Up a double, Siding, Arming
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 originaly published between 1700 and 1749

(R)SCDS Book 6, 1930

Lennox Love to Blantyre
Anonymous, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, ~1730
Holmain MS

(R)SCDS Book 7, 1931

Lady Mary Menzie's Reel ~ RSCDS
Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749
The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies
Menzies Rant ~ RSCDS
Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749
The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies
The Priest and his Books
Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749
The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies
Ye'll Aye Be Welcome Back Again ~ RSCDS
Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749
The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies
Ye're Welcome Charly Stuart
Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749
The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies

(R)SCDS Book 8, 1932

The Bleu Ribbon ~ RSCDS
Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749
The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies
Braes of Athol ~ RSCDS
Walsh, London, 1731
The Compleat Country Dancing Master vol 1
Lassie Wi' the Yellow Coatie
Johnson, London, 1742
A Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, Vol. 2nd

(R)SCDS Book 9, 1934

The Birks of Abergeldie
Anonymous, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, ~1730
Holmain MS
Cauld Kail
Anonymous, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, ~1730
Holmain MS
Miss Clemy Stewart's Reel - RSCDS
Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749
The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies

(R)SCDS Book 10, 1935

General Stuart's Reel
Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749
The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies
The Infare ~ RSCDS
Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749
The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies
The Montgomeries' Rant
Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749
The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies

(R)SCDS Book 11, 1936

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

(R)SCDS Book 12, 1938

Fiddle Faddle ~ RSCDS
Walsh, London, 1735
Caledonian Country Dances with a Thorough Bass for the Harpsicord, 3rd Ed.
Green Grow the Rashes ~ RSCDS
Walsh, London, ~1740
The Compleat Country Dancing-Master Book 1, 4th Ed.
Jenny Dang the Weaver
Johnson, London, ~1742‡
A Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, Vol. 2nd
Kiss Me Quick, My Mither's Coming
Walsh, London, 1740
The Compleat Country Dancing-Master Book 2, 3rd Ed.
The Reel of Glamis ~ RSCDS
Walsh, London, ~1735
Caledonian Country Dances, 2d Edition
Sodger Laddie ~ RSCDS
Walsh, London, 1731
The Compleat Country Dancing Master vol 1
The Yellow-Haired Laddie
Walsh, London, ~1737
Caledonian Country Dances. Book the Second

(R)SCDS Book 15, 1949

Argyll's Bowling Green
Anonymous, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, ~1730
Holmain MS
This Is No' My Ain House
Anonymous, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, ~1730†
Holmain MS

RSCDS Book 17, 1953 (Coronation Book)

Miss Heyden
Anonymous, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, ~1730
Holmain MS

RSCDS Book 18, 1955

The Lassies of Dunse ~ RSCDS
Johnson, London, 1742
A Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, Vol. 2nd
The Sutters of Selkirk
Walsh, London, ~1735
Caledonian Country Dances, 2d Edition

RSCDS Book 28, 1977

Bonnie Lass ~ RSCDS
John Young, London, 1710
The Dancing Master, Vol. the Second
Mrs. Hill's Delight
Nathaniel Kynaston, London, 1710
Pretty Polly ~ RSCDS
John Young, London, 1710
The Dancing Master, Vol. the Second
A Trip O'er the Tweed
John Young, London, 1710
The Dancing Master, Vol. the Second

RSCDS Book 29, 1979

The Charmer - Walsh ~ RSCDS
Walsh, London, 1717
The Second Book of the Compleat Country Dancing-Master
Lord Kilmory's Delight ~ RSCDS
Walsh, London, 1710
Twenty Four New Country Dances for the year 1710
Ross Meor ~ RSCDS
Walsh, London, 1735
Caledonian Country Dances, 2d Edition
Well Done Jack ~ RSCDS
Nathaniel Kynaston, London, 1718
Walsh's Twenty Four New Country Dances for the Year 1718

RSCDS Book 30, 1981

The Highland Lass ~ RSCDS
John Young, London, 1718
The Dancing Master, Vol. the Second, 3rd ed.

RSCDS Book 34, 1986

Couteraller's Rant ~ RSCDS
Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749
The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies
Glasgow Lasses - RSCDS
Walsh, London, 1748
Caledonian Country Dances Vol. II Part 1
Open the Door to Three - Menzies
Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749
The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies

Statistics

Number of dances published by city (or region)

London22
Castle Menzies12
Dumfriesshire, Scotland6

Number of dances published by semi century

1700-174940

Number of dances by early publisher/devisor

Walsh12
Castle Menzies12
Anonymous6
John Young4
Johnson3
Nathaniel Kynaston2
Henry Playford1

References

AnonymousHolmain MS, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, about 1730
Castle MenziesThe Register of Dances at Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749. Found at the A K Bell Library, Perth
JohnsonA Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, Vol. 2nd, London, 1742. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow.
Nathaniel KynastonWalsh's Twenty Four New Country Dances for the Year 1718, London, 1718. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the British Library
Henry PlayfordThe Dancing Master, 11th ed., London, 1701
John YoungThe Dancing Master, Vol. the Second, London, 1710
WalshTwenty Four New Country Dances for the year 1710, London, 1710. I don't know where to find it.
"The Second Book of the Compleat Country Dancing-Master, London, 1717
"The Compleat Country Dancing Master vol 1, London, 1731. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the British Library
"Caledonian Country Dances with a Thorough Bass for the Harpsicord, 3rd Ed., London, 1735. I don't know where to find it.
"Caledonian Country Dances, 2d Edition, London, about 1735. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
"Caledonian Country Dances. Book the Second, London, about 1737. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
"The Compleat Country Dancing-Master Book 1, 4th Ed., London, about 1740. Robert Keller's site says this may be found in the Birmingham University Library
"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
"Caledonian Country Dances Vol. II Part 1, London, 1748
John YoungThe Dancing Master, Vol. the Second, 3rd ed., London, 1718. 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
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.