Tom Pate

La Tempete ~ Reilley La Tempète ~ Whale#1 La Tempète ~ Whale#2 La Tempête ~ Hillgrove La Tempete Originale ~ Hofer Tempete ~ Carpenter The Original Tampete ~ Burnton The Tempest ~ Howe The Tempest ~ Washburn/Modern The Tempest ~ Squire The Tempest ~ Washburn Tom Pete ~ Howe Ted's Tempest The Tempest ~ Holden (Sicilian#1) The Tempest ~ Holden #1 Tempête ~ Liller Hart's Tempẽte Dance La Tempête ~ Bohn La Tempete ~ Henderson#1 Tempete Dance ~ Chivers The Tempest ~ Thompson Tom Pate La Tempête ~ Lowe (Original) La Tempete ~ Skinner La Tempête ~ RSCDS La Tempête ~ RSCDS 2x2

Tom Pate is an English Country Dance. It was devised by Joseph Binns Hart in about 1819 and published in Hart's Second Set of Quadrilles. It was interpreted by Sibyl Clark in 1954 and published in English Dance & Song. It is a Four Face Four dance. The minor set lasts 32 bars.

A history of this particular version of the dance may be found on the Contrafusion site. It was collected by Sibyl Clark and published by the EFDS in 1954. The EFDS says it had been danced in Northamptonshire for over 40 years.

This is supposed to have come to the UK from the continent, but the earliest source I have found is Joseph Hart's "Tempẽte Dance". The French word "Tempête" was somewhat mangled as it moved into English, sometimes it became "Tempest", and sometimes "Tom Pat".

In his Hart's Second Set of Quadrilles, Hart writes:

Form a line of 4, the 2 Ladies on the 2 Gentlemens right, 4 more opposite to the first 4, form lines of 4 behind the 2d. line as many as intend to dance.
FIGURE
The first 2 lines right and left, chassez across to the right and left with your partner, dechassez, in returning you go behind the 2d. Couple The Center 4 hands round, the outside couple's turn and back all 8 Set quite round to the right re set to your places, the top four lead through the 2d. line and begin the same figure with the 3d. line & so on to the bottom of the dance.

An even older version of the dance was published by Johann Heinrich Kattfuss in Leipzig in 1802 Choregraphie Oder Vollständige Und Leicht Falssiche under the title of "Der Tempẽte".

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.

The dance contains the following figures: hands across, mad robin, swing, back to back (and probably others).

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=TomPate

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The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. The interpretation is copyright © 1954 by Sibyl Clark. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2024 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This website is copyright © 2021-2025 by George W. Williams V
Creative Commons License 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.