

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:
| The Haughs O' Cromdale ~ RSCDS | Anonymous, date unknown† The RSCDS claims Wilson is the source for this dance; I have my doubts. He certainly wrote dances with this name, but if his work is the source, it has been so modified by the interpretation that almost nothing of the original is left. The second "single figure" seems the closest, but even it only shares half of the first figure... Wilson, on page 37, writes: SINGLE FIGURE (Each strain repeated) Wilson's music consists of 2 four bar strains, both repeated. Wilson's dance is not set to strathspey time. Wilson spells his title "The Haughs of Cromdale" rather than "The Haughs O' Cromdale".
|
| Peggy's Love ~ RSCDS | Thomas Wilson, London, 1816‡ A Companion to the Ball Room RSCDS Book 8 says this was "collected in Moray." Wilson, on page 54, writes: SINGLE FIGURE 1st strain repeated 2d. played straight thro' & D.C. Wilson usually gives multiple figures for each tune, the RSCDS appears to be following the DOUBLE FIGURE. Wilson defines most of his figures in his An Analysis of Country Dancing. |
| I'll Gang Nae Mair Tae Yon Toon | Thomas Wilson, London, 1825‡ Analysis of the London Ballroom The crib diagram attributes to Wilson, 1825. According to The Regency Dance site Wilson didn't publish anything in 1825. The Scottish Country Dance Database also gives a date of publication as 1825, but gives no devisor. Quite a number of people published dances named I'll gang nae mair to yon town but none matches the RSCDS figure: Thomas Wilson, 1809, Hime, 1810, Chivers, 1821, Chivers, 1821 (different work), J.P. Boulogne, 1827, R. Hill, 1830. |
| New Park | Bishop, London, 1788‡ Six New Minuets and Twelve Country Dances for the year 1788 |
| Miss Ogilvie's Fancy | William Campbell, London, 1795‡ Campbell's 10th Book of New and Favorite Country Dances & Strathspey Reels On page 24 of book 10, Campbell writes: The 1st. & 2d. Cu Poussette quite round to their own places Lead down the middle up again hands 4 round at bottom Right & Left at top. The music consists of an eight bar strain and a sixteen bar strain. I assume it is intended to be played AAB. Campbell spells the dance "Miss Ogleves Fancy". | |
| Village Reel | William Campbell, London, ~1793†‡ Campbell's Eighth Collection of the newest & most favorite Country Dances and Reels According to the the Regency Dance site Campbell did publish a dance with this name. Whether the figure matches I cannot check. |
| The Lea Rig | Anonymous, date unknown† | |
| My Only Jo and Dearie, O ~ RSCDS | Thomas Wilson, London, 1816‡ A Companion to the Ball Room In Wilson's A Companion to the Ball Room, 1816, (page 33) he published "My Only Joe & Deary O". Wilson writes: SINGLE FIGURE (Tune played straight thro') Wilson provides 2 eight bar strains, presumable played as reels not strathspeys. Wilson defines most of his figures in his An Analysis of Country Dancing, 3rd Edition.
|
| Neidpath Castle | Derek Haynes, Liverpool, 1963 RSCDS Book 22 |
| Alltshellach | Elizabeth D Gilroy, East Lothian, 1967 RSCDS Book 23 |
| The Fête | Anonymous, date unknown† |
| Auld Lang Syne ~ RSCDS | Thomas Wilson, London, 1816 A Companion to the Ball Room Wilson spells the title "Auld Langsyne". Wilson writes (page 113): SINGLE FIGURE (Each strain repeated) Wilson usually gives multiple figures for each tune, the RSCDS appears to be following the DOUBLE FIGURE. Wilson defines all his figures in his An Analysis of Country Dancing. |
| Miss Shaftesbury's Fancy | Anonymous, date unknown† | |
| The Star | Hilton MS, [Unknown City], date unknown† |
| Hame Came Our Gude Man ~ RSCDS | Thomas Wilson, London, 1816‡ A Companion to the Ball Room Wilson writes (page 42): SINGLE FIGURE (Each strain repeated) The music consists of two 4 bar strains. Probably played as a reel rather than a strathspey. The RSCDS is interpretting Wilson's DOUBLE FIGURE Wilson defines most of his figures in his An Analysis of Country Dancing, 3rd Edition.
|
| The Gentleman | Roz Scott Huxley, [Unknown City], 1986 RSCDS Book 35 |
| Mr. Robert H Mackay | Jürgen Munz, [Unknown City], ~1994 RSCDS Book 38 |
| The Wishing Well | Minnie Bänninger, [Unknown City], ~2004 RSCDS Book 44 |
| The Flower of Glasgow | Ruth Taylor, [Unknown City], 2010 RSCDS Book 46 | |
| Peggy Spouse MBE | John Wilkinson, [Unknown City], ~2010 RSCDS Book 46 |
| A Summer Meeting | Irene Townshend, [Unknown City], 2014 RSCDS Book 48 |
| Midsummer Common | Tom and Lindsey Ibbotson, [Unknown City], 2013 RSCDS Book 49 |
| Ruby Wilkinson's Farewell to Cranshaws | Alasdair Brown, [Unknown City], 2015 RSCDS Book 52 |
| Something in the Air | Pam Stephens, [Unknown City], 2019 RSCDS Book 53 | S8×32 2C/4C |
| Lass o' Loudon | Anonymous, date unknown† |
| [Unknown] | 15 |
| London | 8 |
| East Lothian | 1 |
| Liverpool | 1 |
| Unknown | 6 |
| 1750-1799 | 3 |
| 1800-1849 | 5 |
| 1950-1999 | 4 |
| 2000-2049 | 7 |
| Anonymous | Hilton MS, undated. I don't know where to find it. |
| Bishop | Six New Minuets and Twelve Country Dances for the year 1788, London, 1788. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the British Library. |
| William Campbell | Campbell's Eighth Collection of the newest & most favorite Country Dances and Reels, London, about 1793. I don't know where to find it. |
| " | Campbell's 10th Book of New and Favorite Country Dances & Strathspey Reels, London, 1795 |
| Thomas Wilson | A Companion to the Ball Room, London, 1816. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the British Library |
| " | Analysis of the London Ballroom, London, 1825. May be found at the Huntington Library, UC Berkeley Libraries, UNC Chapel Hill, Harvard University, New York Public Library, National Library of Scotland |
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.