Dances in The Country Dance Book (Part 4) (Cecil Sharp, 1916)

An online copy of the original may be found here.

Table of Contents

A

Ay Me ~ Sharp		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916	Colin Hume	4 Couple Longways
Aye Me ~ Sharp		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916	Colin Hume	4 Couple Longways

B

The Beginning of the World		John Playford 1657 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball	Colin Hume	Circle as many as will
The Boatman ~ Sharp		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	3 Couple Longways
Bump her Belly		Playford (John Young) 1710 Cecil Sharp 1916		Triple Minor

C

Christ-Church Bells in Oxon		John Playford 1679 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball		Duple Minor
Cold and Raw		John Playford 1689 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball		Duple Minor
The Collier's Daughter ~ Sharp		Playford (John Young) 1718 Cecil Sharp 1916	By Request Bare Necessities	Triple Minor
The Coronation Day ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1698 Cecil Sharp 1916		Duple Minor

D

The Duke of Rutland's Delight (Triple)

Playford (John Young) 1718 Cecil Sharp 1916

By Request Bare Necessities

Triple Minor

E

Edinburgh Castle ~ Sharp		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball	Strong Roots Bare Necessities	3 Couple Longways
Epsom New Wells ~ Sharp		Playford (John Young) 1710 Cecil Sharp 1916		Triple Minor
Every Lad His Lass ~ Sharp		Playford (John Young) 1710 Cecil Sharp 1916		Triple Minor

F

The Fit's Come on Me Now

John Playford 1686 Cecil Sharp 1916

Duple Minor

G

Gelding of the Devil		John Playford 1657 Cecil Sharp 1916		3 Couple Circle
Greenwood		Lovelace Manuscript ~1649 Cecil Sharp 1916		3 Couple Longways

H

Halfe Hannikin ~ Sharp		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Assembly	Colin Hume	Circle as many as will
Harts Ease		Lovelace Manuscript ~1649 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball	Strong Roots Bare Necessities	Facing Couples
The Health The Health ~ Sharp#1 John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Colin Hume 4 Couple Longways The Health ~ Sharp#2 John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball Colin Hume 4 Couple Longways
Heart's Ease		Lovelace Manuscript ~1649 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball	Strong Roots Bare Necessities	Facing Couples
Heartsease		Lovelace Manuscript ~1649 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball	Strong Roots Bare Necessities	Facing Couples
Hit and Misse ~ Sharp		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	Facing Couples
Hit or Miss		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	Facing Couples
The Huntsman		Lovelace Manuscript ~1649 Cecil Sharp 1916		3 Couple Longways

J

Jacob Hall's Jig ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1695 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball	Simple Pleasures Bare Necessities	Duple Minor
Jenny Come Tie My Cravat ~ Sharp		John Playford 1687 Cecil Sharp 1916		Triple Minor
Jog On		Lovelace Manuscript ~1649 Cecil Sharp (mod) 1916		Duple Minor
Jog On, My Honey		Lovelace Manuscript ~1649 Cecil Sharp (mod) 1916		Duple Minor
Jogg On		Lovelace Manuscript ~1649 Cecil Sharp (mod) 1916		Duple Minor
The Juice of Barley		John Playford 1689 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball		Duple Minor

K

King of Poland

Henry Playford 1698 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Assembly

At the Ball Bare Necessities

Duple Minor

L

Lady Banbury's Hornpipe ~ Sharp		John Playford 1657 Cecil Sharp 1916	Colin Hume	Duple Minor
Lady Mary's Courant		Playford (John Young) 1710 Cecil Sharp 1916		Triple Minor
Lilli Burlero ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1690 Cecil Sharp 1916	More Favorites of the Boston Centre Bare Necessities	Duple Minor
Love Lies A'Bleeding		John Playford 1686 Cecil Sharp 1916		Duple Minor

M

The Maiden's Blush		Playford (John Young) 1710 Cecil Sharp 1916		Triple Minor
Maids Morris ~ Sharp		John Playford 1688 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Assembly	Colin Hume	Duple Minor
The Mary and Dorothy		Playford (John Young) 1726 Cecil Sharp 1916		Duple Minor
The Merry Wassail The Merry Wassail ~ Sharp John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball Colin Hume 4 Couple Longways The Merry Wassail ~ Sharp#1 John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Colin Hume 4 Couple Longways
Mock Hobby-Horse		Henry Playford 1698 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Assembly		Duple Minor
Mr. Isaac's Maggot ~ Sharp		Henry Playford 1695 Cecil Sharp 1916	Strong Roots Bare Necessities	Duple Minor
My Lady Winwood's Maggot ~ Sharp		Playford (John Young) 1726 Cecil Sharp 1916	Colin Hume	Triple Minor
My Lady's Courant		Playford (John Young) 1710 Cecil Sharp 1916		Triple Minor

O

Oaken Leaves		John Playford 1670 Cecil Sharp 1916		Square
Orleans Baffled		Playford (John Young) 1728 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball	A Playford Ball Bare Necessities	Triple Minor

P

Picking of Stickes		Lovelace Manuscript ~1649 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball		3 Couple Longways
Picking Up Sticks		Lovelace Manuscript ~1649 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball		3 Couple Longways
Pool's Hole #1		Henry Playford 1690 Cecil Sharp 1916		Duple Minor
Prince Rupert's March		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916		4 Couple Longways
Put on Thy Smock a Monday		John Playford 1670 Cecil Sharp 1916		3 Couple Circle

S

Scotch Cap ~ Sharp		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball	Strong Roots Bare Necessities	3 Couple Longways
Sellenger's Round		John Playford 1657 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball	Colin Hume	Circle as many as will
Step Stately Step Stately John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Ball Colin Hume 3 Couple Longways Step Stately ~ Old Style Progression, 7 Couple John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 7 Couple Longways Step Stately ~ Part 3, Quadruple 7 Couple John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Quadruple Minor Step Stately ~ Part 3, Triple 7 Couple John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Triple Minor Step Stately ~ Part 3, Whole Set 7 Couple John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 7 Couple Longways permutation: 2345671
The Symphony ~ Sharp		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916	Colin Hume	4 Couple Longways

T

The Temple-Change		Henry Playford 1698 Cecil Sharp 1916		Duple Minor
A Trip to Killburn		Playford (John Young) 1718 Cecil Sharp 1916	Colin Hume	Triple Minor

U

Up Goes Ely ~ Sharp

Playford (John Young) 1726 Cecil Sharp 1916

Triple Minor

W

The Whim		Henry Playford 1695 Cecil Sharp 1916		Duple Minor
The Whirligig		John Playford 1651 Cecil Sharp 1916 Playford Assembly		3 Couple Longways

Number of dances	Number of interpretations	Number with music
43	48	20

After being disappointed by the country dances which he could find still extant in England Sharp turned his attention to the various editions of The Dancing Master — and only them, he did not publish interpretations of any later works.

Sharp clearly felt that Country Dancing fell into a decline after about 1670:

A critical examination of these successive editions (of Playford) shows that the dance degenerated very rapidly during the period covered by them, and the large number of dance-manuals subsequently issued by Walsh, Thompson, Waylett, and others furthermore proves that this decline continued during the two following centuries...

—Cecil Sharp, The Country Dance Book part 5, 1918, p. 9

I'm not sure what his metrics were for this decline, but he was convinced of it. Perhaps he just didn't like duple or triple minor dances?

Dealing with Playford's text presents challenges which do not arise when you record a living tradition. Playford is sometimes consise to the point of obscurity, he did not seem to employ a proof reader and there are mistakes in his text (in that the figures he describe don't work together, or don't fit the music, etc.), and finally he used words whose meanings have now been lost.

Sharp had to do his best to figure out what was meant from these descriptions. And he did an amazingly good job of it too. Not always perfect. Now with 100 years of hindsight we know things he didn't, but if he hadn't started we won't have that hindsight.

Playford frequently says "Sides all". What does that mean? The concept of siding had died out in the Country Dance tradition around 1700 (the last Playford dance that used it was in 1670) and no one in England in 1900 knew. Sharp came up with an interpretation, and later in his life a different interpretation. We don't know if either is correct.

Or take the word "salute" Sharp interprets that as "honour" — which certainly fits the modern meaning of the word (a respectful greeting). But the Lovelace Manuscript makes it clear that "salute" meant "kiss" on the dance floor.

Look at Row well ye mariners, Playford describes the dance as:

Lead up a D. forwards and back · That again :

First man two slips cross the Room one way, the woman the other · Back again to your places :

Fall back both · Meet again :

Clap both your own hands, then clap each other's right-hands against one another's; clap both your own hands again, then clap left-hands, then clap both hands again, then clap your breasts, then meet both your hands against one-another · The same again, only clap left-hands first :

---

First man sides with the next wo. and his wo. with the next man, doing the like till you come to your own places, the rest following and doing the same.

The dance consists of two 16 bar parts. The first is well defined, but for the second we have only that people should "side" (whatever that is) with their neighbors and then (somehow) progress. Now siding is a move which takes 4 bars and leaves one where one started. It does not progress and it leaves 12 bars of music unaccounted for.

Sharp faced all these challenges and presented us with well over 100 danceable reinterpretations of Playford.

The various parts of the Country Dance Book are:

• The Country Dance Book (Part 1), 1909 — Country dances actually danced in England at the time.
• The Country Dance Book (Part 2), 1911
• The Country Dance Book (Part 3), 1912
• The Country Dance Book (Part 4), 1916
• The Country Dance Book (Part 5), 1918 — This is devoted to "The Running Set", an early form of Square Dance, and I have no animations of it.
• The Country Dance Book (Part 6), 1922

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.