The Merry, Merry Milkmaids
The Merry, Merry Milkmaids 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 1912 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 3). Found in The Playford Ball. It is a proper 4 Couple Longways dance. There is no progression in this dance. It is a USA dance. The dance lasts 120 bars. It is in the key: C major.
Playford writes:
Lead all a D. forwards and back, set and turn S. That again First and 3. cu. meet your own, slip between the other, take hands across and go round each four The other four as much Sides all, set and turn S. That again First man cast off, go to the lower end and stay, the rest following, the we. as much, set and turn S. All that back again Arms all, set and turn S. That again Men back, and go the S. Hey We as much
Playford (and Sharp) just say "men go the single hey". I added the stuff about right shoulder and left shoulder to make it symmetric.
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.A1 | 1-4 | Up a Double, and back |
| 5-8 | Partners set and turn single | |
| I.A2 | 1-4 | Up a Double, and back (again) |
| 5-8 | Partners set and turn single | |
| I.B1 | 1-2 | 1s+3s fall back, come forward |
| 3-4 | 1s+3s slip down inside, 2s+4s slip up outside | |
| 5-8 | Fall back a double and come forward | |
| 9-12 | 1s+2s, 3s+4s right hands across | |
| I.B2 | 1-2 | 2s+4s fall back, come forward |
| 3-4 | 2s+4s slip down inside, 1s+3s slip up outside | |
| 5-8 | Fall back a double and come forward | |
| 9-12 | 1s+2s, 3s+4s right hands across | |
| II.A1 | 1-4 | Right Siding |
| 5-8 | Partners set and turn single | |
| II.A2 | 1-4 | Left Siding |
| 5-8 | Partners set and turn single | |
| II.B1 | 1-4 | M1 cast to bottom, followed by other men |
| 5-8 | W1 cast to bottom, followed by other women | |
| 9-12 | Partners set and turn single | |
| II.B2 | 1-4 | M1 cast to top, followed by other men |
| 5-8 | W1 cast to top, followed by other women | |
| 9-12 | Partners set and turn single | |
| III.A1 | 1-4 | Right Arming |
| 5-8 | Partners set and turn single | |
| III.A2 | 1-4 | Left Arming |
| 5-8 | Partners set and turn single | |
| III.B1 | 1-4 | Men fall back a double and come forward |
| 5-12 | Men right shoulder hey for four on the side | |
| III.B2 | 1-4 | Women fall back a double and come forward |
| 5-12 | Women left shoulder hey for four on the side |
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=TheMerryMerryMilkmaids
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.