The Haymakers ~ RSCDS is a Scottish Country Dance. It was published by Thompson in about 1770 in Thompson's Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, Vol II. It was interpreted by RSCDS in 1925 and published in RSCDS Book 2. It is J4×48 4C, a proper 4 Couple Longways dance. In this dance the couples are permuted by: 2341. J48.
The top Lady at A and bottom Gentleman at B advance, meet at F, Courtesy and Bow to each other, and then retire to places at A D; then the Lady at C and top Gentleman at B do the same: the top Lady and bottom Gentleman advance to the same Situation and swing with right Hands; the top Gentleman and bottom Lady do the same: then the top Lady and bottom Gentleman swing with left Hands; the top Gentleman and bottom Lady do the same: the top Gentleman and bottom Lady meet and turn with both Hands; the top Gentleman and bottom Lady do the same: then the top Lady and bottom Gentleman meet and Allemande round each other; the top Gentleman and bottom Lady do the same.
The top Couple at A B, bass each other at E, and cross over every Couple till they come to the Bottom, the Lady moving in Direction C D, and the Gentleman in the Line little c and d.* (Should the set be very long, they may cross over every other Couple, missing a Couple ever time; in crossing, the Lady passes in front of the Gentleman, that is, always passing the Gentleman on her Right Hand.)
The top Couple, by crossing over, will now be at the Bottom; they Cross Hands and Promenade up the middle, in the Lines c d; all the Couples follow them, beginning from the Bottom: the Ladies all follow the Lady that commenced the Dance in Line G; and the Gentlemen follow her Partner in the Direction H, by which means they all regain their Situations, except the Couple that begun the Dance, who will now be at the Bottom of the Room.
N.B. This Dance may be performed by any Number of Persons.
In A Pocket Companion, for Young Ladies and Gentlemen..., Smyth, 1830 calls the dance The Haymakers and writes:
The top Lady and bottom Gentleman advance to the middle, and turn by the right hand: the first Gentleman and last Lady do the same. The same couple repeat the same with the left hand, These again repeat the same by both hands. The first two advance and pass back to back, and return to their places. The other two do the same. The first Lady and bottom Gentleman advance, bow and curtsey, and return to their places; the others do the same. The whole chassé from top to bottom. the first couple half pousette with each couple till they reach the bottom of the Dance.
In Ball-Room Guide: A Manual of Dancing, H. D. Willock, 1868 calls the dance Sir Roger de Coverly, or The Haymakers and writes:
- The first lady and last gentleman turn by the right hand, then by left hand, then by both hands, the back to back, then bow and courtesy. The above movements are repeated alternately by the partners of the leading couples . . . 40
- Ladies cast off to right, gentlemen to left, meet at bottom; the first couple join hands, forming an arch, the others pass under to places . . . 8
The last part may be done thus:—
Ladies cast off to right, gentlemen to left, meet at bottom, and lead up,
First couple pousette to bottom.
In Kate Hughes's manuscript from Dundalk Ireland, 1867 it is also called "Hay Makers".
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.
An online description of the dance may be found here.
1-4 | W1 and last man right hand turn |
5-8 | M1 and last woman right hand turn |
9-12 | W1 and last man left hand turn |
13-16 | M1 and last woman left hand turn |
17-20 | W1 and last man two hand turn |
21-24 | M1 and last woman two hand turn |
25-28 | W1 and last man back to back |
29-32 | M1 and last woman back to back |
33-36 | W1 and last man curtsey and bow |
37-40 | M1 and last woman bow and curtsey |
41-44 | Top couple cast to bottom as others follow |
45-48 | 1s arch at bottom others dance up to progressed places |
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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https://www.upadouble.info/redirect.php?id=TheHaymakers-RSCDS
The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. The interpretation is out of copyright in the US, but I'm not sure of other jurisdictions. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2023 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.