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On November 7, 1650, a man named John Playford registered The English Dancing Master: OR Plaine and easie Rules for the Dancing of Country Dances, with the Tune to each Dance. John was a stationer (publisher) in London and already known for his “political tracts, miscellaneous non-musical works, music theory, lessons for various instruments, collections of songs, and psalms.” (1) Other works that he published include: Musicall Banquet (1651), Musick’s Recreation on the Lyra Viol (1652), and Choice Musick to the Psalms of David (1656). On March 19, 1651, the book was “printed by Thomas Harper, to be sold by John Playford, at his shop at the Inner Temple neere the Church doore”. (2) Between 1651 and 1728, 18 editions of ‘The [English] Dancing Master’ were published. John Playford has been credited for publishing the first seven editions; his son, Henry Playford has been credited for publishing the next four, and John Young has been credited for publishing the final six. Between the 3 of them, they are credited for publishing over 6,000 dances – including variations, duplications, tunes, and songs.
While you are reading through the following pages, please keep in mind that middle and old English was quoted, as necessary. Also note that any dances that were published by John Playford, but not in the first edition of the book, will have the word 'English' in brackets. This is because editions, after the first, dropped the word 'English' out of the title. |
Works
Cited:
1. de Rocheforte, Fidelico. (n.d) John Playford, a Brief Biography. Letter of
Dance - Volume 3(Issues 17-24). Retrieved January 4, 2006, from
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/lod/vol3/playford_bib.html
2. Playford, John. (March 19, 1651) The English Dancing Master.
Images Online. Retrieved January 4, 2006 from
http://www.imagesonline.bl.uk/britishlibrary/controller/subjectidsearch?id=8099&startid=32378&width=4&height=2&idx=1
3. Land, Christy & Laughout, Susan (1998)
Multicultural Folk Dance Guide. Human Kinetics. Canada.