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 Book 12, 1938
| Kiss Me Quick, My Mither's Coming | Walsh, London, 1740 The Compleat Country Dancing-Master Book 2, 3rd Ed. RSCDS Book 12 attributes this to Johnson's Caledonian Country Dances of 1748 but it appears earlier. Walsh published Kiss Quick Mother's A'Comeing (sic) in his The Compleat Country Dancing-Master Book 2, 3rd Ed. ~1740 Given that this is the third edition, the dance may well have appeared earlier but I don't have access to the earlier editions. Johnson republished it a few years later in his Caledonian Country Dances of ~1748. In 1735 Walsh a different figure named Kiss me fast my Mother's coming. The Merry Medley, 1749 published yet another figure named Kiss me quick my Mother's coming. Anyway in 1740 Walsh writes:
Music consists of two 8 bar strains both repeated. Note the kiss has been replaced by a bow |
RSCDS Book 19, 1957
| The Sandal | Thomas Wilson, London, 1813†‡ No. 21 of Button & Whitaker's Selection of Dances, Reels and Waltzes According to the the Regency Dance site Wilson devised, and Button & Whitaker published, a dance with this name but whether its figure matches the RSCDS's, I cannot say. Since the dance contains double triangles, it seems likely Wilson was its deviser. |
RSCDS Book 28, 1977
| Euan's Jig | Anonymous, date unknown† |
RSCDS Book 29, 1979
| Ross Meor ~ RSCDS | Walsh, London, 1735 Caledonian Country Dances, 2d Edition First published by Walsh in 1735, later by Johnson, and Wright in 1740, with more publications later.
The music is in cut time and consists of an 8 bar strain (repeated) and a 12 bar strain |
RSCDS Book 35, 1988
| Inverneill House | John Drewry, Aberdeen, 1986 RSCDS Book 35 |
RSCDS Book 42, 2002
| May Yarker's Strathspey | Roy Goldring, Leeds, 1995 RSCDS Book 42 |
RSCDS Book 43, 2003 (Golden Jubilee Dances)
| A Castle in the Air | Minnie Bänninger, [Unknown City], 2002 RSCDS Book 43 | |
| Fifty Years On | John Drewry, Aberdeen, 2000 RSCDS Book 43 |
RSCDS Book 47, 2013 (90th Aniversary)
| Welcome to Ayr | Jill Henricksen and Kathy Stewart, [Unknown City], ~2013 RSCDS Book 47 |
RSCDS Book 48, 2014
| Monica's Way | Gail Sibley, [Unknown City], 2007 RSCDS Book 48 |
RSCDS Book 49, 2015
| The First Rain of Spring | Wouter Joubert, [Unknown City], 2015 RSCDS Book 49 |
RSCDS Book 51, 2017
| The Somerset Children's Reel | Elizabeth Beckinsale, [Unknown City], 2015 RSCDS Book 51 |
RSCDS Book 52, 2018
| The Ullapool Ferry | Pat Houghton, [Unknown City], 2015 RSCDS Book 52 |
RSCDS Book 53, 2023
| Jennifer's Jig | John Drewry, Aberdeen, 1968 RSCDS Book 53 | |
| Pinewoods Reel | John Bowie Dickson, [Unknown City], 1970 RSCDS Book 53 |
RSCDS Book 54, 2025
| A Hundred Years Since | Peter Knapman, [Unknown City], 2023 RSCDS Book 54 | |
| Tullynessle and Forbes Hall | Edna Ewen, [Unknown City], 2008 RSCDS Book 54 |
Miss Milligan's Miscellany 1, ~1977
| Inveraray | Anonymous, date unknown† |
Statistics
Number of dances published by city (or region)
| [Unknown] | 11 |
| Aberdeen | 3 |
| London | 3 |
| Leeds | 1 |
Number of dances published by semi century
| Unknown | 2 |
| 1700-1749 | 2 |
| 1800-1849 | 1 |
| 1950-1999 | 4 |
| 2000-2049 | 9 |
Number of dances by early publisher/devisor
References
| Walsh | Caledonian Country Dances, 2d Edition, London, 1735. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh |
| " | The Compleat Country Dancing-Master Book 2, 3rd Ed., London, 1740. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the Birmingham University Library |
| Thomas Wilson | No. 21 of Button & Whitaker's Selection of Dances, Reels and Waltzes, London, 1813. I don't know where to find it. |
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.