The Maid in the Moon
The Maid in the Moon is an English Country Dance. It was published by John Playford (website) in 1670 in The Dancing Master, 4th ed., London. It was interpreted by Cecil Sharp (website) in 1922 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 6). It is a 3 Couple Circle dance. There is no progression in this dance. It is a USA dance. The dance lasts 108 bars.
Hands all, and meet a D. back again That again One man take right hands across with the wo. against him, the second man as much, the third as much, go all round First man kiss the wo. he handed, the second as much the third as much, go all round. Sides all That again Take hands as before and go round First man kiss the wo. on his left hand, the second as much, the third as much, go all round. Arms all That again Take left hands as before and go round First man kiss his own, the second as much, the third as much, go all round.
Sharp uses different music for this dance than Playford does, the result being that he has added a "Set and Turn single" to the USA sections.
Sharp also doesn't like people kissing, and has turned that into an honour.
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 | Take hands, in a double and out |
| 5-8 | Partner set and turn single | |
| I.A2 | 1-4 | In a double and out |
| 5-8 | Partner set and turn single | |
| II.A1 | 1-4 | Right shoulder siding |
| 5-8 | Partner set and turn single | |
| II.A2 | 1-4 | Left shoulder siding |
| 5-8 | Partner set and turn single | |
| 9-12 | Arm right | |
| 13-16 | Partner set and turn single | |
| III.A2 | 1-4 | Arm left |
| 5-8 | Partner set and turn single | |
| I,II.B1 | 1-2 | M1 and opposite woman (W2) take right hands |
| 3-4 | M2 and opposite woman (W3) | |
| 5-6 | M3 and opposite woman (W1) | |
| 7-10 | Right hands across | |
| III.B1 | 1-2 | M1 and opposite woman (W2) take left hands |
| 3-4 | M2 and opposite woman (W3) | |
| 5-6 | M3 and opposite woman (W1) | |
| 7-10 | Left hands across | |
| 11-12 | M1+W2 honour (kiss) | |
| 13-14 | M2+W3 honour (kiss) | |
| 15-16 | M3+W1 honour (kiss) | |
| 17-20 | Right hands across | |
| 21-22 | M1+W3 honour (kiss) | |
| 23-24 | M2+W1 honour (kiss) | |
| 25-26 | M3+W2 honour (kiss) | |
| 27-30 | Right hands across | |
| 31-32 | 1s honour (kiss) | |
| 33-34 | 2s honour (kiss) | |
| 35-36 | 3s honour (kiss) | |
| 37-40 | Left hands across |
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=TheMaidInTheMoon
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.