Early Sources of RSCDS dances
None of the dances published by the RSCDS before book 13 were devised by the RSCDS, instead they were considered "traditional" dances. Many dances published in subsequent books fall into that category as well. I have tried to track down the sources of these dances and display here the earliest published versions of the dance's figure which I've been able to find.
In some cases the RSCDS mentions a source. Often I have found earlier examples of the dance. Sometimes I have been unable to find the RSCDS source and will present the earliest source I have found.
When I know the deviser, I mark the name in italics. In most cases for these old dances I only know the publisher.
When a dance source is marked with "†" it means I have been unable to verify the source of the dance, when it is marked with "‡" it means I have been unable to find any Scottish dance manual containing this dance (prior to 1924).
Hovering the mouse over a dance's devisor/publisher will (often) produce a popup containing the text of the original.By default the list below shows only traditional dances interpreted by the (R)SCDS. I believe that Book 34 (1986) was the last book to contain any traditional dances. Before Book 13 all (R)SCDS dances were traditional, but Book 13 contains The Reel of the 51st Division, the first published modern dance. No further modern dances were published until Book 22 (1963), and after that some books contained modern and some traditional dances until Books 31&34, which contains both.
At the end I have several tables of statistics.
Order by:
Include:
(R)SCDS Book Range:
Containing figure:
(R)SCDS dances originaly published in Dundee
(R)SCDS Book 3, 1926
| The Dashing White Sergeant - RSCDS | D. Anderson, Dundee, 1897 Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide The tune was composed around 1820 by Sir Henry Rowley Bishop. The RSCDS has trios alternately of 1 man and two women facing 1 woman and two men. This is (intended to be) the official RSCDS version, according to The SCD Dictionary at Ceilidhs it is danced slightly differently, with right hand turns instead of two hand turns, a right shoulder reel (or chain) rather than a left, and in the final pass through the 2s make arches while the 1s dive through. Note: this is completely different from the traditional contra dance with the same name.
|
(R)SCDS Book 13, 1945 (Victory Book)
| Ladies' Fancy | D. Anderson, Dundee, ~1886 D. Anderson's Ball-Room Guide I have not yet found a copy of Anderson's earlier work but this dance also appears in D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, of 1897, wherein he writes:
On page 117 Anderson claims to be the devisor of this dance. |
RSCDS Book 21, 1961
| Kingussie Flower | D. Anderson, Dundee, ~1886 D. Anderson's Ball-Room Guide I have not yet found a copy of Anderson's earlier work but this dance also appears in D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, of 1897, wherein he writes:
On page 117 Anderson claims to be the devisor of this dance. |
RSCDS Book 27, 1975
| Tayport Beauty | D. Anderson, Dundee, 1897 Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, he writes:
On page 117 Anderson claims to be the devisor of this dance. |
RSCDS Book 34, 1986
| New Scotia Quadrille | D. Anderson, Dundee, 1897 D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide The RSCDS attributes this dance to the New Enlarged and Complete Ball-Room Guide, but when you go to the National Library of Scotland's catalogue and request that book what you get is D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, The Solo Dance Guide appears to have a second title page claiming to be the New Enlarged and Complete Ball-Room Guide. Both are said to have been published in 1897 and I suspect they are indeed the same work. At any rate this dance is in the Solo Dance Guide. D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, he writes:
| |
| New Scotia Quadrille | D. Anderson, Dundee, 1897 D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide The RSCDS attributes this dance to the New Enlarged and Complete Ball-Room Guide, but when you go to the National Library of Scotland's catalogue and request that book what you get is D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, The Solo Dance Guide appears to have a second title page claiming to be the New Enlarged and Complete Ball-Room Guide. Both are said to have been published in 1897 and I suspect they are indeed the same work. At any rate this dance is in the Solo Dance Guide. D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, he writes:
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Miss Milligan's Miscellany 1, ~1977
| Abernethy Lassies | D. Anderson, Dundee, 1897 Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, he writes:
On page 117 Anderson claims to be the devisor of this dance. |
Miss Milligan's Miscellany 2, ~1977
| The Back O' Bennachie | D. Anderson, Dundee, ~1886 D. Anderson's Ball-Room Guide I have not yet found a copy of Anderson's earlier work but this dance also appears in D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, of 1897, wherein he writes:
On page 117 Anderson claims to be the devisor of this dance. | |
| The Royal Visit | D. Anderson, Dundee, ~1880† D. Anderson's Ball-Room Guide This may be in D. Anderson's Ball-Room Guide of ~1880, but it is not in his later work D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, which is all that I have access to. |
Statistics
Number of dances published by city (or region)
| Dundee | 9 |
Number of dances published by semi century
| 1850-1899 | 9 |
Number of dances by early publisher/devisor
| D. Anderson | 9 |
References
| D. Anderson | D. Anderson's Ball-Room Guide, Dundee, about 1886. May be found at Trinity College Library, Hartford CT, or the National Library of Scotland, or Cambridge University Library |
| " | Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, Dundee, 1897. May be found at Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart |
| " | D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, Dundee, 1897 |
Scans of old dance manuals are scattered about the internet. The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, International Music Score Library Project, Scott Pfitzinger's Playford site, Richard Powers' website, Library of Congress, and The Library of Dance all provide primary sources. A number of other sites provide indeces of these sources: The Regency Dance site, The Library of Dance again, and my own site have all proven useful for finding old sources. Finally there is Robert Keller's index which does not provide sources directly but lists thousands of dances, the publications containing them, dates and a brief coded description of the figures. This last has proven invaluable for tracking down dances for which I had no complete sources.
And, of course, both the Scottish Country Dance Database and the Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary provide online descriptions of all the RSCDS books and often hint at early sources.
This website is copyright © 2021-2026 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.