[SCA-Dance] Evolution and dating of ECD

[Mary Railing]

About a month ago there was a tread on this list called "greetings and
question", which raised the issue of which Playford dances might be ok to
use in the SCA.  The notion was put forward by several people that the set
dances in Playford are more likely to be closer to pre-1600, while the
longways  progressive dances were more likely to be closer to 1651.  Now, I
have subscribed to this theory for many years, but having been asked
further about how to document it, I realized that I cannot think of any
source outside the SCA that proposes something like this.  I'm sure only
Scadians care whether something is pre- or post-1600, but I would think
some dance historians somewhere would be interested in the evolution or
English country dance.  Are we really the *only* people who have noticed
this about the way country dance forms changed over time?  Can anyone point
me to a non-SCA source that discusses this?

--Urraca