The Corporation
Country Dances, Ancient and Modern

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.

Note: this is often different from the earliest dance with that name. The dance's name was often the name of the tune to which it was danced, and many tunes had multiple figures attached to them, so care must be taken.
Note also: there may very well be earlier sources than "the earliest published version ... which I've been able to find". Many early sources have been lost to the ravages of time, and others have simply escaped my notice. And in other cases the publication dates are uncertain, and which is earliest may be indeterminate.

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 devised by Henry Playford

(R)SCDS Book 5, 1929

Cold and Raw ~ RSCDS
Henry Playford, London, 1689‡
A new Addition to the Dancing Master

The RSCDS attributes this to the 9th edition to the Dancing Master.

This dance has a rather confusing history in the Dancing Master. In 1651 (the first edition) Playford called essentially the same tune "Stingo, or The Oyl of Barly". This dance had a completely different figure though.

Then in 1689 addition to the 7th edition he published two dances with different figures but the same tune: "Juice of Barley" and "Cold and Raw". In the 9th edition (1695) the dance originally titled "Juice of Barley" became "Cold and Raw". The original "Cold and Raw" disappeared from the 9th through the 16th editions, and then reappeared as "Cold and Raw" in the 17th edition (1721) while the "Juice of Barley" figure then vanished.

The RSCDS version appears to be based on the "Juice of Barley" figure.

Playford writes:

The 1. cu. go back to back with their Partners, and the 2. cu. do the same at the same time.
The 1. cu. take hands with his Partner and turn her round, the 2. cu. doing the same at the same time.
The two we. stand still whilst the 1. man goes round about the 2. wo. into the 2. man's place, and the 2. man goes round about the 1. wo. into the 1. man's place, then all clap hands, then all four take hands and go quite round, the we. doing the like.

Although Playford explicitly specifies a two hand turn, the RSCDS has chosen to do a right hand turn.

1-4All, partner do-si-do
5-8Partner right hand turn
9-12M1, passing in front of M2, goes right shoulder round W2 into M2's place, as M2 goes right around W1 into M1's place
13-16Clap and circle left four
17-20W1, passing in front of W2, goes right shoulder round M1 into W2's place, as W2 goes right around M2 into W1's place
21-24Clap and circle left four

(R)SCDS Book 7, 1931

Red-House ~ SCD
Henry Playford, London, 1695
The Dancing Master, 9th ed.

Playford writes:

The 1. cu. meet and set, and cast off into the 2. cu. place Then meet and set again, and cast off into their own places The 1. man cast off below the 2. man, and go above the 2. wo. into the 2. man's place, his wo. folloing him at the same time Then the 2. wo. cast up above the 1. wo. and go below the 1. man into her own place, the 1. man following her at the same time Then the 1. cu. and 2. man go the Hey till they come into their own places Then the 1. cu. and 2. wo. go the Hey on the other side, and so cast off into the 2. cu. place

(R)SCDS Book 11, 1936

Dainty Davie ~ RSCDS
Henry Playford, London, 1701
The Dancing Master, 11th ed.

The RSCDS attributes this figure to Walsh (who did print it in The Compleat Country Dancing Master in 1718, but Playford published it considerably earlier. Playford (and Walsh) spell the title "Dainty Davy" rather than "Davie".

Playford's music is a 32 bar reel rather than a 16 bar strathspey.

Playford writes:

The 1. cu. clap hands and cross over below the 2. cu. and turn to your own sides The 2. cu. do the same The 1. cu. cross over below the 2. cu. and Figure through the 3d. cu then Figure through the 1. cu. and turn in the 2. cu. place Each Strain twice.

Clearly having the 1s figure eight through the 1. cu. is a misprint, presumably the 2s are meant (or perhaps the couple now standing in the 1s place - which is the 2s)

RSCDS Book 30, 1981

The Guidman of Balangigh
Henry Playford, London, 1696
The second Part of the Dancing Master
Playford writes:

Note: Each Strain is to be play'd twice over.

The 1. cu lead down between the 2. cu. and cast up into their places, then the 1. man take the 2. man with his right hand and lead through between the two we. and come into their own places. This to the first Strain play'd once
The 2. cu lead up through the 1. cu. and cast off into their own places, and the 1. wo. and 2. wo. lead through between the two men, and cast off into their own places. This to the first Strain play'd twice The 1. man set to the 2. wo. then fall back and turn S. the 1. wo. do the like to the 2. man, then all four hands half round, then set to your Partners and change to your own sides.

This is basically the same as Sharp's interpretation except that the "Women lead through Men" and "2s lead through 1s" have been switched, and both corners set rather than the 1s setting to their corners in B1.

The tune, called Hunt the Squirrel, was published in a later edition of The Dancing Master. It was performed by Bare Necessities (Earl Gaddis, Mary Lea, Peter Barnes, and Jacqueline Schwab) on the album A Playford Ball. The music is used with permission from the Country Dance Society, Boston Centre, Inc.

RSCDS Book 31, 1983 (Diamond Jubilee)

Scotland ~ RSCDS
Henry Playford, London, 1698
The Dancing Master, 10th ed.

Playford's music is a slip-jig consisting of two 4 bar strains, both repeated.

Playford writes:

First man take the 2. man by the right hand, and turn a turn and a half, the 1 and 2 wo. do the same at the same time till they come into the 2. cu. place, back to back with your own, then turn your own, and back to back, sides-men go without-side the we. and come between them a quarter Figure, turn S. we. do the like
Note: Each Strain is to be play'd twice over.

Interesting the the RSCDS is unwilling to use a turn single...

Statistics

Number of dances published by city (or region)

London5

Number of dances published by semi century

1650-16994
1700-17491

Number of dances by early publisher/devisor

Henry Playford5

References

Henry PlayfordA new Addition to the Dancing Master, London, 1689
"The Dancing Master, 9th ed., London, 1695
"The second Part of the Dancing Master, London, 1696
"The Dancing Master, 10th ed., London, 1698
"The Dancing Master, 11th ed., London, 1701

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
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.