2, 3s+W2 circle three
5-8Partner set and turn single
III.A51-41s+W2, 3s+M2 circle three
5-8Partner set and turn single
IV.A11-4Lines of three lead in, fall back
5-8Partner set and turn single
IV.A21-4M2 leads women 1+3 out a double, turns, and leads back
5-8Partner set and turn single
IV.A31-8Right shoulder heys for three on the sides, W1+M2, W2+M3 starting
IV.A41-8Right shoulder heys on the right diagonals, W1+M2, W2+M3 starting
IV.A51-8Left shoulder heys on the left diagonals, M1+W2, M2+W3 starting
V.A11-4Lines of three lead in, fall back
5-8Partner set and turn single
V.A21-4M2 leads women 1+3 out a double, turns, and leads back
5-8Partner set and turn single
V.A31-4W2 to center, men circle three around her
5-8Partner set and turn single
V.A41-4M2 to center, women circle three around him
5-8Partner set and turn single
VI.A11-4Lines of three lead in, fall back
5-8Partner set and turn single
VI.A21-4M2 leads women 1+3 out a double, turns, and leads back
5-8Partner set and turn single
VI.A31-8W2 falls back, M2 crosses the set to start a right shoulder hey for three with the other men
VI.A41-8M2 falls back, W2 crosses the set to start a right shoulder hey for three with the other women
VI.A51-4Lines of three lead in, fall back
5-8Partner set and turn single
VI.A61-4M2 leads women 1+3 out a double, turns, and leads back
5-8Partner set and turn single

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=Greenwood

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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
Creative Commons License 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.