Taken from: www.earthlydelights.com

“’tis an elegant thing,
which cheareth up the mind,
execiseth the body,
delights the spectators,
which teacheth many comply gestures,
equally affecting the ears, eys, and soul it self.”

Junior, Democritus (1840) The Anatomy of Melancholy, Thomas Tegg. London.
Printed from the Authorized Copy of 1651, with the author’s last corrections, additions.

When I first started in the Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA) I was told that English Country Dances weren't 'period'.  For these purposes 'period' means performed prior to 1603.  I was later told that the English didn't dance.  Then I was informed that the English only danced the Old Measures, galliards, and Italian dances.  None of this sat very well with me.  After all, where did English Country Dancing come from, if not from England?  From that point on, I started to research the origins of English Country Dances.  For more information on where to start this sort of research, e-mail me.          

This website provides proof, found through literary references, that these dances were known and performed as dances prior to Playford/Young's records.  This is not to say that they are the same exact dances as were recorded.  However, it is my belief that they are predecessors to the dances that were recorded from 1651 - 1728.

For the purposes of this website, it is understood that the dances that were published in each volume of The [English] Dancing Master are not necessarily the original dances.  Dances with the same name have been documented from before the publication of the first edition of The [English] Dancing Master, in 1651, and even prior to the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. 

Therefore, for the purposes of this research, it has been concluded that those dances evolved into the dances published in The [English] Dancing Master.

As with all good research projects, this has morphed to include dances that were done in England, but were not recorded in the books Playford published.  Those dances can be located in the 'Non-Playford Dances' section. If you have any information about these dances that I have left out, please e-mail me, and I will credit you on the site.

Nicole Salomone
Known in the SCA as Lady Jane Milford, East Kingdom, Barony of Iron Bog
E-Mail

If you would like to link to my site or have me link to yours, please e-mail me. 

Check out my new/updated pages:

September Updates:

* Updated Sellenger's Round
** New Section: Dance and Ballads - showing the connection between the two
*** Other Dances: Quarter Braule
**** New Playford Dances: Row Well Ye Marriners, All in a Garden Greene
*****Updated Lusty Gallant
 

© Nicole Salomone - September 14, 2008
Research may be used for educational purposes only.  Any reproduction of this site must be approved by website administrator. 
If interested in linking to site, please contact website administrator.