Parson's Farewell ~ Sharp
Parson's Farewell ~ Sharp 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 1911 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 2). Found in The Playford Ball. It is a Facing Couples dance. There is no progression in this dance. It is a multipart dance. The dance lasts 72 bars. It is in the key: D Minor.
Meet all, four slips to the left hand Back all, four slips to the right hand Men rise once, we. once rise all four times, turn each others wo. we. rise once, men once, rise all three times, turn each others wo. Meet all, lead each others wo. a D. to the left hand Change hands, meet again, take your own we. and to your places Men meet, cross right hands, then left, pass over, turn each others wo. with your right hand, cross to your place again, and turn your own we. as much with the co. hands Take your own by both hands, and meet with four slips, take the co. we. four slips to the left hand Meet again, take your own, and to your places Turn your own with your right hands, men cross and go all the S.Hey to the co. side, and turn your own Turn your own with the left hand, we. cross, go the S.Hey to your places, and turn your own
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 120 counts per minute. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color.
| I.A | 1-4 | All forward a double to meet, four slips steps left |
| 5-8 | Fall back a double, four slips right | |
| I.B1 | 1-2 | Men nod to each other and rise, then women |
| 3-4 | Rise and nod to opposite, corner, own partner | |
| 5-8 | Two hand turn opposite, skipping | |
| I.B2 | 1-2 | Women nod and rise, then men |
| 3-4 | Rise and nod to opposite, corner, own partner | |
| 5-8 | Two hand turn opposite, skipping | |
| II.A | 1-8 | All forward a double, lead opposite away, turn, lead back, fall back with partner |
| II.B1 | 1-4 | Men meet, take right, drop right, take left, pull-by, right hand turn opposite |
| 5-8 | That again, back home | |
| II.B2 | 1-4 | Women meet, take left, drop left, take right, pull-by, left hand turn opposite |
| 5-8 | That again, back home | |
| III.A | 1-8 | Slip in with partner, face opposite, slip out with opposite, slip back, slip back with partner |
| III.B1 | 1-2 | Partner right hand turn |
| 3-4 | Men cross by right, face partner | |
| 5-6 | Two changes of a circular hey | |
| 7-8 | Two hand turn partner half | |
| III.B2 | 1-2 | Partner left hand turn |
| 3-4 | Women cross by left | |
| 5-6 | Two changes of a circular hey | |
| 7-8 | Two hand turn partner half |
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=ParsonsFarewell
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
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.