Saint Martin's
Saint Martin's 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 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. The dance lasts 96 bars. It is in the key: A Minor.
Playford writes:
Meet all, two slips to the left hand, and two to the right, men turn single to the left hand and back again, while the We. turn the Co. way Meet again, change places, then change with your own and turn S. Men back a D. We. turn S. men cross over, taking left hands, turn the Co. We.with the right, and stay there We. go back, men turn S. We. cross over, handing right hands, turn your own with the left Meet all a D. change places, set and turn S. That again Men meet and stand, We. as much, hands all, four slips half round and turn S. We. meet, men meet, and four slips to your places and turn S. Meet all, take each others We. by both hands, two slips to the left, and two to the right, men cast off to yours, come to your places, We. following Back all, change places with your own, men cross about each other, and fall back to your first places, We. doing the like not turn your faces Men honour, We. honour, right hands across and go round We. honour, men honour; left hands across and go half round Fall all a brest to the presence.
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.A1 | 1-4 | Forward a double with partner, slip left, slip right |
| 5-6 | Turn single, men left, women right | |
| 7-8 | Turn single, men right, women left | |
| I.A2 | 1-8 | Change with opposite (slowly), change with partner, turn single |
| I.B1 | 1-2 | Men fall back a double while women turn single |
| 3-4 | Men meet, turn left half way | |
| 5-8 | Men right turn opposite woman once and a half, skipping | |
| I.B2 | 1-2 | Women fall back while men turn single |
| 3-4 | Women meet, turn left half way | |
| 5-8 | Women right turn opposite man once and a half, skipping | |
| II.A1 | 1-4 | Balance back, forward, change with opposite |
| 5-8 | Partner set and turn single | |
| II.A2 | 1-8 | That again: Balance, change, set and turn single |
| II.B1 | 1-4 | Men meet in center, women meet |
| 5-8 | Circle half (spiralling out), turn single | |
| II.B2 | 1-4 | Women meet, men meet |
| 5-8 | Circle half, turn single | |
| III.A1 | 1-4 | Forward a double, take hands with opposite, slip away from partner and back |
| 5-8 | Men followed by partners cast left in big circle back to place | |
| III.A2 | 1-4 | Fall back a double and change with partner |
| 5-8 | Men left back to back falling back into original place, women start after men pass, right back to back falling back to place | |
| III.B1 | 1-4 | Men honour partners, women honour partners |
| 5-8 | Right hands across | |
| III.B2 | 1-4 | Women honour partners, men honour partners |
| 5-6 | Left hands across half ending in a line facing up, 1s on the right | |
| 7-8 | Line forward, and honour presence |
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 © 2021 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This website is copyright © 2021,2022 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.