[SCA-Dance] Interpreting the last chorus of "Cuckolds All A Row"

Tim McDaniel tmcd at panix.com
Mon Mar 19 11:39:13 EDT 2012


On Mon, 19 Mar 2012, White,John <white at drexel.edu> wrote:
> There is another contemporary source to look at:  Lovelace. ...
> http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~white/ECD/Lovelace%20mms.htm),

*facepalm*  How did I forget the Lovelace manuscript?!

I haven't the time to analyze what you wrote about the third chorus.
(Diagrams might help.)  I will note that the Lovelace manuscript
nicely clarifies a couple of points on the second chorus.

then the 2 men shall
change places, the woemen also allmost
at the same time, then joyne
all hands, and goe round, till you
come to your places, then the woemen
shall crosse over first; and then the men
and joyne hands like before, and
turne round the other way till you come
to your places

Playford doesn't say which way to do the circles.  Terp reconstructed
it as L first time, R the second, which made as much sense as anything
to me.  This Pattricke manuscript, though, makes that clear, which I
find reassuring.  WIth all the circling in the first chorus, it's
pretty dizzying to always go the same way!

The one dancability problem we hit is that this second chorus is
rushed -- it's hard to get the exchanges and then a full circle in the
time allotted.  Yet this manuscript cheerfully points out his
solution: push the exchanges faster to bum a couple of beats for the
circling.

But I notice one new issue.  Playford has exchanges, "hands all, goe
round", exchanges, "hands all and goe round", then adding "to your
places" that was not there the first time.  Terp and I and about
anyone interpret the hands round as one full circle, so the first one
is back to your temporary places after the exchanges.  But this
manuscript has "till you come to your places" both times.  It makes me
wonder whether the hands round were half turns.  But given that "the
woeman also allmost at the same time", I think it indicates that they
are trying to push it for a full circle.



Back to the third chorus: given that this manuscript has a different
third chorus, with passing through instead of casting, I'm not going
to obsess about the exact form of the pushing and casting.

OK, I lied.  I'll obsess over it.  But I'll feel much freer about
deciding that such-and-so works better so I'll just do it that way.


I just took a look at Lovelace's version of Trenchmore to see how it
compares to Playford.  OY!

Daniel de Lindocolina
-- 
Tim McDaniel, tmcd at panix.com


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