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Let them stand in this posture here over head, and note also that the double prickes stand for men, and the single for woemen,

and then standing soe they shall leade up towards each other, and then backe againe, and then that person that stands in the middle, be it either man, or woman, shall congee to both that shall be next unto him, first on the right hand, and then on the left, and then all turne halfe round with their faces from each other, and then holding hands shall leade up that way, and backe agayne, then the midle must congee againe first on the left hand and then on the right, and then turne round againe as they stood at first, and then they shall dance their hays, all ways as you may 3: or 4: or 5 times, and then all into you places after you have dancd it as many ways as you can;

Noe fading at all but leade up up againe the same way both forwards and backwards like as before, then three shall take hands, and goe round once, and then backe againe into their places, the other three doeing that like at the same time, and having done it soe all manner of ways like before the hayes, which in three in one company, and three in the other then every man shall return/retire to his place;

Lovelace MS, ~1640 (The English Dancing Master)
	3 Couple Longways

The Hightway to Westminster

Leade up and sett, once more, then every man sett to his mayde; and then to his next fellow, and the maydes to theires; (like as the (2?) first men; and the 2 last men, the 2 first woemen, and the 2 last woemen) and then every (man) turne his mayd; then the last part of the tune is to be played agayne, and then that which was done last, must now be done fir(st?) let the 2 men, and the 2 women set together as before, and then set agayne all to (the) woemen, and then turne, men (the 2 firs(t?) and the 2 last men, the 2 first woemen, and the 2 last;) and after those 2 passes you must congee three times, and goe backwards; and the men and maydes chainge places, and then having congeed three times agayne in going backwards, you must chainge places againe, and soe you are all as you were at first.

Sides and sett, that agayne; and then you must dance just the contrary to that part before sayd, (first to the man and then to the woemen, and then turne the man, and then first to the woemen, and then to the man, and then Congee; and chainge places twice, as before sayd till you are in your own places;

In one word you shall dance the same, as was danced first (over?) agayne; but note, that all parts of the tune be played twice;

Lovelace MS, ~1640
	4 Couple Longways

Noahs Flood

You must first leade up twice, and then stand still, till the first hath sett to his mate, and then the 2nd man shall turn round his mate, and then the third man like unto the first, and the 4 like unto the 2nd; and then the first man goeth downe to the lower end, congeeing first to his owne, then to the 2nd and then to the third, and then comeing to the fourth, he turnes her rou(nd?) and salutes her (if he pleases); and (he?) leades her upward softly; and then come to the top, he turneth her round other way, and salutes her on the other (cheek?) They leade up all agayne, the woemen all wayes slyding downeward, as often as he doesh fetch them up, and soe he must doe the same until he hath fetcht up h(is?) owne woeman agayne, and then fall of, and if you think so fitt, you may proceed

Lovelace MS, ~1640
	4 Couple Longways

Tom a Bedlam,
Or, Grayes Inn Maske

Leade up once, and downe agayne, and then cast of all, downe to the other end and then leade up all agayne that way, and downe againe all into your places;

The men shall take each his woeman, by both hands, and set them all in a straight line, the man standing all above the woeman, and then backe into their places againe, like as they stood at first All the woemen shall stand still, and all the men shall sett each to his woeman, and then they standing still the woemen shall set to them;

All the men shall congee each to to his woeman, and salute her she standing still, and then the woemen shall do the like unto him;

The men shall turn each his woemen once forward, and once backward;

Both men and woemen shall fall of backewards, and leade round three times before they come to the bottome, and the same back againe, till they come to the toppe after the same maner all in your places;

Sides all once at the top, and then fall downe, and sides all at the end, and then fall backe unto your places, and then doe all the same over gayne, only what, the men did first soe fore the woemen shall doe itt first now, like as the man dide sett first before, the woemen shall now first, and then the woeman salute first before the man, and soe all the same, only the woemen shall doe first that which the man did before;

Armes all once at the top, and once att the bottome, like before at leading up and all setting, then doe the first over againe, only the men and woemen shall salute this time both together, and as they did sett before singly, they shall now sett both men, and woemen together, and after they shall have done all those six parts, after siding, and turning, they may leade downe, and if they please the rest may doe the like, every couple of them;

Lovelace MS, ~1640 (The English Dancing Master)
	3 Couple Longways

The Quaker's Dance, Danc'd in the Play-House

Longways for as many as will.

First all join Hand in Hand, and Face to the Presence, then all lead to the Presence and back again.	Friends each with Sister, thus in order stand, For sure the Godly may joyn hand in hand; In Vertue's Paths tread firm, as Oaks do grow, But from all Sin, like Crabs let's backward go.
Here the first two Couple give Right-hands and take Left a whole round; next Men and We. Facing each other, the two first Couple Nod Heads at each other and afterwards take Hands, then all four go once round, and the first Couple cast off below the second Couple.	Joyn not with those, who ha'n't the Light within, Who are in darkness, and in deadly Sin; But with thy Holy Brethren joyn thy Might, Who have, like us, the Sanctify'd Light:
Then each Friend standing opposite to his Sister after he has repeated these two Verses, he Kisses her;	And tho' we'll not clap hands, nor Congies make, Yet we'll nod heads, and hands we'll Friendly shake; Which done, thus joyn'd in love once round we'll go, Next, ye walk up, and we'll cast off below.
Then turning to the second Woman, havig repeated these Verses Kisses her also.	But as this Mirth doth much my Spirit move, So I to thee thus testify my Love; And least, O Sister, thou should'st take this ill, The Spirit bears to thee, the same good will.

The Dancing Master, 1710, Ed: 2.1-2.4
	Duple Minor

5 matches.

Sources

In 1651 (1650 in the old Julian calendar) John Playford published the first edition of The English Dancing Master. In 1652 he published the second edition and shortened the title to The Dancing Master. He continued to publish new editions containing new dances until 1686 after which his son Henry took over. In 1706 John Young printed the work until the last edition in 1728. Online scans of many of these editions are available from the International Music Score Library Project, while the Library of Congress hosts the 10th edition, and the Library of Dance hosts the fourth edition of the second volume. But by far the most useful sources are Robert Keller's and Scott Pfitzinger's sites which each contain a scan of every Playford dance ever printed.

In 1699 Thomas Bray published Country Dances: Being A Composition Entirely New, with online scans available at the Library of Dance

In 1705 John Walsh began publishing an annual collection of 24 new dances for each year until 1766. He published several collections which were the work of the dancing master, Nathaniel Kynaston. Not all of his books have survived, and I have found even fewer of them. The Library of Dance has scans for the years 1711, 1714, 1716, and 1718. The British Library, the Library of Congress, the National Library of Ireland, Bodlean Library, Harvard University Library and University of New Hampshire, Durham have physical copies. Books published by Andrew Shaw, Philipe Callens and Pat Shaw have facsimilies of the dances they have interpreted.

In 1726 John and William Neal published A Choice Collection of Country Dances in Dublin. There is a physical copy in the National Library of Ireland, and printed facsimiles in Jackson and Fogg's book of the same name.

Sometime between 1620 and 1650 the Lovelace Manuscript was written. The original rests in the Houghton Library at Harvard University, while an online transcript may be found on Contra Fusion.

Sometime around 1679 the Sloan Manuscript was written. The original rests in the British Library, but an online transcript may be found on Andrew Swaine's site.

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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.