Winifred's Knot or Open the Door to Three is an English Country Dance. It was published by John Playford (website) in 1652 in The Dancing Master, 2nd ed.. It was interpreted by Cecil Sharp (website) in 1912 and published in The Country Dance Book (Part 3). Originally a 5 Couple Circle this version is a Circle as many as will dance. There is no progression in this dance. It is a USA dance. The dance lasts 216 bars.
Hands and two D. round, and set and turn S Meet again Men meet, back again, go all to the left-hand on the out-side of the co. we. Meet all again, back again, and go all on the out-side of the next we. Do all this till you come to your own plaes; then the we. as much.
Sides all, set and turn S That again As before, we. begining
Arms all, set and turn S That again As before, as at first
Sharp calls for a 6 bar A part, but the music in Playford is 4 bars. I presume this is why Sharp has left out the turn singles in the USA sequence.
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 | Circle left |
5-6 | Turn single left | |
I.A2 | 1-4 | Circle right |
5-6 | Turn single right | |
II.A1 | 1-4 | Right shoulder siding |
5-6 | Turn single left | |
II.A2 | 1-4 | Left shoulder siding |
5-6 | Turn single right | |
III.A1 | 1-4 | Arm right |
5-6 | Turn single left | |
III.A2 | 1-4 | Arm left |
5-6 | Turn single right | |
I,III.A3 | 1-4 | Men move in a double, and fall back |
5-6 | Men move left, outside of corner woman into next man's spot | |
I,III.A4 | 1-6 | All that again: men in a double, out, move left |
I,III.A5 | 1-6 | And again |
I,III.A6 | 1-6 | And again |
I,III.A7 | 1-6 | And again (men should be home again |
I,III.A8 | 1-4 | Women move in a double, and fall back |
5-6 | Women move right, outside of corner man into next woman's spot | |
I,III.A9 | 1-6 | All that again: men in a double, out, move right |
I,III.A10 | 1-6 | And again |
I,III.A11 | 1-6 | And again |
I,III.A12 | 1-6 | And again (women should be home again |
II.A3 | 1-4 | Women move in a double, and fall back |
5-6 | Women move right, outside of corner man into next woman's spot | |
II.A4 | 1-6 | All that again: men in a double, out, move right |
II.A5 | 1-6 | And again |
II.A6 | 1-6 | And again |
II.A7 | 1-6 | And again (women should be home again |
II.A8 | 1-4 | Men move in a double, and fall back |
5-6 | Men move left, outside of corner woman into next man's spot | |
II.A9 | 1-6 | All that again: men in a double, out, move left |
II.A10 | 1-6 | And again |
II.A11 | 1-6 | And again |
II.A12 | 1-6 | And again (men should be home again |
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=WinifredsKnot
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 © 2021-2025 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.