Keep the Country, Bonny Lassie - Boag ~ Williams is an English Country Dance. It was published by William Boag in about 1797 in A Collection of Favourite Reels and Strathspeys by the most Eminent Composers. It was interpreted by George Williams in 2024. It is a proper Triple Minor dance. The minor set lasts 32 bars.
In 1790 Longman & Broderip published a dance named Duke of Perth's Reel, but it has a different figure.
Rutherford published a dance named "Keep the Country, Bonny Lassie" in 1775, but with a different figure.
Pease Straw has an even longer history with Johnson publishing a dance of that name in 1744, but again with a different figure.
According to the Fletts (Traditional Dancing in Scotland, 1964, p. 247) William Boag was the first to publish this figure under the title "Keep the Country, Bonny Lassie".
First Cu Swing the Right hand and cast off one Cu: Swing the Left hand round Swing the Corners and your Partner each time Set Corners and turn lead outsides.
The Fletts also quote the Blantyre MS. (~1805), titled "Duke of Perth":
Hook right hand with partner — turn round — throw off a couple. Hook with partner with left turn round downmost Ladies with right partner with left uppermost Lady with right partner with left twice round, Sett cross pr reels.
The (R)SCDS claims this dance comes from J. P. Boulogne's The Ball-Room, or the Juvenile Pupil's Assistant; Containing the Most Fashionable Quadrilles, with Les Lanciers of Sixteen, As Danced in the Public & Private Assemblies in Paris, Glasgow, 1827, titled "Duke of Perth" or "Keep the Country, Bonnie Lassie".
- The first couple turn by the right hand and pass one couple, they turn left hands, the lady turns the second gentleman, and the gentleman the third lady; the first couple turn again with the left hand, the gentleman the second lady, and the lady the third gentleman, they turn half round. (16)
- Set at corners and turn. (8)
- Reel of three. (8)
Kate Hughes (in Ireland) recorded a slightly different version in 1867:
- The top couple turn by the right hand and pass one couple turn with the left hand
- The lady turns the seceaond gent and the top gent turn the seceaond ladie
- The first couple turn agin with the left hand
The gent turns the seceaond ladie and the top ladie turns third gent- Set to corners and turn
- Reell of three
J. F. Wallace, in ~1872, published:
- The first couple turn by the right hand and pass one couple; they turn with left hand, the lady turns the second gentleman, and the gentleman the third lady. The first couple turn again with the left hand, the gentleman the second lady, and the lady the third gentleman, turn half round, (16)
- Set at corners and turn, (8)
- Reel of three, (8)
D. Anderson, 1897 published something almost word for word from Wallace:
- The first couple turn by the right hand and pass one couple; they turn with left hands, the lady turns the second gentleman, and the gentleman the third lady. The first couple turn again with the left hand, the gentleman the second lady, and the lady the third gentleman—turn half round. (16)
- Set at corners and turn. (8)
- Reel of three. (8)
Note that by Blantyre's time the "lead out sides" has become a reel.
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.
The dances of George Williams (including interpretations like this one) are licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike: CC BY-NC-SA license.
1-4 | 1s right hand turn and cast down as 2s move up |
5-8 | 1s left hand turn to face 1st corners |
9-12 | 1s turn 1st corners right, partner left, end facing 2nd corners |
13-16 | 1s turn 2nd corners right, partner left, end facing 1st corners |
17-20 | 1s+1st corners set and two hand turn, 1s end facing 2nd corners |
21-24 | 1s+1st corners set and two hand turn, 1s end 2nd place opposite side |
25-32 | 1s lead out men's side, loop closest man, come inside women and loop them, finishing 2nd place proper |
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.
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The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. The interpretation is copyright © 2024 by George Williams. And is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2024 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.