Hyde Park

Hide Parke

Hyde Park or Hide Parke 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). Found in The Playford Ball. It is a Square dance. There is no progression in this dance. It is a multipart dance. The dance lasts 72 bars. It is in the key: C major.

Playford writes:

First and 3. Cu. meet and fall back The 2. and 4. as much First and third men take their wo. by both hands, and meet side wayes, the first man take the third wo. by both hands, & slide through the 4. Cu. & cast off to your places, whilst the first wo and the thrid man do the like The 2. and 4. Cu. the same.

This as before The 2. and 4. man change places with their We. holding hands, whilst the first man and Wo. cross over, and going on the outside under their arms, come the man into the Wo. place, and the wo. into the mans place, the 3. Cu. doing the like Then the other four doing the like

This as before Men go on the inside of your own We. and on the outside of the next, and so round to your places Then the We. as much

This dance, along with Dull Sir John and Faine I would, 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".

The tune 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 109 counts per minute. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color.

I.A1-4Head couples forward and back a double
5-8Side couples forward and back a double
I.B11-2Head couples face partner, join hands slip to center
3-4Turn to face opposite, join hands, slip out (through sides)
5-8Cast back home
I.B21-2Side couples face partner, join hands slip to center
3-4Turn to face opposite, join hands, slip out (through heads)
5-8Cast back home
II.A1-4Head couples forward and back a double
5-8Side couples forward and back a double
II.B11-2Side couples two hand turn half way, form an arch
3-8Head couples cross by right, 1/4 outside set, through arch come together, join improper hands backup
II.B21-2Head couples two hand turn half way, form an arch
3-8Side couples cross by right, 1/4 outside set, through arch come together, join improper hands backup
III.A1-4Head couples forward and back a double
5-8Side couples forward and back a double
III.B11-8Men hey CCW around stationary women, passing partner in front
III.B21-8Women hey CW around stationary men, passing partner in front

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=HydePark

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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 © 2019 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.