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 Book 2, 1925

Delvine Side
William Campbell, London, ~1800
Campbell's 15th Book of New and Favorite Country Dances & Strathspey Reels

RSCDS Book 16, 1951

The Birks of Invermay
Thomas Skillern, London, 1776‡
Skillern's Compleat Collection of Two Hundred & Four Reels and Country Dances
Fidget
Thomas Wilson, London, 1814†‡
Button and Whitaker's Twenty Four Country Dances for the Year 1814
Woo'd and Married and A'
Thomas Wilson, London, 1816‡
A Companion to the Ball Room

RSCDS Book 17, 1953 (Coronation Book)

The Gentle Shepherd
Anonymous, date unknown†

RSCDS Book 18, 1955

Lady Baird's Reel
Thomas Wilson, London, 1816‡
A Companion to the Ball Room
Leith Country Dance
Anonymous, date unknown†
Longwise Eightsome Reel
Hill MS, Aberdeenshire, 1841†

RSCDS Book 19, 1957

New Park
Bishop, London, 1788‡
Six New Minuets and Twelve Country Dances for the year 1788

RSCDS Book 20, 1959

The College Hornpipe - RSCDS
William Boag, London, 1797
A Collection of Favourite Reels and Strathspeys by the most Eminent Composers
Up in the Air
William Boag, London, 1797†‡
A Collection of Favourite Reels and Strathspeys by the most Eminent Composers
Village Reel
William Campbell, London, ~1793†‡
Campbell's Eighth Collection of the newest & most favorite Country Dances and Reels

RSCDS Book 21, 1961

Kingussie Flower
D. Anderson, Dundee, ~1886
D. Anderson's Ball-Room Guide
Loch Leven Castle
Anonymous, date unknown†
My Only Jo and Dearie, O ~ RSCDS
Thomas Wilson, London, 1816‡
A Companion to the Ball Room

RSCDS Book 22, 1963

Alyth Burn
Miss W R Webster, Perth, 1963
RSCDS Book 22
Balmoral Strathspey
John A. Charles, Kawerau, NZ., ~1963
RSCDS Book 22

RSCDS Book 23, 1967

Alltshellach
Elizabeth D Gilroy, East Lothian, 1967
RSCDS Book 23

RSCDS Book 25, 1970

The Chapman
Anonymous, date unknown†
Miss Isabella McLeod
Anonymous, date unknown†

RSCDS Book 28, 1977

Miss Shaftesbury's Fancy
Anonymous, date unknown†
Two to One
Anonymous, date unknown†

RSCDS Book 30, 1981

Hame Came Our Gude Man ~ RSCDS
Thomas Wilson, London, 1816‡
A Companion to the Ball Room

RSCDS Book 31, 1983 (Diamond Jubilee)

Autumn in Appin
John Drewry, Aberdeen, 1982
RSCDS Book 31
Clutha ~ RSCDS
Kate Hughes, Dundalk, Ireland, ~1867
Kate Hughes' Dancing Book

RSCDS Book 33, 1985

Bedrule
Betty Grant, Toronto, 1984
RSCDS Book 33

RSCDS Book 34, 1986

New Scotia Quadrille
D. Anderson, Dundee, 1897
D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide
New Scotia Quadrille
D. Anderson, Dundee, 1897
D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide

RSCDS Book 35, 1988

Argyll Strathspey
Roy Goldring, Leeds, 1985
RSCDS Book 35

RSCDS Book 36, 1990 (Frae A' The Airts, Vol. 1)

The Argyll Ludging
A. N. Shearer, [Unknown City], ~1990
RSCDS Book 36

RSCDS Book 39, 1996

Le Moulin Rouge
Liliane Chamoin, [Unknown City], ~1996
RSCDS Book 39
The New Virginia Reel
Anna Holden, [Unknown City], ~1996
RSCDS Book 39
Prince Charles of Edinburgh
Allie Anderson and Florence D Lesslie, [Unknown City], 1949
RSCDS Book 39
The Robertson Rant
Mrs. Douglas Winchester, [Unknown City], 1949
RSCDS Book 39

RSCDS Book 40, 1999

EH3 7AF
Roy Goldring, Leeds, 1999
RSCDS Book 40

RSCDS Book 43, 2003 (Golden Jubilee Dances)

The Queen's Quadrille
Alan MacPherson, [Unknown City], 2002
RSCDS Book 43

RSCDS Book 44, 2004

Crathes Castle
Ted Willitt, [Unknown City], 1999
RSCDS Book 44

RSCDS Book 47, 2013 (90th Aniversary)

The Mentor
Brian Charlton, [Unknown City], 2007
RSCDS Book 47

RSCDS Book 48, 2014

MacLeod's Wedding
Robert Coupe, [Unknown City], ~2014
RSCDS Book 48
The Tri-Mariner
Ann Dix, [Unknown City], 1993
RSCDS Book 48

RSCDS Book 49, 2015

The Library of Birmingham
Kenneth J Reid, [Unknown City], 2015
RSCDS Book 49
MacDonald of Keppoch
Chris Ronald, [Unknown City], 2015
RSCDS Book 49

RSCDS Book 50, 2016

Australian Ladies
Peter Fish, [Unknown City], 2014
RSCDS Book 50

RSCDS Book 54, 2025

The Tea Pottery
Duncan Brown, [Unknown City], ~2020
RSCDS Book 54

Miss Milligan's Miscellany 1, ~1977

High Road to Wigton
Anonymous, date unknown†
Lady C Bruce's Reel
Anonymous, 1801†
Ladies' Companion
Lady Glasgow
Anonymous, date unknown†
The Munro Rant
Anonymous, date unknown†

Miss Milligan's Miscellany 2, ~1977

The Carl cam' ower the Croft ~ RSCDS
Thomas Wilson, London, 1816‡
A Companion to the Ball Room
The Countess of Lauderdale's Reel
Anonymous, date unknown†
The Ladies of Dingwall
Anonymous, date unknown†
Lass o' Loudon
Anonymous, date unknown†
La Russe
Kate Hughes, Dundalk, Ireland, 1867
Kate Hughes' Dancing Book
The Seagull
Anonymous, date unknown†

Statistics

Number of dances published by city (or region)

[Unknown]29
London12
Dundee3
Dundalk, Ireland2
Leeds2
Aberdeen1
Aberdeenshire1
East Lothian1
Kawerau, NZ.1
Perth1
Toronto1

Number of dances published by semi century

Unknown14
1750-17995
1800-18499
1850-18995
1900-19492
1950-199912
2000-20497

Number of dances by early publisher/devisor

Anonymous15
Thomas Wilson6
D. Anderson3
William Campbell2
Kate Hughes2
William Boag2
Roy Goldring2
Thomas Skillern1
Ted Willitt1
Robert Coupe1
Peter Fish1
Mrs. Douglas Winchester1
Miss W R Webster1
Liliane Chamoin1
Kenneth J Reid1
A. N. Shearer1
John Drewry1
Alan MacPherson1
Hill MS1
Elizabeth D Gilroy1
Duncan Brown1
Chris Ronald1
Brian Charlton1
Bishop1
Betty Grant1
Anna Holden1
Ann Dix1
Allie Anderson and Florence D Lesslie1
John A. Charles1

References

D. AndersonD. 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
"D. Anderson's Ball-Room and Solo Dance Guide, Dundee, 1897
AnonymousLadies' Companion, 1801. I don't know where to find it.
"Hill MS, 1841. I don't know where to find it.
BishopSix 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 BoagA Collection of Favourite Reels and Strathspeys by the most Eminent Composers, London, 1797. I don't know where to find it.
William CampbellCampbell'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 15th Book of New and Favorite Country Dances & Strathspey Reels, London, about 1800. I don't know where to find it.
Kate HughesKate Hughes' Dancing Book, Dundalk, Ireland, about 1867
Thomas SkillernSkillern's Compleat Collection of Two Hundred & Four Reels and Country Dances, London, 1776. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow.
Thomas WilsonButton and Whitaker's Twenty Four Country Dances for the Year 1814, London, 1814. I don't know where to find it.
"A Companion to the Ball Room, London, 1816. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the British Library

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.