The Hey

An in-depth study of the Hey as described in “The Dancing Master” of John Playford, Henry Playford and John Young, and interpreted by Cecil Sharp and others.

My thoughts Orientation Table of Heys My interpretations My conclusions

This figure gets mentioned a lot in Playford and other collections, so I thought it was about time I looked into it. Ann Hinchliffe and Graham Knight tell me of a workshop by Jennifer Kiek, entitled “… 'and winding heys to tread': an Exploration of Possible Interpretations of the S. Hey in Country Dances from Playford 1651”, at Goldsmith College in London in March 2013. Ann says,

After nearly an hour identifying and dancing virtually every type of hey, single/double/whole in various formations, the conclusion was that there was no defined meaning.

I hope I can do better than that!

The Hey has been around a long time. In the book “Historical Dances (Twelfth to Nineteenth Century)” published in 1952, Melusine Wood writes of the 12th and 13th centuries,

Until the time of the Troubadours one dance had served for gentle and simple folk alike. This was the Carole. A Carole means a dance for which the music is sung, usually by the dancers themselves; it was always a linked dance, and it had two distinct forms.
First there was the Farandole, inherited from the Greeks, and still the national dance of Provence. A Farandole is a line of dancers in single file, each holding the hand of the next. The leader takes them where he (or she) will…
It often happened that several lines were dancing at the same time; and when two lines met they would release hands and thread through each other, passing right and left alternately until the lines were clear and each was free to go on its own way again. As you probably know already, this figure was called the Hey; it forms part of many dances and it even became an independent dance itself; but whenever we find a Hey we remember the Farandole.

The Hey is explained in Arbeau's Orchesography of 1589. In “The Hay Brawl” he explains the weaving figure in great detail, and what he describes is a progressive Hey — the leader passes right shoulder with number 2, left shoulder with number 3, and as the leader continues in this way, number 2 now starts passing right shoulder with number 3. In fact this is much the same way that couples progressed in a “longways for as many as will” dance of later centuries: the top couples started the dance and the other couples were gradually brought into it. Arbeau also mentions a Hay with just one person weaving from one end of the line to the other in “The Montard Brawle” which for some reason has now been confused with “The Horse's Brawl” which appears on the previous page!

Graham Knight comments on the origin of the word hey:

My understanding is that it derives from the French for a hedge, l'haie. In hedgelaying you wind the tops of the pleachers (the trees being laid) between vertical stakes.

Contra dancers in the States will tell you confidently that the weaving in and out figure comes from English Country dancing and is called a Hey. Yet when I started dancing everyone called it a Reel, and it's always called that in Scottish, where there is a tradition of “reeling” which predates the arrival of the country dance from England. Bob Archer says one of his most embarrassing moments was when he was calling to a large room of dancers in the States and said “reel of four”. For what seemed an eternity they all looked at him blankly, then someone shouted out “hey” and they all moved.

Scott Kalberer asks when the word “reel” began to be used in English dancing.

One thing I had really wanted explored from a discussion of how terminology of the weaving figure changed over time and space, was when and how the term “reel” became popular for the figure in England. Weaving figures are called “heys” in Playford, the other printed sources from the 1600s and 1700s, and the terminology “hey” is used by Cecil Sharp and other British dance writers in the early 1900s. The term “reel” for a weaving figure appears Scottish in origin and, much like the name for certain tunes, derived from traditional dances that included weaving along with other elements like vigorous stepping. I don't think there are any descriptions of heys/reels in the Country Dance Book I which represents some vernacular dances existing in England during the early 1900s. So at what point during the 1800s or 1900s did the term “reel” become predominant in England over “hey”? Would you even be able to find people doing heys/reels in the United Kingdom around ~1830-1910 outside of the context of Scottish reels? Does current usage lean towards reel or hey in Wales and Ireland?

I agree with Scott that the Scottish “reeling” involved weaving and vigorous stepping — I mention this on my Connections page. But we need someone with a longer memory than mine to say when the terminology switched from “hey” to “reel” — it was always “reel” when I started dancing in England in the 1970's. As for Wales and Ireland, I know there are very few genuine old Welsh dances. Trevor Monson who danced in a Welsh display team for many years, tells me that it's always been called a hey in Welsh dancing. I've no idea about the terminology in Ireland.

My thoughts

Hey and Single Hey

John Playford almost always uses the term “Single Hey” (or “S. Hey”). When Henry Playford and John Young republished these earlier dances they didn't bother changing the wording, but the dances they added simply use “Hey”. John Playford uses “Hey” only where there's something unusual about the move. In “Chestnut” and The Beggar Boy it's only half a Hey. In “Picking of Sticks” one line is weaving through the other stationary line. In “The Duke of Lorain's March”, “Ginnie Pug”, “What you Please” and “Mall Peatley” it's an incomplete Hey. “Cupid's Garden” involves one person weaving while the others just move out of the way. The one exception I've noticed is “Solomon's Jigge” where he uses “S. Hey” although only one person is moving. My conclusion is that “Single Hey” means the same as “Hey”. This next section explains why John Playford used the term.

Single Hey and Double Hey

There are only three dances which mention “the D. [Double] Hey”: “The Goddesses”, “The Old Mole” and “Wooddicock”, all from the first edition, and all preceded by the men doing a Single Hey and then the women doing a Single Hey. Obviously the Double Hey was sufficiently well known for John Playford not to explain it, yet it never appears in any later dances. (That's not to say that these dances disappeared with John Playford though — as late as 1740 John Walsh published “The Goddesses” word for word as Playford had 89 years earlier.) “The Goddesses” is allegedly longways for as many as will, though to fit the dance to the music it's always done as a 4 couple longways set; “Wooddicock” (various spellings but this is from the first edition) and “The Old Mole” are both 3 couple longways. Sharp didn't interpret “Wooddicock” but for the other two dances he has the dancers face the other way from the Single Heys and then dance all the way round the set. “The Old Mole” says The D. Hey twice over and Sharp indeed repeats the figure, but perhaps Playford meant that you pass each person twice when going once round the set, as Sharp points out in his description of the circular hey. I'm certainly prepared to accept Sharp's definition of the figure — after the men have done the Hey on their own side and the women on theirs, the two groups mix together for a larger version of the same move. So my definition of a Double Hey is what's known in square dancing as “weave the ring” — going round the whole set passing alternately right and left shoulders, without taking hands. To start, the ones face their partner, the twos face the threes, and if there are fours they face their partner.

Circular Hey

Where I disagree with Sharp is conflating the (straight) hey with the “Right and left” or “Right Hand and left” which finishes a high proportion of later dances, and inventing the term “circular hey” which he then applies to both. These are not the same figure at all, and Sharp has tripped over his own conflation at least five times. In “Hit and Miss” and “Parsons Farewell” Playford says The single Hey or the S. Hey and Sharp has changed this to his invented “circular hey” which makes “Hit and Miss” a less interesting dance and “Parsons Farewell” a much more complicated dance. He's done the same in “If All the World Were Paper” and “Peppers Black” and the third figure of “Argeers”.

Let me be clear what I mean by “Right (Hand) and left”. This is usually done by two proper couples as the final move, the ones with the twos who are by now above them — in effect saying goodbye to them because in the next turn of the dance they will have moved up into the next minor set. Give right hand to partner and change places (acknowledging, not just pulling by to get to the next person). Turn one quarter to face neighbour. Similarly give left hand to neighbour and change places, turning in one quarter to face partner. That's two changes. Repeat all that to finish where you started. There is no courtesy turn (Scottish “polite turn”) at the end, you just turn in a quarter to face your partner. I talk about this in my lage about And I would give hands unless there are only two beats per change, as in “Orleans Baffled” or “A Trip to Kilburn”.

The only old longways dances I know which have a genuine circular hey — in other words going round a circular track for three or more couples, or at least an elliptical track — are the three I've mentioned which say “double hey”. Don't quote me modern interpretations of dances such as “Chelmsford Assembly” or “The Virgin's Frolick” from The Fallibroome Collection — if you look at the originals here and here you'll see that originally they were Right Hands and Left and Right and Left quite round — the ones with the twos above them as I've described. To convert them from triple minor to a three-couple set dance, Bernard Bentley has changed it to a grand chain round the whole set and then one extra change to get the ones to the bottom, and there are many examples of this practise. I'm not criticising what he's done, just pointing out that the original dances weren't like that.

Further confusion has been created by some Americans dogmatically asserting that “circular hey” means without hands and then using the Scottish term “rights and lefts” (English publishers from John Playford onwards always use the singular “right and left”) to mean with hands. There's no truth in this! Sharp invented the term “circular hey” and other people have no right to redefine it. I believe it's simply that (as in many other cases) Playford just didn't say. If you want a counter-quote, Pat Shaw in his notes on “The Hare's Maggot” (in the book “Another look at Playford”) says In Playford's time the circular hey (i.e. “Right and left quite round”) was almost certainly done giving hands as in a “Grand chain.”

Scott Kalberer responds to this:

The implication is that using a Scottish term “rights and lefts” by North Americans instead of the nearly identical “right and left” or “right hand and left” is a faux pas and to be avoided. Yet the wholesale usage of the Scottish term “reel” to replace the previously common “hey” in England is not only fine and dandy, but in fact should be regarded as the proper word. Perhaps because in your life experience “…when I started dancing everyone called it a Reel” and it was normal in that era and location? Why should cultural borrowing from the same culture produce such disparate judgments?

No, I didn't say it was the proper word and I frequently use the word “hey”, particularly when calling to younger dancers — I just said that it was called a reel when I started dancing. I do think it's a pity that some callers use Scottish terms such as “rights and lefts”, “polite turn”, “longwise” “the wrong side” rather than the English terms “right and left”, “courtesy turn”, “longways”, “improper”.

Sharp says,

Playford makes frequent use of the expressions “Single Hey” and “Double Hey”. It is difficult to say with certainty what he means by these terms, because he uses them very loosely. Very often they are identical with what we have called the straight- and circular-hey. As, however, this is not always the case, I have, with some reluctance, substituted the terms used above, which are self-explanatory and free from ambiguity.

No, Playford doesn't frequently use “Double Hey” — as far as I know it only appears in the three dances I've mentioned, one of which Sharp didn't interpret. And Sharp says on the same page,

This movement is identical with that of the Grand Chain, except that in the familiar Lancers figure the performers take hands, alternately right and left, as they pass; whereas in the Country Dance hey, “handing,” as Playford calls it, is the exception rather than the rule.

Yes, that's true of the “weave the ring” figure he's describing, and indeed of the (Single) Hey. No, it's certainly not true of the “Right (hand) and left” for two couples. But Sharp has conflated the two, even though there's a handful of the former and thousands (possibly tens of thousands) of the latter, and he wants to give people a general rule.

All moving? Hands?

A Hey doesn't necessarily involve everybody moving. In the second figure of “Argeers” the two men dance a Hey round their stationary partners. “Picking of Sticks” (1651) involves a move which we know as a sheepskin hey (though Playford doesn't use the term) in which the three women stand still while the three men Hey through them, and then the men stand still while the women hey through them. “Solomon's Jigge” (1652) says First cu. go down the S. Hey on their own sides and come up again, the rest standing still. In “Cupid's Garden” (1686) it's just the first man, and then the first woman, weaving to the bottom of the set.

A Hey may involve giving hands, as in “Dargason”, “Nonesuch” and perhaps “If All the World Were Paper”, though this is rare. (“A la mode de France” is similar to Nonesuch but doesn't use the word “Hey”.)

Orientation

There are many ways of getting into a Hey and many ways of getting out of it, but the Hey itself is always based on a straight line, just as in Melusine Wood's description of the Farandole — there are no Heys in The Dancing Master which go round a corner apart from the one at the end of “Nonesuch”. So in what direction is the axis of the Hey? Is it up and down or across? Or could it be on the diagonal? If it's Men the Single Hey it's obviously up and down. But let's look at a well-known dance from 1701: “Jack's Maggot”. The 1. Man goes the Hey with the 2. Wo. The 1. Wo. goes the Hey with the 2. Man. Playford presumably meant “the two women” and “the two men” rather than “the second woman” and “the second man”. Or maybe not — Graham Knight says,

I remember going to a series of workshops at Sidmouth run by Mike Barraclough. At one of them he did Jack's Maggot but in conversation with him afterwards he said he thought Sharp's interpretation of the heys was wrong. His interpretation was that the 1st man & 2nd woman were the only people dancing in the first hey. They pass each other by the Rsh, in the middle of the set, then dance anticlockwise around their partner, pass each other LSh and clockwise around their neighbour. The second corners then do similar but passing LSh to start.

This would make it the same move that we find in “Monk's March, with the Wanders”, but that's considerably later and isn't described as a Hey, so let's discount the possibility here.

We all think we know which way the Hey goes in Jack's Maggot, because we've been taught Cecil Sharp's version, either directly or in The States from the book “The Playford Ball”.

	MUSIC	MOVEMENTS
A1	1-8	First man crosses over and goes the hey with the two women (passing second woman by the right).
A2	1-8	First woman does the same with the two men (passing second man by the left).

But is that necessarily true? The first man and the two women start in a triangle, and depending on who initiates the Hey it could be up and down, across, or on the diagonal.

Three versions of Jack's Maggot Hey

I know this won't win any prizes for graphic design, but I hope it shows what I mean. If indeed the first man initiates the Hey he goes between the two women and turns right, giving a Hey up and down the room as we've been taught. But if the second woman initiates the Hey she goes through the gap and turns left, giving a Hey across the room. And if the first woman initiates the Hey she goes through the gap and turns left, giving a diagonal Hey.

You may say that the wording makes it clear that the first Man initiates the Hey, but that's not necessarily true. There are two Rules of precedence in the wording of Playford and other publishers.

Rule 1 The first couple are more important than the second or third couples.
Rule 2 Men are more important than women.

In fact Sharp follows Rule 2 more rigidly than Playford. Time and again you will read First and second men turn their partners whereas Playford just says Turn your own or Turn your Partner.

Let's look at another dance: “Red-House” from Henry Playford, 1695. Duple minor, and couples are still in their starting positions. Then the 1. cu. and 2. man go the Hey till they come into their own places. The ones get mentioned first, following Rule 1. But what orientation is the Hey? I corrected the following on 4-Nov-24 If the first man starts — through the gap and turn right — the Hey is on the second corners' diagonal. If the first woman starts — through the gap and turn left — it's up and down on the men's side. If the second man starts (which is how Douglas and Helen Kennedy interpret it in the Country Dance Book New Series) — through the gap and turn right — it's across in the ones' position. But now the second man drops out and his partner takes his place: Then the 1. cu and the 2. wo. go the Hey on the other side, and so cast off into the 2. cu. place. This specifically says on the other side so the first Hey must also be on the side, and therefore started by the first woman. Heys across may work better — to give the progression at the end of the figure the three dancers just extend their loops so that the ones cast and the twos move up, the stationary second man moving up as his partner does — but it seems clear that Playford means both Heys to be up and down. So the first Hey needs to start with the 1st woman going between the men and turning left — and it says they finish in their own places. The second Hey starts with the first man going between the two women and turning right — but at the end there's and so cast off into the 2. cu. place. I've tried this and it works well. After four changes the first man is at the top. As he loops across to his own side the two women pass right shoulder and all are home, ready for the ones to cast and the two to move (or I'd refer lead) up to first place. Remember that the figure starts again with the first couple meeting, so even if they haven't quite reached the side lines that's not a problem. You can see my version on my Interpretations page.

So let's tackle the question of a diagonal Hey or Reel. Most Scottish dances are for three working couples in a four couple set — a very short triple minor — and as in many triple minors the ones soon get into second place where they can interact with the twos above them and the threes below them. There are lots of diagonal reels in Scottish, such as the classic Mairi's Wedding. But it's a modern classic, written in 1959. Are there any old dances with a diagonal reel? I'm always willing to be corrected, but I don't think there are. The diagonal reel for four people is a mid-20th century invention, and I don't know that Miss Milligan would have approved. I remember mentioning “Mairi's Wedding” at a Scottish class and our teacher replying severely, “Mairi's Wedding is not approved by the RSCDS”. However in 2008 it appeared in their Core Repertoire, so even the RSCDS can move with the times.

Table of Heys

According to Scott Pfitzinger at playforddances.com/steps/hey there are 50 or so dances in The Dancing Master involving a Hey. According to Bob Keller's index at cdss.org/elibrary/dancing-master/Title/BrowTitl.htm there are 110 (plus one wrongly coded). The following table shows how the Playfords and Young describe the Heys, in date order. In each case the Dance Title links to (a version of) the original instructions on the CDSS site. playforddances.com/dances also contains facsimiles of all the pages, and some of them are better copies than those on the CDSS site. I'm not always sure which is the earlier edition, so I may have taken my wording from either. For the first edition dances I'm taking the wording from the Margaret Dean Smith facsimile edition. The next field is a link to my notes on the dance lower down this page; if it's blank I have nothing worth saying!

Year	Dance	Formation	Description
1651	Argeers	2 cu	men go the S. Hey, and to your places… Then halfe the S. Hey
1651	Beggar Boy, The	3 cu long	Back all a D. meet againe. half the S. Hey. That againe.
1651	Boatman, The	3 cu long	First Cu. and 2. man the S. Hey, while the other three do the like…
1651	Cheerily and Merrily	4 cu long	Men the S. Hey, while the women do as much
1651	Chestnut	3 cu long	Fall back and change places as before, men the Hey, and We. at the same time, the first Cu. staying in the last place. This back again.
1651	Dargason	4 cu column	The S. Hey, all handing as you pass till you come to your places
1651	Dissembling Love	3 cu long	Half the S. Hey on each side
1651	Dull Sir John	Square	the 1. and 3. cu. the S. Hey twice to your places, the we. who stand before their men leading it. The other four as much.
1651	Goddesses, The	Long / 4 cu	Men the S. Hey … We as much … Then D. Hey…
1651	Gray's Inn Mask	4 cu long	Men the S. Hey. We. as much.
1651	Greenwood	3 cu long	the S. Hey all as you handed round… Men the S. Hey. We. as much.
1651	Grimstock	3 cu long	First cu. goe downe betweene the 2, the third come up between the first. This forward and back, to your places… First cu. goe downe under the 2. Cupples armes, the third come up under the first. This forward and back, to your places… First cu. change places, and go downe the S. Hey. And come up the S. Hey on her own side.
1651	If All the World Were Paper	Square	The two men against each other change places, your we. as much, the S. Hey, back to your places. … The first four change places, then change with your own men, cross over, take left hands and right with the we. To your places.
1651	Maiden Lane	3 cu long	The S. Hey on each side.
1651	Merry, Merry Milkmaids, The	4 cu long	Men back, and go the S. Hey. We as much.
1651	Milk-maid's Bob, The	4 cu long	First four the S. Hey, while the last four do the like.
1651	New Exchange, The	3 cu long	First Cu. goe downe between the 2. the third come up betweene the first the 2. come downe betweene the third. set and turn S. . All this againe, to your places.
1651	Nonesuch	4 cu	Then the single Hey, all handing down, and come up on your own side.
1651	Old Mole, The	3 cu long	Men the S. Hey. We. as much. The D. Hey twice over.
1651	Parsons Farewell	2 cu	go all the S. Hey to the co. side…
1651	Peppers Black	Circle	The S. Hey all four…
1651	Picking of Sticks	3 cu long	The we. standing still, Men going the Hey between them, the last man going about the middle wo. Do thus three times over
1651	Rose Is White and Rose Is Red	Circle	and go the S. Hey all…
1651	Scotch Cap	3 cu long	Three men slip up, and 3 we. slip down, then the lower man gives his right hand to the 1. wo. and so go into your places by hands…
1651	Whirligig, The	3 cu long	The 2. man arms with the first Wo. and they three go the S. Hey, while the 1. Wo. turns the last man, and do the like with them. That again, the 2. cu changing their ends.
1651	Wooddicock	3 cu long	Men the S. Hey … We. the S. Hey … The D. Hey all
1652	Mr. Webbs Fancy	4 cu long	Men the S. Hey, while the We. do the like.
1652	Solomon's Jigge	4 cu long	First cu. go down the S. Hey on their own sides and come up again, the rest standing still.
1652	Silver Faulken, The	Triple	First Cu. go the S. Hey between the 2. and on the outside of the 3. come back between them into the 2. place. turn. As much with the next going on the outside first, do thus to the last, the rest following.
1657	Black Nag	3 cu long	Men the S. Hey. We. as much.
1657	Duke of Lorain's March, The	Duple	The 1. man and 2. wo. walk round their own and stand before them, then go on the Hey, till the 1. wo. and 2. man meet each other
1657	Ginnie Pug	Duple	The 1. Cu. meet the 2. Cu. and change places, the 1.Wo. and 2. man go in the Hey with the 1. man and 2. Wo. untill the first man and second wo. be in the middle
1657	What You Please	Duple	The 2. cu. go into the Hey, the 1. cu following the Hey down into the 2. cu. place
1670	Mall Peatley	4 cu long	First man set to the first wo. then to the second, and Hey with the two last we. and stay in the last place, the last man at the same time setting to the two last we. Hey with the two first, and stay in the first place…
1670	Oaken Leaves	Square	First two men against each other change places, we as much, the S. Hey, all four back to your places. the other four as much.
1670	Phoenix, The	4 cu long	Four on each side the S. Hey.
1679	Never love thee more	Duple	then cross over the second Cu. and the Hay through the second Cu.
1679	Old Simon the King	Duple	then the Hey through the 2 cu.
1686	Cupid's Garden	Triple	The 1. man go the Hey between the 2. and 3. man into the 4. man's place, then the 1. wo. do the same as the 1. man did
1695	Bury Fair	Triple	The 1. Man and 3. cu. go the Hey, the 1. Wo. and 2. cu. do the same
1695	Red-House	Duple	Then the 1. cu. and 2. man go the Hey till they come into their own places. Then the 1. cu and the 2. wo. go the Hey on the other side, and so cast off into the 2. cu. place.
1695	Cornish Squire, The	Triple	the 1. man and 3. cu. going the Hey at the same time, and the 1. wo. and 2. cu. do the like
1695	Edinburgh Castle	Duple	The 1. man cast off below the 2. man, and go the Hey with the 2. man and 2 wo. till the 1. man comes into the 2. man's place. The 1. wo. cast off below the 2. wo. and do the like.
1698	Three Sheep Skins	Duple	The 1. cu. take hands and set twice to the 2. man, and then go the Hey till they come into their own places again.
1701	Cary's Maggot	Triple	the 1. Wo. Heys on the men's sides…
1701	Czar of Muscovy	Duple	the first man and woman take hands and set to the second man and turn single, set again and all 3 go the Hey once…
1701	Nottingham Castle	Triple	The 1. man and 1.wo. go the Hey half round with the 2. cu. to their places
1701	Jack's Maggot	Duple	The 1. Man goes the Hey with the 2. Wo. The 1. Wo. goes the Hey with the 2. Man.
1701	Portsmouth	Duple	The first man Hey with the first and second woman, the first woman do the same with the first and second man
1703	Bloomsbury Market	Triple	the first man and woman Hey with the second man…
1703	Nobe's Maggot	Triple	the first man Hey with the second cu. and the first wo. with the third cu. at the same time
1703	Nowill Hills	Duple	The first Man runs the Hey with the second couple, the first woman do the same.
1703	New Round O, The	Triple	then the three We. go the Hey together, and the three Men go the Hey together at the same time.
1706	Resolution	Triple	then Hey, first on the Men's side, and then on the We. side.
1706	Russel, The	Triple	then Hey, first on the Mens sides, and then on the Women's sides.
1709	Hunt the Squiril	Triple	The first Man Heys on the We. side, and the 1. Wo. on the men's side at the same time. Then 1 Man Heys on the Men's side, and the Wo. on the We. side, till they come into their own Places.
1713	Albion's Queen	Duple	Identical wording to Edinburgh Castle (1695) with a different tune.
1713	Blackwell-Hall	Triple	Then Hey, the Man on the Mens Side, and the Wo. on the We. Side.
1713	Count Leon	Triple	The 1st Man go the Hey with the 2d Cu. the 1st Wo. do the same with the 3d Cu.
1713	Devil in the Bush, The	Triple	Then Hey on the Men's side and turn your Partner. Then Hey on the women's side and turn your Partner.
1713	Exeter Ladies	Triple	The first Cu. go the Hey, then Sides with the 2d and 3d Cu.
1713	Hambleton's Round O	Triple	The first couple cast off, the man going the Hey with the third couple, and the woman with the second couple
1713	Marlborough's Victory	Triple	Then Hey on the Men's side, then on the Women's side
1713	New Czar	Triple	Then the Hey on both sides.
1713	Pursuit, The	Triple	The first Man go the Hey with the two first Woman, and cast off into the second Man's Place. The first Woman go the Hey with the two first Men, and cast off into the second Woman's Place.
1713	Queens-Borough	Triple	Very similar to the earlier Bloomsbury Market from the 12th Edition
1713	Ramellis Rout	Triple	The first couple go the Hey with the second man, then with the second woman.
1713	St. Brides	Triple	The first Couple go the Hey with the second and third couple
1713	Trip to Islington, A	Triple	then Hey on both sides
1713	Tunbridge Minuet	Duple	Then Hey on the Men's Side, and then on the Women's Side
1718	As quick as you please	Triple	The first and second Couple go the Hey
1718	Brittains Glory	Triple	Then first men Hey with the 2d and 3d men, the first Wo. Hey with the 2d and 3d We. at the same time, till all comes into their Places again.
1718	Charmer, The	Triple	First Man go the Hey with the two first We.
1718	Doway	Triple	Then the first three Men and the first three Women go the Hey at the same Time.
1718	Dudmason Hall	Triple	The first Cu. go the Hey, Sides with the 2d and 3d Cu.
1718	Fiddle-de-dee	Triple	The Man Hey at Bottom, and the Wo. at Top
1718	French Peasant, and the Jigg	Triple	The first Man Heys with the 3d cu. and the first Wo. Hey with the 2d. cu. at the same time
1718	Happy Couple	Triple	The 1st Man go the Hey with the 3d Cu. the 1st Wo. go the Hey with the 2d Cu. at the same time
1718	Joy after Sorrow	Triple	Same figures as “Love and Beauty (1726)”.
1718	King's Maggot	Triple	The first Cu. being in the 2d Cu. place, Hey with the 2d. Man. Then Hey with the 2d Wo.
1718	Laughing Vicar, The	Triple	First and 2d. Cu. go the Hey. First Cu. go the Hey with the 2d Wo.
1718	Masquerade Royal	Triple	Then the first three Cu. go the Hey.
1718	Merry Milk-Maids	Triple	First Man Hey with the 3d Cu. and his Partner with the 2d. First Wo. Hey with the 3d Cu. and the Man with the 2d.
1718	Next Oars	Triple	then the first Man Heys on the Men's Side, and the Wo. on her own Side
1718	Richmond Hill	Triple	Then first Man Heys on the Wos. Side, and the first Wo. on the Mans at the same Time, then Hey on their own Sides, and the first Man turns his Partner at Top.
1718	Royal Fishery	Triple	Then all four Hey till they come to the same Place again
1718	Royal Sovereign	Duple	The first Man go the Hey with the first and second Woman. Then the first Woman go the Hey with the first and second Man.
1718	Soho Square	Triple	The first Man Heys on the We. Side, and his Partner on the Men's side at the same time. Then both Hey on their own Sides.
1718	Trip to the Camp, A	Triple	Hey sides
1718	Young Damon's Flight	Triple	go the Hey with the 2d and 3d Cu.
1721	De'il take the Wars	Triple	Then the 1. 2. and 3. Men Hay…
1721	Green Sleeves and Yellow Lace	Triple	The first Man Hey with the 3. cu. and the 1st Wo. Heys with the 2 cu. …
1726	Anna Bella	Triple	Then the first Man Heys with the third Couple at the bottom, and the first Woman Heys at top with the second Couple at the same Time.
1726	Brocks Jigg	Triple	Then first Man Hey with the 3d Couple; and his Partner Hey at top, then she at bottom and he at top.
1726	Bugbees Hole, or the Beadle of Grub-street	Triple	The first Man goes the Hey on the Women's side, and his Partner on the Men's side. Then they both Hey on their own sides
1726	Bulock's Hornpipe	Triple	Then first Man Heys on his own side and his Partner Heys on hers at the same time
1726	Cloe the Fair	Triple	Then first and second cu. go the whole Hey … Then first Man go the whole Hey with the third cu. the first Woman do the same (at the same time) with the second cu.
1726	Constant Lover, The	Triple	The first Man go the whole Hey with the second and third Men. Then the first Woman do the same on the womens side.
1726	Dapper Dickey	Triple	Then the three Men, and the three Women Hey on their own sides, all at the same time
1726	Farises's Fear	Triple	Then the first Man Heys with the third Couple and the first Woman with the second Couple
1726	Free Mason's Health	Triple	The first and second Couple go the Hey
1726	Irish Howle, The	Duple	The first Couple go the Hey with the second Woman, then with the second Man
1726	King George's Birth Day	Triple	Then the first Man Heys on the Women side and his Partner on the Mens side. Then they Hey on their own side and cast off into the 2d. Couples places
1726	Love and Beauty	Triple	First Couple Sett, go the Hey sides with the second and third Couple.
1726	Punch Alive	Triple	Then all four Hey, the first Couple casting off one Couple. Then the first Couple Hey at the bottom, and cast up.
1726	Ravenscroft's Hornpipe	Triple	Then the first Man Heys with the 3d. cu. and the 2d. Wo. Heys with the 2d. cu. a-top. Then the Man the same a-top, and the Wo. the same at bottom.
1726	Smiths Round O	Triple	Same figures as Hambleton's Round O (1713)
1726	Whirly Gigg, The	Triple	Then the first Man Heys at top and the Wo. at the bottom, and turn it out.
1728	Smith's Boree	Triple	The first Man Hey with the 2d. and 3d. Man, and the 1st. Wo. Hey with the We. at the same time
1728	Windsor Tarras	Triple	the Man Hey with the third Couple, and the Woman Hey with the 2d Cu.

My interpretations

Let's ignore those which say “the three men Hey” or similar in a 3 couple longways or triple minor — I don't think there's any disagreement with that being up and down. And it seems natural (following Rule 1) that the first man initiates the Hey by changing with the second man. In a four couple longways we assume that everyone starts the Hey at the same time, so again the first man starts by changing with the second man but at the same time the third man changes with the fourth man. So here are my notes on dances where the Heys are not obvious, in date order, starting with the first edition of 1651.

Argeers

This is a very busy and bitty dance which I have no intention of explaining — I refer you to Sharp's version. I'll just give you the B parts of the second and third figures.

Second figure
Men go to the right hand and back againe, the We. going to the left, turne each others We. . We. meet and back, men go the S. Hey, and to your places :
Third figure
One man cast off with the Co. Wo. the other following then they cast off the other way, the other following to your places . Then halfe the S. Hey, turne your owne, fall all a brest to the presence :

I don't doubt that Playford knew exactly what he meant by these instructions, but what do I make of them? It's couple facing couple, sideways on to the presence.

Second figure: You all slip (or maybe just move) across to change places with your partner, and back again, then two-hand turn your opposite: that's B1. Actually I'd probably add the women meeting at the end of that phrase of music — the two-hand turn means they're already travelling in that direction. Then as they fall back the men have 8 bars in which to dance a Hey, so it's one of those where the Hey is around stationary posts (as in “Picking of Sticks”) rather than everyone moving. The usual “hug the post” approach is that the men pass right shoulder, turn left, dance round their opposite, pass left, turn right, dance right shoulder round their partner to home place, and that's exactly how Sharp describes it.

Third figure: Some people cast and others follow, then back again — I'm happy to accept Sharp's interpretation but anyway you finish back in your places. And then yet again Sharp confuses the Single Hey with his invented “Circular Hey”. I would suggest that the women pass right shoulders to start half a Hey across the set, which gets you into the other couple's place, though actually as the men approach their partners they flow into a two-hand turn — the ones all the way, the twos half-way — to finish in a line of four facing up with the ones on the right, to honour the presence.

The Beggar Boy

Leade up all forwards and back .
That againe : First and last on each side to the wall, while the 2. Cu. meet, back all to your places, men hands and goe halfe round, We. doing the like . All that againe :
Sides all .
That againe : First and last meet and change places, while the 2. Cu. goes back and meet, first foure hands and goe round, while the other set and turne S. . All this again :
Armes all .
That againe : Back all a D. meet againe. half the S. Hey : That againe :

Who leads the half Heys? Rule 1 says it's the ones. I see it as a whole Hey interrupted by falling back and coming forward, so the first half starts at the top with the ones and twos passing right shoulder and the second half starts at the bottom with the ones and twos passing left shoulder. I would do the same in Chestnut. Sharp has the circles in the first figure going all the way round rather than the halfe round specified, which I agree with. In B2 for the second figure he just says Repeat B1, to places. so you have to interpret this as positions rather than numbered couples. I would say:

B1:	Middles fall back a double and move forward, tops lead to the bottom, bottoms move up to the top outside them. Circle left at the top, set and turn single at the bottom.
B2:	All that again from new places.

The Boatman

This is a 3-couple dance where the twos are very much in charge. Sharp's version has some unlikely trickery in the first figure, and B1 finishes with everyone improper, ready for the twos to change ends and do the same move back to place. It's true that a full Hey for three followed by a full two-hand turn won't fit into 8 bars, and another possible interpretation is a Hey in 6 bars and a two-hand turn half-way in 2 bars, though this doesn't tie up with the second and third figures which allow 4 bars for the two-hand turns at the end of B1 and B2. But the question is, could they be simultaneous diagonal Heys, the first man and third woman going between the other two people and turning right to start? Actually they could — that seems to flow well into a two-hand turn half-way for everyone. Perhaps it would be more natural for the people initiating the Hey to start by passing their partner by the left shoulder — they were facing their partner for the set and turn single, after all. I think that makes it more awkward for the twos to get into their two-hand turn half-way, but it probably could be done with practice. Hugh Stewart suggests half a Hey and then all two-hand turn once around, again getting everyone improper for the second half. That would work on the diagonal too, with the people initiating the Hey passing their partner left shoulder. I still don't believe it — the twos are in charge of all three figures and it seems very natural for them to initiate the Heys — but I can't rule out diagonal Heys here.

Chestnut

Leade up all a D. and back .
That againe : Men fall back, and We. at the same time, change places each with his owne, men hands round, to your places, and We. at the same time, men being on the We. side, and We. on the mens side . Back againe to your places :
Armes all .
That againe : Fall back and change places as before, men the Hey, and We. at the same time, the first Cu. staying in the last place . This back again :
Sides all .
That againe : Fall back and change places as before, the first man leade downe his Wo. the rest following him, stay in the last place : This back againe, but cast off instead of leading betweene the rest :

Playford has swapped the second and third introductions, but I'm sure he didn't mean that, though predictably it was never corrected in later editions. I don't know why he doesn't say “half a Hey” rather than the first Cu. staying in the last place but that's clearly what he means: if the first couple stop the Hey can't continue. Once again I have no disagreement with Sharp's version except that in the second figure B2 he just says Repeat B1 to places. and I would be more specific: as in The Beggar Boy I would start the second half left shoulder at the bottom.

Dissembling Love

Leade up forward and backe .
That againe : First Cu. crosse over and fall into the 2. place, crosse againe and fall into the last place . Every Cu. doe thus :
Sides all .
That againe : Halfe the S. Hey on each side; set and turne S. . All doe this change :
Armes all .
That againe : Men hands and goe halfe round, We. as much : All doe this change :

The tune is a jig with 4-bar A and B. The three introductions are to the A-music; the questions arise with the figures! We need (at least) three B's for each of the three couples to lead the figure. In the first figure, “Ones cross and cast to second place, cross and cast to bottom place” is mighty fast in 4 bars, but at least it's clear what is meant — maybe the twos and threes start their move before the previous couple have finished theirs. But in the second figure we can't possibly do half a Hey and set and turn single in four bars, so each couple needs 8 bars to lead the figure, giving 6 B's in all, in which case let's assume that for the first figure as well. And then what does Playford mean by Halfe the S. Hey? For it to be a progressive move we need to finish 2-3-1, so it's one of those Heys where one person is weaving and the others are just moving up. To me it seems natural to weave in front of the first person and behind the next, as in “Upon a Summer's Day” (my version, not Sharp's), and I would take my partner's hand to lead through the twos, then separate to move behind the threes.

Sharp's version really does try to fit each figure into a single B by leaving bits out and combining bits, but I don't believe it.

Again in the third figure, we need to finish the first time through in the order 2-3-1, but circle half-way gives us 3-2-1, so the second time through would get us back to where we started and the twos would never lead the figure. Assuming as before two B's for each couple to lead the figure, the men can take four bars to circle left all the way and one more place to get the first man to the bottom, then the women need to circle right to get the first woman to the bottom. I haven't called it, but I think my version of the dance would work!

Dull Sir John

This is a square, and I have no disagreement with Sharp's version. At the start of the Hey the head women are standing in front of their partners facing each other, so there's really only one way the Hey can go: up and down. The standard these days is to start a Hey passing right shoulder, and furthermore if the women started left shoulder the couples would finish improper. Similarly the sides' Hey is across the hall.

Greenwood

This is most unusual for an old dance — 3 couples longways with the middle couple improper — and also unusual in that it has six figures plus a coda rather than the standard three. The third figure has Meet all as at the first. Each three as you stand, hands and go round (there's a comma in the first edition though not in this facsimile). “as at the first” means Meet all back again, set and turn S. which surely means you face your partners and the lines go forward and back. Then the fourth figure has Meet all as at the first. Then the S. Hey all as ye handed round. This must mean two Heys up and down, and that's what Sharp's version says. Sharp then invents two further pairs of Heys, presumably because he thinks the figure is too short, and again I can't make sense of them, and he mentions the second man in both Heys in the first pair, so let's ignore them! I agree that figure 4 seems very short, but figures 1, 2, and 3 have 5 lines of 8 bars, figures 5 and 6 have 4 lines, and there's a figure 7 (which Sharp puts in as the end of figure 6) which is a coda of just 2 lines. In fact Playford gives 2 lines for figure 1 and 3 lines for figure 2 but Sharp has combined them. Sharp then splits Playford's figure 3 into two figures. And I agree with Sharp — I think Playford or his printer just slapped the separating lines in without much regard for the logic of the dance. The tune consists of a single line of 8 bars, so the band don't need to worry about different numbers of A's and B's — they just keep playing till the caller stops them!

In the sixth figure we get: Meet all as at the first. Men the S. Hey. We. as much. That's not so obvious with the second couple improper. Sharp solves it by:

The second woman falling back, the three men go the whole-hey, second man moving between first and third men and passing the latter by the right.

That doesn't make sense. If the second man passes between the other two men he must either pass the third man by the left or the first man by the right. I suspect that in his anxiety not to say “the first man” twice close together in the same sentence he has confused himself. Surely the natural thing is for the second man to go through the gap, turn right, and pass the first man right shoulder.

Grimstock

This has three Heys, though they are not described as such in the first two figures, yet the phrase “Grimstock Hey” is well known in England (not nearly so well known in North America) to mean the mirror Hey in the first figure where you lead in from the ends and separate in the middle. I refer you to my interpretation and I'm confident that all three Heys are up and down (and led by the first couple).

If All the World Were Paper

This is a square (Playford calls it a round for eight but that's too subtle for me) with Heys in the first figure and possibly also in the third figure. In the first figure,

The two men against each other change places, your we. as much, the S. Hey, back to your places. the other four as much.

So the head men change places, then the head women — I would probably use right shoulders both times, though you could make a case for the men crossing left shoulder and then turning in to meet their partners as I would in Hunsdon House. Since the women have only just got there I would start the Hey with the men passing left shoulder, and it's clearly half a Hey up and down. The sides then repeat going across. Sharp has fooled himself by his invented “Circular Hey” and uses that here, but Playford certainly didn't mean that. And I've discovered since I wrote this whole page that Pat Shaw has the same version in the book “Another Look at Playford” edited by Marjorie Fennessy.

And in the third figure,

The first four change places, then change with your own men, cross over, take left hands and right with the we. To your places. The other four as much.

Again Sharp uses his “circular hey”, but is that what Playford is saying? I believe the comma after “men” should be before it, so I would do the crossing with opposite and partner both by the right shoulder (if Sharp says “cross” he always means right shoulder unless he specifically says left), then I'm tempted to do half a Hey with hands: men give left, right to opposite, women give left, right-hand turn partner just a quarter into home place. But Playford doesn't actually use the word “Hey” at this point, and I see that Shaw agrees with Sharp about the two changes (though Shaw specifies left and right as Playford does), so I'm willing to accept that.

The Milkmaid's Bob

Leade up all a D. forwards and backe .
That againe : First foure the S. Hey, while the last foure do the like .
Sides all .
That againe : First Cu. slip between the 2. while the 3. does the like with the last, change places with your own . That again :
Armes all .
That againe : First man change places with the 2. wo. taking by the right hand, change places with the 2. man, the 3. man doing the like, then the other four as much :

The tune is (I would say) a jig with a 4-bar A and B. The body of the first figure claims to have one B, but you need 8 bars rather than 4 to do a complete Hey for four. The other two figures claim to have two B's, but I'm not planning to interpret them. Brian Wedgbury has a dance to this tune called “The New Milkmaid's Bob” but he says, The figures of this dance are suggested by rather than being an interpretation of the figures described by John Playford for The Milke-Mayds Bobb.

The Heys appear in the first figure, done by the ones and twos, and simultaneously by the threes and fours. They must surely be across the hall, but how are they started? Following Rules 1 and 2 the first man should start the upper Hey and the third man the lower Hey. Louise Siddons has introduced me to the “Outer Shoulder” rule which says that people starting a move (such as a hey for four or a ladies' chain) start with the outer shoulder or hand, so the first man and second woman would start the Hey across by passing left shoulder and then passing their partners right shoulder. I didn't know this rule when I wrote Tango in Toronto! But she's talking about American Contra, and I don't think it really applies to English Country. If you have couple facing couple with the men on the left, it makes sense for the men to turn with the left hand because they finish facing into the minor set — actually right hand would probably work just as well but Contra is an area where standards must be followed! However in English, where almost all the old dances are proper, if the first man turns the second woman it would be by the right hand — the nearer hand — and if they cross it would be right shoulder. It may still be a useful rule when talking of a hey for four across the set, so I'm suggesting that as my standard — it must have been so obvious to people reading the book that no-one ever felt the need to explain it — though see Punch Alive (1726) for a later attempt which doesn't help me one bit!

I have no plans to interpret the other two figures at the moment.

Ken Sheffield fancifully converts the Heys to double figure eights.

The New Exchange

… First Cu. goe downe between the 2. the third come up betweene the first the 2. come downe betweene the third. set and turn S. . All this againe, to your places.

Two halves of a Grimstock Hey (although not called a Hey, just as in Grimstock) each followed by Set and turn Single. In the first edition the dance is just called “The New Exchange” — later it was given the name “Durham Stable” and later a different dance was called “The New Exchange” — don't get confused!

Nonesuch

“Nonesuch” and “A la mode de France” are clearly versions of the same dance, but with some important differences; Sharp tried to combine the two and gave himself problems. I refer you to Mike Barraclough's interpretation published in my book “Playford with a Difference, Volume 1” (there isn't a Volume 2 in case you were wondering) and just point out that everyone is in their partner's place when you get the final instruction Then the single Hey, all handing down, and come up on your own side. This is a rare case where the Hey is with hands, and even rarer in that it's the only old dance I know where the Hey goes round a corner — you go down one side, cross with your partner at the bottom, and come up on your own side.

Parsons Farewell

This is a 2 couple dance. Sharp wrongly interprets go all the S. Hey to the co. side as a “Circular Hey”. See my interpretation. Once again there's no argument about the direction of the Heys — they're both across the set.

Peppers Black

This is a circle, and looks forward to La Boulanger of Jane Austen's time and Running Set of Sharp's time, in that the first couple performs the figure with the second couple (I had assumed on their left, since Playford numbered clockwise, but see Rose is white and Rose is red), then with the third couple, and as they move on to the fourth couple the second couple start the figure with the third couple, so that eventually every couple has danced the figure twice with every other couple, once as the leading couple and once as the other couple. That's what Playford means by Do this change to all, the rest doing the like. Sharp confuses the Single Hey with his invented “Circular Hey”. I imagine the Hey is started by the women passing right shoulder, and in place of the final left change with partner the leading couple need to give left hands so that the man can wheel the woman on to face the next couple.

Picking of Sticks

Third figure:

Armes all .
That againe : The We. stand still, men going the Hey betweene them, the last man going about the middle Wo. doe this three times over, then goe quite round about all the We. to your places :: The We. as much ::

Sharp did a brilliant job of explaining this dance, though for some reason he changed the title to “Picking up sticks”. I just want to point out that this is one of those rare Heys where some people stand still while others weave around them.

Rose is white and Rose is red

A progressive circle similar to Peppers Black, though this time Playford actually says that the leading couple go out to the couple on their right. Sharp doesn't specify the direction, just saying First couple leads forward a double to second man and falls back a double. but he does use a straight Hey this time (in the fourth figure), though following Rule 2 he has the man start both Heys which is probably not what we would assume now.

Scotch Cap

This is three couples longways and doesn't actually use the word “Hey”, but surely the B part of the final figure is half a Hey with hands.

Three men slip up and 3 we. slip downe, then the lower man gives his right hand to the first Wo. and so goe into your places by hands, then the We. slip up, and the men slip downe, the first and last give hands, to your places as before.

There seems too much music for this, so Sharp adds a turn partner at the end of each Hey, which makes sense to me.

The Whirligig

This three couple longways has been frustrating and delighting dancers since Sharp rediscovered it. Playford says for the second figure,

The 2. man arms with the first Wo. and they three go the S. Hey, while the 1. Wo. turns the last man, and do the like with them. That again, the 2. cu changing their ends.

You could argue that the arming is only half-way, so that the inactives start the Hey passing their partner left shoulder, which would mean that the actives are already on the outside after the six changes instead of having to do a seventh change before hurrying to the other end. But I see no reason to change Sharp's version of this figure. Either way, the arming gets people into a column across the hall so there's no argument about the orientation of the Heys.

Wooddicock

Sharp used this tune for “The Whirligig”, and indeed there are similarities in the dances — Wooddicock has the middle couple doing a solo in two of the figures, though there's apparently no progression. It's not difficult to interpret, except that when you read the facsimile you may be baffled by:

The 2. man cross over and go about the first wo. while the 2. wo. goes about the last man, and turn to your places . then the 2. man about the last wo. while the 2. wo. goes about the first man, and to your places :

In 4 bars (8 walking steps) there isn't time to go round someone and turn to your places — if you went right shoulder round your second corner you'd have to do a two-hand turn (or right-hand turn) with your partner half-way to get home, and then a complete change of direction to go round your second corner (and maybe a left-hand turn to place). If you went left shoulder round your second corner…? You'll be pleased to hear that the first edition doesn't have the turn — somebody must have mistakenly added it later:

The 2. man crosse over and goe about the first Wo. while the 2. Wo. goes about the last man, and to your places . Then the 2. man about the last wo. while the 2. wo. goes about the first man, and to your places :

So I'd say the twos pass right shoulder, go left shoulder all the way round the person on their left diagonal, then cross left shoulder and go right shoulder all the way round the person on their right diagonal. But there's not enough for the ones and threes to do, and half the dance consists of “set and turn single” twice, so I don't feel inclined to call it.

Now we move on from the first edition.

Solomon's Jigg (1652)

This is a 4 couple dance in which the ones and fours have all the action — the twos and threes just get to do the three standard introductions. Basically there are three different ways for the ones to get to the bottom and back again. In the first figure they cast to the bottom and lead up to the top. In the second figure they lead to the bottom and cast up to the top. In the third figure, First cu. go down the S. Hey on their own sides and come up again, the rest standing still. which takes the full 8 bars, to the fours don't get a chance to do their equivalent of the ones' move. Anyway, it's an example of a Hey where one person moves and the other three stand still. Sharp didn't interpret this dance, and I don't blame him! But it's possible that it's meant to be progressive (as is spelt out in “Mall Peatley”) and the ones cast to the bottom as the others start again by leading up a double.

The Silver Faulken (1652)

This is a real oddity. It's triple minor, which I didn't believe had been invented at that time, and the first figure has two alternating versions.

First Cu. go the S. Hey between the 2. and on the outside of the 3. come back between them into the 2. place. turn. As much with the next going on the outside first, do thus to the last, the rest following.

So it's a Hey where the ones move, the twos just move up, and the threes don't do anything. Sharp didn't interpret this one either. There's an interpretation by the American Frank van Cleef in a book called “24 Country Dances from the Playford Editions”, but he's converted it to a 4 couple set and I find his whole version far too fanciful — he took some advice from Tom Cook. George Williams has an animation of his own interpretation at upadouble.info/dance.php?id=TheSilverFaulken which I'm happy to go along with. And it seems the dance appeared only in that one edition of The Dancing Master — maybe nobody understood it then either! Frank van Cleef says in a footnote,

Possibly it was too convoluted for popular taste; more likely, the second figure did not make too much sense.

The Duke of Lorain's March (1657)

The 1. man and 2. wo. walk round their own and stand before them, then go on the Hey, till the 1. wo. and 2. man meet each other, then give right hands to each other, and left hands to your own, the 1. cu being in the 2. cu. place, and the 2. cu. in the 1. cu. place, then take hands all four and go round. Do this to all, the rest following.

When the first corners face their partner they form a column on the second corners' diagonal, so for the first time we have a diagonal Hey. Given the flow they must surely start the Hey passing their partners right shoulder. The second corners meet after one change, but I can't think Playford means that or he would just say “change with your partners” or similar, so it must be five changes — but that doesn't work and there seems to be far too much going on to fit the music. Then I looked at Scott Pfitzinger's interpretation at playforddances.com/dances/duke-of-lorrains-march where instead if facing their partners the first corners finish facing each other. That's by no means obvious — if I'm told to stand before my partner I would face her — but let's go with it for the moment. So it's two changes of a Hey before the second corners meet, and then there's another two changes with hands: right to each other, left to partner — but that doesn't work either, the left would be to your neighbour. Scott then allows 8 bars for the circle left, but Playford doesn't split it up and a circle only needs 4 bars, so we actually have 12 bars to get into progressed positions. Let's follow what seemed logical initially: first corners face their partner and do a Hey on the second corners' diagonal until the second corners meet for the second time — that's five changes but it can be done — in fact the first change could be on the end of the four bar phrase where the first corners go round their partner. So then the second corners pass left shoulder into half a Hey. But then Playford says give right hands to each other which is perverse, and left hands to your own — no, it's your same-sex neighbour. I put it to you that Playford was just as confused as I have been for the past half hour, and probably didn't have any bits of cardboard to move around and work out where people are supposed to be going! Suppose we have the second corners changing place by the left hand, taking it more slowly that the preceding Hey, then right to neighbour… No, I still can't make it work! I'll leave this one for when I have some spare time!

B1	First corners (first man and second woman) go right shoulder all the way round your partners to finish facing them in a diagonal column of four, then all pass partner right shoulder as the first change of a Hey on the second corner diagonal. Second corners pass left shoulder: four more changes until they meet again.
B2	Somehow get into progressed place. Circle left once around.

The music is very definitely a march, with an 8-bar A and B, both repeated. And for those who worry about such things, Playford gave it a key signature of one sharp, which would mean G, but the tune is actually in D, it's just that there are no C's in the piece so he didn't bother to add a C sharp to the key signature. I'm not sure how the dance fits the A's and B's, and maybe I'll try a complete reconstruction some day, but for the moment assume this move fits two B's.

Ginnie Pug, or Strawberries and Cream (1657)

This is longways duple with three figures. For the first two, Playford splits the instructions into two columns, but for the third figure he abandons this helpful approach.

The 1. Cu. meet the 2. Cu. and change places, the 1. Wo. and 2. man go in the Hey with the 1. man and 2. Wo. untill the first man and second wo. be in the middle, the two men being on Wo. side, and the two Wo. on the mens side, then lead up all four a breast and fall back, the first man give his right hand to the 2. man, and the first Wo. her right hand to the 2. Wo. and her left hand to her own, the rest following and do the like.

I believe it starts by changing places with the other couple. If this is done by crossing right shoulder and turning to the right, the first woman and second man will indeed be facing in ready to start the Hey left shoulder while the others keep looping ready to pass right shoulder with partner, at which point the first man and second woman will meet in the middle — but we don't have everyone improper as Playford requires. Maybe he means the first couple lead down to meet the second couple and then change places with each other, but that leaves the first woman and second man on the men's side and I don't see how they can then start a Hey in any direction. Back to my original supposition, and this time I notice that Playford says “be in the middle” rather than “meet in the middle”, so add an extra change for the first corners and now the men are on the women's side and vice-versa. Face up in a line of four and lead up a double and back. The final instruction forms a wave with the ones facing up and the twos facing down — but it ends there. And you can't just walk forward to meet the next couple and start the figure again, because you're all improper. Something is obviously missing. Let's see how it fits the music. The tune is a modal jig with a 4-bar A and an 8-bar B, both repeated. But I can't see how either the first or the second figure fit the music, so that's no help when trying to fit the third figure! All we have is two A's totalling eight bars:

A1	(4 bars): All pass neighbour right shoulder and turn to the right into three changes of a Hey across the set: second corners pass left, all pass partner right, first corners pass left and face up in a line of four, women on the left end, men on the right.
A2	Lead up a double. Fall back and twos about turn to form a wave across the set.

And now we have two 8-bar B's in which to finish in progressed places. I could invent all sorts of moves, but that's not what I'm here for! I just wanted to establish that I knew how the Hey worked, which I believe I have — it's across the hall.

What you Please (1657)

This is a three figure longways duple progressive dance. The tune is a jig with a 4-bar A and 4-bar B, presumably both repeated. Playford gives a key signature of one sharp, which would be G, but both times the note C appears in the tune it's sharpened, and the tune is very firmly in the key of D. Each figure is written out in two paragraphs to tie it up with the two phrases of the tune, and the second figure reads:

The 1. Cu. cross over and fall back, and the 1. man take the 2. wo. by the right hand, the 1. wo. take the 2. man by the left hand, and lead up all four abreast, and fall back.
The 2. Cu. go in the Hay, the 1. following the Hay down into the 2. Cu. place, and Arms with your own, the rest following and doing the same.

Assuming that by the right hand means “by her right hand” this makes perfect sense: the ones cross and cast onto the end of a line of four (8 steps). Lead up a double and back. And the only way the twos can go into the Hey is by passing each other right shoulder, with the ones joining in the second change. Four changes (half a Hey) brings the twos to the centre improper and the ones to the outside proper. Then the ones need to loop down (though the first woman really won't want to do that) as the second woman loops up to meet her partner, and all arm right in progressed places to finish proper — the ones all the way, the twos half-way or perhaps one and a half since they're not involved in the start of the figure with their new ones.

Moving on to 1670 we come to three set dances, though I don't need to say anything about The Phoenix.

Mall Peatley (1670)

This is 4 couples longways dance. The tune is a jig with a 4-bar A followed by a 10-bar B which goes all over the place — I've tried to chord it but there are many other possibilities. The A sections are the three standard introductions. The B sections of all three figures are very similar. Here's the wording for the first:

First man set to the first wo. then to the second, and Hey with the two last we. and stay in the last place, the last man at the same time setting to the two last we. Hey with the two first, and stay in the first place. This back again to your places.

So the first man has moved down while setting and is now level with the third woman; the fourth man has moved up and is level with the second woman, and we now have Heys for three at each end of the women's line. The assumption is that the men are leading the Heys, so the first man goes between the women and turns right, the fourth man goes between the women and turns left, and the Heys are up and down, with one more change to get the men on the ends. This will be a bit crowded. Could the Heys possibly be on the diagonal? I don't think so. The Heys must start by crossing with the end woman since that will also be the final extra change — in fact the men then needs to go across to finish in their partners' place, but don't forget this is a 10-bar phrase rather than the usual 8, so there's enough time. Then the same men repeat the figure from that end, all ending home — the second and third men have done nothing.

I don't need to do any more interpretation to understand the Heys, but since I'm here I'll carry on anyway. The second figure is the same but led by the end women; this time the middle women do nothing. But the third figure is different.

The first man and wo. do this as before, and stay in the last place . Or do this back again, cast off and meet below :

I've been mainly ignoring underlined dots so far, but I need to show them here. This time instead of the end men or the end women it's the first couple leading, and Playford gives a choice. If the band play a single B I believe this means the first couple set to each other, cross moving down while the first woman sets to the second man and the first man sets to the second woman, then the man does a Hey with the bottom two women as the woman does a Hey with the bottom two men, finally crossing over with each other to finish in bottom place on their own side. But if the band play two B's (which they would much prefer, I assure you), the same leading couple do the figure back up to their places and then cast to bottom place. Either way there's a progression in the final figure, which says to me that the dance then starts again from these progressed places, as you get in Maiden Lane, Millison's Jig and probably others. There may not be enough time for the ones to cast to the bottom (though there are those extra two bars), but the dance starts again with leading up a double and back twice, probably leading up slightly further to prevent the whole set drifting towards the bottom of the hall, and the old ones will certainly be there in time to join in with the second of these.

Having done my interpretation I now look at Sharp's version and see that he specifies 5 changes for the Heys rather than 7 — I don't understand that, particularly given a 10-bar phrase. In the third figure he doesn't believe that Playford really means The first man and wo. so he changes it to first man and fourth woman — he says the man does 5 changes while the woman does 7 changes the first time — and he ignores the progression and gets everyone back to their original places. Sharp didn't seem to accept that a dance with the three standard introductions could also be progressive and then start again from these new positions — his version of “Maiden Lane” is just once through (ending 1-3-2) and he didn't interpret “Millison's Jig” which is also progressive. In “The Night Piece” Sharp gives an alternative ending in order that the dancers may finish in their proper places. though Playford doesn't. In “Shepherd's Holiday” Sharp goes into contortions to get people back to their original places (and doesn't admit that this is his own alternative) whereas Playford just says “etc.” and clearly means it to be a progressive final figure. I'm glad to see that Scott Pfitzinger has come up with the same interpretation as me.

Oaken Leaves (1670)

This is a square, though Playford calls it a round for eight. The first figure is the one involving Heys:

First two men against each other change places, we as much, the S. Hey, all four back to your places. the other four as much.

This is exactly the same wording as in “If All the World Were Paper” which I've already covered, and which Playford also calls a round for eight.

Never love thee more (1679)

Honour to the Presence, then to your own. Lead up all forward and back, that again.
The first man back to back on the right hand of his wo. and back to back on the left hand of his wo. to their own places, then cross over the second Cu. and the Hay through the second Cu.
Next, hands round and fall back all four, then side over to one another's places, then right hands being across, go half round, then left hands being given across, go half round.

I thought I knew this dance well, and have my own interpretation. I was confident that the first section was an introduction, done once at the start of the dance, and then there were two figures, each of them progressive. Now I've been exposed to other dances where the horizontal line doesn't necessarily mean a separate figure, but rather a second time through the tune, such as Hunt the Squiril (1709) and Nottingham Castle (1701), though admittedly these are from much later. But the bit that really throws me is and the Hay through the second Cu. I'd always just accepted that it was a half figure eight, though not the full figure eight Sharp used to make it non-progressive — but Playford (or his contributor) uses the word “Hay”. My conclusion is that he simply used the wrong word — particularly with that spelling. I realise this lays me open to the charge of ignoring anything which doesn't fit with my own ideas, but I can't see any other solution.

Old Simon the King (1679)

Honour to the Presence, then to your we. Lead up all forward and back, that again.
First man being on his wo. side lead the 2. wo. side-way, then the 1. wo. with the 2. man lead to the other side at the same time, then all face, then 1. cu. cast off, and 2. cu. fall into the 1. cu. places, then 1. cu lead downward, and 2. cu lead to the Presence at the same time, then 1. cu. fall into their own places, and 2. cu. cast off to their own places at the same time, then 1. man back to back with the 2. wo. and 1. wo. and 2. man back to back at the same time, then 1. man give right-hand to the 2. wo. and left to his own wo. then 1. wo. give right hand to the 2. man and right and left with her own, then the Hey through the 2. cu. which brings him on his wo. side again.

The tune is a very notey slip-jig with four parts of four bars each and no repeats. It's one of the very few old dances with the ones improper. I don't believe the word “fall” necessarily means “move backwards”; it can just mean “move” as in “things fall into place”. And Playford doesn't always put in moves which he thinks are obvious, so this is what I make of it:

A:	Lead neighbour out (3 steps); turn in and lead back. Ones cast, twos lead up.
B:	Ones lead down, twos lead up (3 steps); turn in and lead back. Twos cast, ones lead up (all home).
C:	Neighbours back-to-back. Two changes with hands: right to neighbour, left to partner.
D:	???

So the couples are progressed: the twos improper, the ones proper. And then to confound me, here's another dance with then the Hey through the 2 cu. — and it's even spelt “Hey” this time! What does it mean? We have 12 steps and we want everyone to finish where their partner now is. They've just pulled past their partner by the left, so it would be natural to face their neighbours as if they were going to do another change. I suggest five changes of a Hey: pass neighbour right shoulder, men pass left shoulder, pass partner right shoulder, women pass left shoulder, pass neighbour right shoulder to finish in progressed places. I know that's quite different from what I said in “Never love thee more” just above, but at least this time it really is a Hey!

Cupid's Garden (1686)

Appendix 3 to the 7th Edition, and that's the wording and punctuation I'm giving here. The first “real” triple minor if like me you're sceptical about The Silver Faulken (1652), with even a mention of the fourth man's place, though I don't think Playford really meant that.

The first man go the Hey betwixt the second and third man, into the fourth man's place; then the first woman do the same as the first man did; then the first man back to back with his own woman, and then cast up into the second place; then the first man cross over into the second womans place, and the second woman at the same time cross over into the first mans place; so meet and set, and then cast off into the second Couples place; then they go the half figure into the second Couples place, and so turn their own; the rest doing the like.

It starts with a Hey where one person weaves to the bottom and the others just move up, and you can read the whole dance on my Interpretations page.

We now move on to Henry Playford's editions of The Dancing Master, so no more new set dances: they're all longways for as many as will, either Duple Minor or the up-and-coming Triple Minor formation.

Bury Fair (1695)

Note: Play each strain twice and end with the third strain.
The 1. Man cast off and fall between the 3. cu. and all three hands a-breast; the 1. Wo. cast off and fall between the 2. cu. and sett to one another face to face; the 1. Man and 3. cu. take all three hands and go half round and back again, the 1. W. and 2. cu. do the same; The 1. Man and 3. cu. go the Hey, the 1. W. and 2. cu. do the same; then the 1. Man take his Partner by the hand in the 2. cu. place, and lead her thro' the 3. cu. and cast up into the 2. cu. place, then lead thro' the other cu. and cast off into the 2. cu. place.

Playford gives the A, B and C music, then repeats the B and says finish with the C music. I've written it out in full, and Sharp does the same. I totally agree with Sharp's interpretation of the dance and the fact that you play the final B and C without repeats. What we're looking at here is the entry to the Heys, and since we're in two lines of three across the set that's obvious; it's also natural to start the Hey right shoulder, and indeed to start passing the opposite sex person, so it all makes sense.

The Cornish Squire(1695)

The 1. cu. cross over and meet in the 2. cu. place, the 1. man take hands with the 3. cu. and lead all three abreast downwards, and the 1. wo. take hands between the 2. cu. and lead with her face upwards, the 1 man and 3. cu. going the Hey at the same time, and the 1. wo. and 2. cu. do the like; the 1. man meet his own Partner in the middle and turn her round, lead through the 1. cu. and cast off into the 2. cu. place again, then go the Figure of eight through the 3. cu. into the 2. cu. place.

I have a full interpretation of this which I'll publish once I've called it a few times, but for this page I just need to note that as in “Bury Fair” the ones are in the middle of lines of three across the hall so the entry to the Hey is obvious.

Red-House (1695)

I've already covered this in my notes on Orientation above. when talking about the possibility of a diagonal Hey.

Edinburgh Castle (1695)

The 1. man cast off below the 2. man, and go the Hey with the 2. man and 2 wo. till the 1. man comes into the 2. man's place. The 1. wo. cast off below the 2. wo. and do the like. First cu. being in the 2. cu. place, the two men lead to the wall, and the two we. do the same at the same time, then the 1. cu lead up, and the 2. cu lead down at the same time, then right-hands a-cross all four half round, and then left-hands and back again, till the 1. cu. comes into the 2. cu. place. The rest do the like.

This time the entry to the Hey, and indeed the exit from it, are by no means obvious. The first man casts below the second man — possibly the second man moves up — and then Hey until the first man is back in the second man's place, and presumably the second man finishes in first man's place and the second woman finishes where she started. That's a full Hey — 6 changes — plus the time for the initial cast, and the tune is a slip-jig also used for the dance “The Trip to the Jubilee” with a 4-bar A-music, giving 12 walking steps for all this. That's two steps per change and no time for the cast — and then we're straight into A2 with the first woman initiating the mirror image of this — only it's not really a mirror image because the glib phrase do the like obscures the fact that the first woman is doing the Hey with her partner and the second woman. I don't believe it! But suppose the second man initiates the Hey by passing right shoulder with his partner as the first man casts. Now it's only 5 changes, the second man stopping when he reaches the first man's place. I've called it this way a few times, but it's surprising how disorientating the twos find it — they pass right shoulder and then seem to have no idea who they're supposed to be doing the Hey with. And the first Hey ends with the first man and second woman passing right shoulders but they then immediately have to pass left shoulders to start the second Hey while the first woman casts. Yet the ones do really need to start by casting if they're to finish the Hey in second place. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's so awkward that I really don't believe that's how Playford meant it to be done. Andrew Shaw has a simplified version with gypsies instead of Heys, but I don't believe that either!

Three Sheep Skins (1698)

The 1. cu. take hands and set twice to the 2. man, and then go the Hey till they come into their own places again. The tune thorow twice.
The first couple do the same to the second Woman, then all four hands a-breast, go the Figure thorow into the second couple's place, the same as before.

The tune is a reel with 4-bar A and B, and no indication of repeats. Lots of obscurities here. With repeats the tune is 16 bars; so the tune through twice is 32 bars — you couldn't possibly take that long to set twice and Hey, so no repeats. But setting twice you'd expect to be 4 bars and a Hey for three (presumably it's the first couple and the second man doing it) you'd expect to be 6 to 8 bars — how do you fill up 16 bars? And then the question I keep coming back to: who initiates the Hey? It could be up and down, across, or (if the first man initiates it) diagonal. And where does it finish? The second Hey is followed by then all four hands a-breast which suggests to me that it's initiated by the second woman going between the ones and turning left, so it's a Hey across and it ends where it started, and then the second man moves up to stand beside his partner in a line of four facing up with the ones on the ends. But then what do you do in this line of four? You'd expect to lead up a double and back, bending the line to finish in original positions — but that's only four bars. go the Figure means a figure of eight or a half figure of eight, or in this case perhaps it means three-quarters of a figure eight: the ones cross down through the twos, cast up, and cross down again to their own side as the twos move up. That's more than four bars. I'm happy to leave this one for someone else to interpret! I've also just noticed that at the start of the 7th Edition of 1686 (the last one produced by John Playford) there's a table explaining a few words and symbols which includes:

The Figure half round, is the Hay half round.
The whole Figure is the Hay all four round.

I don't know what to make of that, except that it's presumably not Sharp's invented “circular hey”.

Cary's Maggot (1701)

The 1. cu. cast off, the 1. Man turns the 3. Wo. with his Right-hand, the 1. Wo. turns the 3. Man, then go the half Figure and cast up to the 2. cu. place. The 1. Man turns the 2. Wo. with his Right-hand, and the 1. Wo. turns the 2. Man, then go the half Figure thro' the 2. cu. then 1. Wo. Heys on the Men's side; and turn her Partner, the Man does the same with the W. and turn his partner.

The tune is in 3-time with A and B both 8 bars. Let's assume they're both repeated. 6 steps for the ones to cast to second place and cross moving down, 6 steps to turn the opposite sex threes (so they finish improper in second place), 12 steps for half figure eight down and then move up the outside to home place — that's A1. Again crossing down, 6 steps to turn the opposite sex twos (so they finish improper in first place), 6 steps for half figure eight down to finish proper — but that's only half of A2. So maybe I'm splitting the moves up wrongly — fooled by that full stop (period) after and cast up to the 2. cu. place — A1 starts with the cast down and A2 starts with the cast up — that's now symmetrical, though I don't know how I would phrase it to the music. But I question the fact that the ones have to cross both times in order to do the right-hand turns with the other couples. And I really think the ones should finish A2 improper in second place! Then the first woman leads a Hey up and down with the other two men, possibly starting right shoulder at the top (12 steps), flowing into a two-hand turn with partner (12 steps) which leaves the first man moving down into a right shoulder Hey with the other two women and finally the ones two-hand turn 1½ to their own side. So I certainly don't have a complete interpretation here, but I've established that both Heys are up and down!

Czar of Muscovy (1701)

The 1. and 2. cu. fall back and turn S. all four sett again, and the two Men lead thro' the two we. and turn twice, all four fall back and sett, and turn single; then all four fall back again, then the We. do the same; the 1. Man and Wo. take hands and sett to the 2. Man and turn single, sett again and all 3 go the Hey once; then take Hands again and sett to the 2. Wo. and turn S. sett again and go the Hey into their own places, and slip down the middle into 2. Cu.'s places

There's an awful lot going on here which I'm not going to decipher. The tune is a jig in (I think) F minor, which is four flats, though both facsimiles show five flats and they're not the five you would expect! There's a repeat of the A-music which is a bar short, the B-music goes on and on, and generally I can't make head or tail of it!

Nottingham Castle (1701)

The 1. man turn the 2. wo. round with his right-hand, and then his own Partner with the left, the 2. man turn the 1. wo. with his right-hand, and then his own Partner with his left, all four men and we. fall back and turn single all round. The first strain played once.
The 1. man and 1.wo. go the Hey half round with the 2. cu. to their places, the 1. man and 1. wo. lead down, [and] the 2. cu. cast up and meet, lead about the next cu. into their places.

The music has an 8-bar A and a 10-bar B, and I don't believe The first strain played once — I think it means once through the tune for the first part and once for the second part — the falling back and turning single take up the extra 2 bars at the end. (It can't be two separate figures as the first part is non-progressive.) I had thought this was duple minor until I saw that final lead about the next cu. and I'm still not sure! What do we make of the description of the Hey? In fact the whole of the second part is odd. It's very rare to tell the twos to cast up and meet, and I'm not sure of the timing. The facsimile on playforddances.com/dances/nottingham-castle doesn't have the word “and” that I've put in square brackets. I suggest that the comma shouldn't be there either, and it means that the ones lead down through the twos, then cast up and meet. Then they lead down through both couples, the twos move up and the ones cast up into second place. And the only way I can make sense of the Hey is to ignore “half round” and do a full Hey started by the first man and second woman passing left shoulders. That will fit the A-music, and I believe the rest will fit the 10-bar B-music.

Jack's Maggot (1701)

I've covered this at the start of my notes on Orientation above.

Portsmouth (1701)

The first man Hey with the first and second woman, the first woman do the same with the first and second man; then the first couple cross over and Figure in; then right and left quite round.

Yes, both facsimiles say first and second man rather than “first and second men”. Sharp didn't realise that cross over means cross and cast — see the justification for my belief here — so he compresses the two B's into one, getting the ones back to place and then three changes of a circular hey. In fact Figure in means a half figure eight up, so I'm confident about my version (and many other people's) of the second half. What about the Heys? Notice the difference from Red-House, which has Then the 1. cu. and 2. man go the Hey till they come into their own places. — is this significant? And in the second Hey in Portsmouth the first woman gets mentioned before the first man, breaking Rule 2, so I believe that Playford is saying who initiates the Heys and therefore they are indeed up and down as Sharp says.

Bloomsbury Market (1703)

The first Man turns the second Woman with his Right-hand, and the second Man with his Left, then the third with his Right-hand, then cast up to his own place. Then his Partner does the same. Then the first Man and Woman Hey with the second Man, then lead down the middle and cast up and turn, then the first couple Hey with the second Woman and cast off.

Sharp didn't interpret this dance, but other people have. I'll just concentrate on the Heys. The wording may be similar to “Portsmouth” but Portsmouth actually suggests that the first woman leads the second Hey while this doesn't. But (to be really subtle) the first Hey says the first Man and Woman whereas the second says the first couple — could it be that Playford didn't want to acknowledge that the first woman starts the second Hey?! And from the ones' two-hand turn that would flow much better than the first man initiating it, so I believe the Heys will be up and down as in Portsmouth.

Nobe's Maggot (1703)

The 1. cu. set each right Elbow to one another, and then with their left Elbows, and cast off, then the first cu. lead through the 3rd cu. and cast up and clap hands, then the first man Hey with the second cu. and the first wo. with the third cu. at the same time, then right and left with the 2. cu. quite round.

I don't think there's any disagreement that the ones are initiating the Heys from middle place and therefore both Heys are across the room. For further information I refer you to my interpretation.

John Playford published The Dancing Master for 39 years. His son Henry published it for only 12 years before handing over to John Young who published it for the remaining 25 years. This is from John Young's first edition.

Nowill Hills (1703)

The first Man runs the Hey with the second couple, the first woman do the same. The first Man and second Woman runs round their own Partners, the first Woman and second Man do the same, the two Men take both Hands and fall back, the Woman do the same at the same time, then Right-hands and Left.

The tune is a reel with 8-bar A and B, both presumably repeated. Following Rule 1, the two Heys are across the set — basically the twos just keep going and the first woman replaces her partner between one Hey and the next. Sharp then has the first man going anticlockwise round his partner while the second woman goes clockwise round hers, presumably so that there's no danger of them colliding (until they change numbers!) but I have more faith in my dancers and would specify clockwise for all four people. Then Playford says the two Men take both Hands and fall back which seems odd — if you take both hands with your neighbour you're facing them so how can you fall back? You could slip out, but then Playford would have said so. I agree with Sharp that you take inside hand to fall back, and that you then lead forward again. Finally three changes to give the progression — Playford actually happens to use the word “hands” this time but I fear American callers will interpret Sharp's circular-hey, three changes as meaning without hands.

Resolution (1703)

The 1. cu. cast off, and half Figure with the 2. cu. then the Man being in the Wo. place, and the Wo. in the Man's; then they take Hands, three on one side, and three on the other, and lead back and turn single; then Hey, first on the Men's side, and then on the We. side.

Not to be confused with Charles Bolton's tune and 4 couple dance of the same name. This tune is a lively reel with an 8-bar A and a 16-bar B; there are no underlined dots in the instructions but I would assume two A's and one B, giving a standard length of 32 bars. The timing is difficult to follow though. 4 bars for the ones to do a wide cast; 4 bars for half figure eight up is A1. But then we have lines of three falling back and turning single, and even if we have the lines leading forward after falling back that's still only 6 bars for A2. I could add a set before the turn single, but it's always tricky to decide when you've stopped interpreting an old dance and started writing a new one!

The bit that strikes me as really odd is that Hey on the men's side. It's just so unlikely that the first man would stand still for a whole eight bars while his partner does a Hey with the other two men. And then after he's done the Hey with the other two women, the ones need to cross back to their own side to start at the top of the next triple minor set. I know that's common in Scottish, where the ones have lots more interaction with their first corners and then second corners — a Scottish dance quite often ends with a reel of three on the opposite side for six bars, and then two bars for the ones to cross back to their own side. See my notes on “Duke of Perth” and the Fletts' comments. But it's not at all common in old English dances — I don't claim to be omniscient but I can't think of a single one. In all the old dances I can think of, if there are two Heys it's the men who do it first, following Rule 2! So the only solution I can see is that the ones cross over and then the three men Hey, and after them the women have their turn.

The New Round O (1706)

Later renamed “Round O” and the instructions get mangled — they start The 2. cu. sett and cast off into the 2. cu. place and there's mention of the 4. cu. so I'll stick with the earlier version! The ones go all over the place, including 1. cu. hop round one another, waving their Hands but they are in middle place for the final move: then the three We. go the Hey together, and the three Men go the Hey together at the same time. Sharp has the ones facing up to the twos to start the Hey, and I see no reason to doubt this. But is it two parallel Heys (the men starting right shoulder and the women also starting right shoulder) or do the ones start by leading up through the twos as the twos move down the outside? Sharp assumes parallel Heys, but I'm undecided. It depends whether the first man thinks “I'm dancing a Hey with the other men, and my partner is dancing a Hey with the other women” or “I'm dancing with my partner and we're doing the Hey together”. I would prefer the second approach, but I have no evidence either way.

The Russel (1706)

The first Couple cast off, then the second Couple, and then the third couple; then lead up to the top and cast off, then Right and Left with the third Couple; then Hey, first on the Mens sides, and then on the Womens sides.

The tune is a jig with 8 bar A and B, surely both repeated.

Here's a case where the earlier facsimile is preferable; if you look at the version on the CDSS site you might not notice the little tail on the “3” and read it as a “2”. I believe Fried de Metz Herman has an interpretation of this in her book “Choice Morsels”, but here are my thoughts. The first move is what I would call a “rolling cast” — as each couple casts to the bottom the other two lead up. So after all three couples have cast we're back where we started, and at the end of the phrase the ones cast into second place as the twos continue to lead up to top place. That's A1. Four changes with the threes will be A2. But then we have exactly the move we had in “Resolution”: then Hey, first on the Mens sides, and then on the Womens sides. I assume John Young means what he says. The men dance a Hey (presumably with the first man moving up to pass right shoulder with the second man at the top), and then the women do likewise.

Hunt the Squiril (1709)

The first Man Heys on the We. side, and the 1. Wo. on the men's side at the same time. Then 1. Man Heys on the Men's side, and the Wo. in the We. side, till they come into their own Places. Then the 1. cu. cross over and turn. Then the 2. cu. do the same.
The 1. Man goes the Figure of 8 on the Men's side, his Partner follows him at the same time, then she slips into her own place. Then 1. Wo. cast off on the outside of the 3. Wo. and half Figures with the 3. and 2. We. her Partner follows her at the same time, then the Man slips into his own place. The 1. cu. being at the top, the 1. Man changes with the 2. Wo. and the 1. Wo. with the 2. Man, then all four Hands half round, then the 1. cu. being at the top cast off. Then Right and Left quite round, and turn your partner.

The tune is the one Sharp used for “The Geud Man of Ballangigh” — a jig with two 8-bar A's and B's.

There's an interpretation of the dance in “American-English CD Compendium 1730-1825” by Kitty Keller, which I don't have, so here's what I make of it, starting with “Hey contrary sides. Hey own sides.” — the first appearance in The Dancing Master of a very common triple minor figure. Also known as cross Heys, possibly foreshadowed (though truncated) in the third figure of Grimstock. The twos and threes do two complete mirror Heys, started by the twos moving up the outside and the threes meeting ready to come up the middle. The ones cross down through the twos into a Hey on the opposite side. When they get back to the top they cross down through the twos into a Hey on their own side. This can be a very satisfying figure if danced well, with a gentle skip-change step, though a lot of people seem incapable of fitting it to the music and always get there too soon.

Then the 1. cu. cross over and turn — The ones cross and cast, the twos lead up, and then I'm confident that the ones would turn 1½ to get back to their own sides. The twos then repeat this, leaving everybody home, so the horizontal line can't mean the start of a new figure — each figure would be run for the length of the set so each has to be progressive. What we have so far would fit once through the tune, so we hope the second part will also be once through the tune, though there seems a lot more to it.

The next move could also legitimately be called a Hey, as in the sheepskin Hey in “Picking of Sticks”. The first man weaves down in front of the second man, behind the third man and all the way round him, and behind the second man back to place. The first woman follows her partner but while he goes behind the second man she cuts across back to her place.

And then I would expect the same move led by the first woman, nicely complementing the two Heys in the first part — but that's not what we get! Young is quite clear that the first woman goes outside the third woman, not the second, and half Figures with the 3. and 2. rather than “2. and 3.” The first man will have a long way to go, to follow her across the top and down the women's side before the figure starts. But notice that this time it's a half figure rather than a whole one. And at the end of the first move the ones are both going clockwise so perhaps it makes sense for the woman to cast rather than abruptly change direction. I need to think about this some more!

Blackwell-Hall (1713)

Note: Each Strain is to be play'd twice over.
First Man cross over behind the 3d Wo. the first Wo. goes round the 2d Man, and Sett to each other; the Man cast round the 3d Man, the Wo. round the 2d Wo. which brings them into the 2d Cu Place : The Man cross over, and the Wo. cross over, the Man to the Top Cu. and the Wo. to the 3d Cu. and Sett to each other, the Man cast off, and the Wo. cast up : Then Hey, the Man on the Mens Side, and the Wo. on the We. Side : Then Right and Left quite round :

The tune has an 8-bar A and a 6-bar B, each repeated. The dance is interpreted by Bernard Bentley in Fallibroome 1 and I can't improve upon his version. Because the first woman has cast up to middle place it seems obvious for her to start the Hey passing right shoulder at the top; similarly the man having cast down starts right shoulder at the bottom.

Ramellis Rout (1713)

The first couple go the Hey with the second man, then with the second woman. This to the first Strain play'd once. Then the first couple cross over the second couple, and then Right and Left with the third couple, then lead up through both couple and cast off, and turn. This to the second Strain play'd once.

The tune is in 3-time — a typical 3/2 hornpipe with three long notes at the start of an 8-bar A and an 8-bar B, and according to the instructions there are no repeats. Going by Rule 1, the first couple initiate both Heys, so I assume these are on the side; it would be different if it said “The second man goes the Hey with the first couple”. But that would require the first woman starting it, rather than the first man, in defiance of Rule 2. So could it possibly be a diagonal Hey, started by the first man going between the first woman and second man and then turning right? Or left? Each Hey would need to be 12 steps to fit the pair of them into the 8-bar A-music. I need to think more about this. The instructions for the remainder seem perfectly clear — but can they fit into 8 bars (24 steps)? 6 steps for the ones to cross and cast as the twos meet and lead up. And then we notice lead up through both couple so it's only two changes, leaving the threes improper above the ones proper. Three steps for each of the two changes with the threes. 6 steps for the ones to lead up through both couples and cast to second place as the threes move down again, and six steps for the ones to turn all the way as the threes turn half-way. That should work! It seems that often the inactive couples just have to adjust to fit in with what the ones are doing; there's no mention of the threes having to change sides, just as there's no mention of the twos moving up or the threes moving down. In fact I think it would be better if the threes did their turn half-way while moving down, leaving the final 6 steps for just the ones.

A Trip to Islington (1713)

I struggled with these instructions and eventually came up with this on my Interpretations page.

Exeter Ladies (1713)

The first Cu. go the Hey, then Sides with the 2d and 3d Cu.

Surely the word “then” shouldn't be here. It's a Grimstock Hey, as in Dudmason Hall (1718) which has identical wording apart from “then”.

Hambleton's Round O (1713)

The music is in 3-time and I have no quarrel with Bernard Bentley's interpretation in The Fallibroome Collection as copied in “The Playford Ball”. This one is far more popular in The States than in England.

The first couple cast off, the man going the Hey with the third couple, and the woman with the second couple, then turn Hands in the second couples place; then the first woman change places with the second man, and the first man do the same with the second woman, then Hands half round and turn single, then Right and Left into the second couples places.

The ones take 6 steps to cast into second place, twos moving up, and then straight into Heys which must surely be across, following Rule 1 and will take the remaining 18 steps of the A-music. Sharp didn't interpret this — in fact he interpreted very few dances in triple time — maybe he realised they just didn't suit his “running step”.

The New Czar (1713)

Note: The first strain twice over, and the last but once.
The first Couple leads down between the second Couple, then back again and cast off, and go round the third Couple on the inside. This to the first strain play'd once. Then the first Couple cast up; that again from the place where you was. This to the first strain play'd twice. The first Man cross with the second Woman, and the first Woman with the second Man, then hands round; Then the Hey on both sides. This to the second strain play'd once.

The tune is a jig with an 8-bar A repeated and a 16-bar B not repeated, giving a standard 32 bars. go round the third Couple on the inside suggests that the ones lead down through the threes and then cast up, but that again from the place where you was means that the ones cast up twice, so I think it just means lead down through the threes. That will certainly fit A1, and two wide casts up of 8 steps each will fit A2. Then we have what I would expect to be a very standard sequence going back to John Playford's “The Twenty-Ninth of May” of 1686, then “Hole in the Wall” of 1695, “Jack's Maggot” of 1703 and several others: first corners cross, second corners cross, circle 4 half-way, ones cast as twos lead up. Only it isn't that. The circle must surely be half-way or the ones and twos would finish improper, but then there's too much music and no progression — I don't believe they would throw in an extra change of the Hey without mentioning it. So I think it should be the standard sequence, in which case the ones would start the Heys from second place. And surely having just cast into second place they would lead down through the threes to start the Hey, which means it's a “Morris” Hey rather than a “Grimstock” Hey — not that they would have thought of it in those terms. But I tend to avoid that term because the threes might then want to cast up into it, which certainly isn't necessary.

Tunbridge Minuet (1713)

Note: Each strain twice over.
The first Man turns the second Woman and comes into his Place again . Then he turns his own Partner, and comes into his own Place again : Then all Four Hands quite round, and then Right Hands and Left quite round . Then Hey on the Men's Side, and then on the Women's Side :

The tune is (not surprisingly) a minuet, with an 8-bar A and a 16-bar B, both repeated, giving quite a long figure. There are several examples of the Country Dance Minuet in the Dancing Master and other collections of the period. A minuet step is not something for travelling great distances, but bearing in mind that one minuet step takes two bars, the following looks all wrong to me:

A1:	First man two-hand turn second woman (4 minuet steps).
A2:	First man two-hand turn partner.
B1:	(16 bars): Ones and twos circle left (2 minuet steps). Circle right. Four changes with hands, 1 minuet step per hand.
B2:	Men's Hey (4 minuet steps). Women's Hey.

The two-hand turns in A1 and A2 are very slow, and the rest of the dance is impossibly fast! You can't do a circle left in 2 minuet steps — you could circle half-way and then back for the next two steps, but that's not what it says. I would expect one minuet step for each change of a Hey, which means 12 bars for 6 changes, but we only have 8 bars for the men, then 8 bars for the women. And there's no progression. Maybe it's one of those Heys where there's only a single person weaving in and out, the others just moving up as required — but no, the ones need to finish in second place at the end of a triple minor. I'm giving up on this one.

As quick as you please (1718)

Note: Each Strain is to play'd twice over.
All four Sett across, the first Couple cast off . Then Sett across with the third Couple, and cast off : The first Couple lead up to the Top and cast off . The first and second Couple go the Hey, which brings the first Couple into the second Couples Place proper :

As with “Free Mason's Health (1726)” the ones are already progressed when they start the Hey with the twos, so I'm guessing the first man and second woman start the Hey right shoulder. In fact I now notice the wording is identical! How does this happen? Later on in the Regency period it happened quite often, because the dances were so standardised that the same sequence of moves could occur in several dances without any of them being copies, but I don't think that's the case with these two, and when we get to “Joy after Sorrow” (1718) and “Love and Beauty (1726)” it's inconceivable that this very unusual sequence of figures could have been put together independently. But the thing to remember is that the name is the name of the tune, not the name of the figures. The reason that “Newcastle” and “If all the world were paper” have these names is that the tunes are for songs with that name. I expect someone taught “Free Mason's Health” and then he or the musicians decided the figures worked better with a different tune called “As quick as you please”, and it was then republished with that name. Cecil Sharp and his followers quite often put a dance to a different tune — even some of the classic Playford dances — but they kept the name of the dance rather than following the old custom of using the name of the tune.

Next Oars (1718)

Note: Each Strain is to be Play'd twice over.
The first Cu. cast off and cast up . Then Hands across with the 2d Cu. quite round : Then lead thro' and Back to Back with your Partner . Then cross over the 2d Cu. and cross over the 3d Cu. to the Bottom; then the first Man Heys on the Men's Side, and the Wo. on her own Side, then the first Cu. lead thro' the Top and turn :

The tune is a slip-jig with A, B and C parts each 4 bars repeated, so each section would be 12 walking steps (or skip steps), though the useful underlined dots are missing in two places. Having seen in “The New Czar” that the ones can start the Hey from the second place rather than first place, we now see that they can start it from third place, but again notice Rule 1 in operation: we are specifically told that the first man and first woman lead the Heys. I suppose these could be parallel Heys, but the ones have just met at the bottom of the set so surely they would start the Hey by moving or leading up the middle together.

What about the rest of the figures? 6 steps for the ones to cast into second place and then cast back again — a pointless move in my opinion but I'm from a different century! 12 steps for the star. The lead through must be followed by a cast back, so that's quite busy. The cross and cast moves are 6 steps each — again busy but by no means impossible if you're dancing rather than strolling. !2 steps for the Hey, which leaves the ones back at the bottom. And then 12 steps for the ones to lead up through both couples, implicitly cast to second place and two-hand turn. This whole dance strikes me as too frantic, but I don't have any other ideas, so here's how I would call it (which I probably wouldn't except to a lively but experienced young crowd):

A1:	(4 bars): Ones cast to second place (6 steps) and then cast back to top place — twos need to lead up and then lead down again.
A2:	Ones and twos right-hand star (6 steps). Left-hand star.
B1:	(4 bars): Ones lead down through the twos and cast up. Ones back-to-back.
B2:	Ones cross and cast to second place, twos lead up. Ones cross and cast to third place, threes lead up.
C1:	(4 bars): Upside-down Grimstock Hey: ones lead up through threes to start (only 12 steps).
C2:	Ones lead to the top, cast to second place (threes lead down) and if there's time ones two-hand turn.

Royal Fishery (1718)

Note: Each Strain twice over.
The first Man takes his Wo. by the Left-hand with his Right, and lead her round the 2d Man, till they come all four abreast, and lead up the Room and fall back again . Then all four Hey till they come to the same Place again : Then first Cu.cross over below the 2d Cu. and lead between, the 3d Cu. cast up and turn into the 2d Cus. Place . Then the 2d Cu. turn down the Middle, and the first cast up, then first Cu. turn down the Middle, and the 2d Cu. cast up :

The tune has 8 bar A and B, each repeated. The difference in this Hey is that it starts with the ones standing between the twos, but Rule 1 says that the ones start by passing each other. cross over below the 2d Cu. means that the ones cross and cast, and would normally start with the ones above the twos, but in this case the ones need to cross moving up before they can cast. And surely the comma in lead between, the 3d Cu. shouldn't be there. That gives us:

A1:	Ones face up, take inside hand, and wheel to the left round the second man to finish in a line of four between the twos. Up a double and back.
A2:	Ones pass partner right shoulder to start a full Hey for four across the room.
B1:	Ones cross up through the twos and cast (twos meet and lead up), ones lead down through the threes and cast up, then two-hand turn in second place — quite busy, that.
B2:	Twos two-hand turn moving down into second place as ones cast up. Ones turn down, twos cast up.

Soho Square (1718)

The first Man Heys on the We. Side, and his Partner on the Men's Side at the same time . Then both Hey on their own Sides : Change Places all four and go half round . Then cast off and Right and Left quite round : Then first Cu goes the whole Figure of 8 with the 3d. Cu. . Then with the 2d. Cu. : Then first Man goes on the outside the 3d. Wo. and the first Wo. on the outside of the 2d Man at the same Time . Then they both cast off into the 2d. Cu. place and turn :

Hey contrary sides. Hey own sides. As described in “Hunt the Squiril (1709)”.

Bugbee's Hole (1726)

The first Man goes the Hey on the Women's side, and his Partner on the Men's side. Then they both Hey on their own sides, and cast off into the second Couple's place. Then the first couple goes the whole Figure between the third Couple, and lead up through the top. Then the first Couple Right-hands and Left quite round at bottom and turn Hands.

Again Hey contrary sides and then Hey own sides. The dance is mainly as Bernard Bentley describes it in Fallibroome 4. There's a smudge on the original and he's read it as “Burgee's Hole”. It's not possible for the ones to do a full figure eight at the bottom and lead up through the twos and cast back in 8 bars, so he's very sensibly combined these into a half figure eight down and a half figure eight up. And he's converted it to a 3 couple set dance which again I agree with.

There are several dances where at the end of the second hey the ones cast to second place — we meet it again in “King George's Birth Day (also 1726)”. It would seem much more natural for them to lead down as the twos move up the outside — one extra change — but actually it works well if the ones are ready for it! The fifth change is the ones coming up to the top outside the threes, but they then need to turn out rather than in. The final change is the twos leading up through the threes, so the ones cast to second place and the twos keep leading up to top place.

Cloe the Fair (1726)

The first cu. cast off and turn half round, they lead through the third cu. and cast up . Then cross up to the top, and turn single : Then first and second cu. go the whole Hey, then first cu. cast off and turn in the second cu. place . Then first Man go the whole Hey with the third cu. the first Woman do the same (at the same time) with the second cu. then meet in the second cu. place and turn single Proper :

The tune is a perky jig with an 8-bar A and a 12-bar B; the underlined dots make it clear that there are two of each.

The dance is interpreted in “24 Country Dances from the Playford Editions” by Frank Van Cleef which I don't have. No difficulty fitting the instructions to the two A's except that there's 4 bars for the final turn single which seems excessive. In B1, as before I assume the Hey across is started by the first man and second woman passing left shoulder, so you can certainly finish that with the first man facing up and the first woman facing out. A quick cast to second place and a quick two-hand turn for the extra 4 bars of B1. That means an abrupt change of direction for the man to go down and the woman up for Heys across, and then again a leisurely turn single in the last four bars. But maybe the “turn” is just sufficient for the ones to pass right shoulder with each other and start the Heys across left shoulder — that makes a lot more sense. There's still that 4-bar turn single and the end, but I see that as the ones saying “We've done a Hey with the twos, and we've each done a Hey with one couple, but don't forget, we're the active couple”! And notice that the turn singles at the end of A2 and B2 are to the same 4-bar phrase of music, so I think it really does mean what it says.

Free Mason's Health (1726)

All four sett across, the first Couple cast off. Then sett across with the third Couple and cast off. The first Couple lead up to the top and cast off. The first and second Couple go the Hey, which brings the first couple into the second Couple place proper.

The tune is a jig with a 4-bar A and a 6-bar B.

This time the ones are already progressed when they start the Hey with the twos, so I'm guessing the first man and second woman start the Hey right shoulder.

The Irish Howle (1726)

Note: Each Strain but once.
The first Couple go the Hey with the second Woman, then with the second Man . The first Man and the second Woman change places, then first Woman and second Man, and all four proceed round to their own places, then first Couple take Hands round and cast off :

The tune is a reel, and given that there are two Heys in the first 8 bars it must be played with 4 beats to the bar rather than the usual two. Following Rule 1 I would expect the Heys to be up and down rather than across, led first by the first man and then by the first woman. The second half seems to be a very standard formula: first corners cross, second corners cross, circle 4 half-way, ones cast as twos lead up. But at 4 beats to the bar we have twice as much music . proceed round suggests a single file rather than a circle with hands, but it would take the same amount of time. And what do we make of first Couple take Hands round? I could invent all sorts of stuff, but that's not why I'm writing this page.

King George's Birth Day (1726)

Note: Each strain twice, and Tune twice over
The first and 2d. Men and their Partners, all four meet and fall back, and the Men turn off on their side, and Women on theirs . Then the first and 2d. Men Sett to their Partners and turn them : Then the first Man Heys on the Women side and his Partner on the Mens side . Then they Hey on their own side and cast off into the 2d. Couples places :
Then the first Man go the whole Figure with the third Couple at bottom, and his Partner with the 2d. Couple at top . Then the Men do the same at top, and Women at the bottom at the same time . Then the first Man cross on the outside the 3d. Wo. and his Partner on the outside the 2d. Man and meet in the middle, and turn your Partner . Then the first Woman cross on the outside of the 3d. Man and her Partner on the outside the 2d. Woman and turn in the 2d. Couples places :

The tune is a reel with 8 bar A and B sections, each repeated according to the underlined dots. In fact you need to play the tune twice through to fit the two sections of the dance. The second section starts with the ones in second place, so this isn't like one of those earlier dances with two separate figures — they probably didn't write those any more — it's just a double-length figure. I haven't found a modern interpretation of this dance, so here goes. For modern dancers a double-length triple minor just isn't on — imagine doing The Fandango in its original triple minor form and the dance stops just as you eventually reach the top! So I'm converting it to a three couple set dance.

A1 is clear enough. In A2 the men need to set twice to use up the music. Do the women also set? It's a bit like Sharp's frequent “First and second men turn their partners” though in that case it's obvious the women join in. Rule 2 says they're not worth mentioning, so I'm assuming they join in, and I'm willing to bend the convention a little and allow the threes to join in if they wish. You can see that the turns in B3 and B4 need to be half-way, and I'm so confident this will work that I've added my version to my Interpretations page.

Love and Beauty (1726)

Note: Each Strain twice.
The first Man go down the middle below the third Woman, the first Woman slip outside to meet her Partner, and turn single, the first Woman slip up the middle to the top, her Partner slip outside the Men, both turn single . First Couple Sett, go the Hey sides with the second and third Couple : The first Man take the second Woman by her left Hand, lead her to the third Couple and turn single, Figure between the first Woman and second Man and turn . Then first Couple take Hands with the second Woman and go round 'till you are improper in the second Couples place, then cross up the middle to your place, fall back one step, and cast off :

The tune is in triple time but definitely not a waltz — the ones really have to move to get to the bottom of the set in the first two bars, and the same back again. I agree with Bernard Bentley's interpretation in Fallibroome 6. Because it's triple time the ones can set for 2 bars before the Heys on their own side (18 steps). They could be parallel Heys, but actually simultaneous parallel Heys aren't something we've come across and I would use a Grimstock hey here.

Punch Alive (1726)

Note: Each Strain is to be play'd twice over.
The two first Couple clap Hands twice to their partners, then clap twice sideways . Then all four back to back with their Partners, and all four turn single : Then all four Hey, the first Couple casting off one Couple . Then the first Couple Hey at the bottom, and cast up :
To Hey all four, the first Couple being as tho' they were going to Figure with the second Couple: But the second Couple moves at the same time as in the Hey.

The tune is a march with a 4-bar A and an 8-bar B, both repeated. For the A part I'm wondering if the back-to-back should be across the two A's. That would give 1 bar to clap twice with partner, 1 bar to clap twice with neighbour, 4 bars for the back-to-back and 2 bars for the turn single. As it's written there's too much time for the clapping and the turn single would need to be done as you fall back in the back-to-back.

John Sweeney suggests:

Given the location of the phrase marker I would do: Clap: Together, Right, Together, Left twice. Back to Back, start left foot and turn left back to place after you pass behind your partner — a lovely move (as in Ilmington Morris!) — you can smile at your partner as you move back to place.
A Spinning Dosido! I love it! And the Americans though that they invented it!

But it's the B section which really baffles me.

At last, an explanation of a Hey for two couples starting in original places. Only… what does it mean? He's clearly distinguishing between Figure (which means a full or half figure eight through two stationary people) and Hey. If the ones cross down to start a figure eight with the woman leading, she passes the second man right shoulder while the first man passes the second woman left shoulder — but then the twos meet: the woman wants to pass her partner left shoulder while he wants to pass her right shoulder. But perhaps moves at the same time as in the Hey doesn't mean they're doing what they would do in a Hey, merely that they're moving rather than being stationary posts. Could it mean a Double figure eight which I thought was a 20th century invention? And the “Hey” with the twos seems different from that with the threes: in the first case it appears to finish where it started (as I would expect a Hey to do) and the ones then cast to second place (without any extra music) but in the second case it obviously finishes with the ones below the threes since they then have to cast up to second place (again without any extra music) to start the next turn of the triple minor dance.

Again John Sweeney has suggestions:

Option 1: the second couple each just Gypsy any person going around them and stay on their own side. That satisfies “the Second couple moves”, but I am sure it would have been worded differently and “as in the Hey” doesn't make a lot of sense.
Option 2: it is a Double Figure Eight. This seems to be the only way for the #2s to be Hey-like and finish where they started without anyone crashing.
Flow: when I first read it I thought it meant that the #1s Cast Off before starting the Hey. I am sure you are right that it actually means they do the Hey and then Cast Off. However if I was interpreting it today I would get the #1s to Cast Off into a Double Figure Eight with the #2s so that the Cast Off flows from the end of the figure rather than requiring a sudden change of direction. That would make it easier to fit the music as well since your momentum will carry you into the second figure.
Cast Up: I would suggest that, assuming they are crossing down into a Figure Eight or Double Figure Eight (which I would use for consistency) around the #3s then the end of the figure is effectively a Cast Up into second place. It is quite possible that the Cast Up is redundant, and only put there to emphasise that the #1s need to finish in the middle.
So the sequence would be:
#1s Cast Down WHILE #2s Cross Up into a Double Figure Eight — the #1s finish by continuing their flow to cast around the #2s into…
#1s Cross Down WHILE #3s Cast Up into a Double Figure Eight

I'm sure John's solution would work, but it clearly isn't what John Young is saying, especially the implication that the Hey with the threes is the same move as the Hey with the twos. And he took over The Dancing Master in 1703 and published it for the next 25 years; why did he wait until almost his final year before deciding to explain what “Hey all four” meant? After all, the move appeared in The Milkmaid's Bob in John Playford's first edition of 1651.

My conclusions

So what can I deduce from all this?

First of all, I don't believe there are any diagonal heys, except in The Duke of Lorain's March (1657) where it's obvious. I know there's a possibility in The Boatman (1651) and Ramellis Rout (1713) but it's only a possibility.

Secondly I'm not convinced that there are any parallel Heys — I think they would all be mirror Heys — but that's just my opinion.

Thirdly there are lots of mistakes in The Dancing Master and while it doesn't do to be too dogmatic I can't believe that some of the moves described as “Hey” really are.

Finally, this is a living tradition — people will come up with arguments to disprove everything I've said here, and that's fine — I don't want to be put on a pedestal like Cecil Sharp, I just want people to be willing to think about these things and not just blindly accept what they're told — even by Colin Hume!

John Sweeney also has a page on “The Hey or Reel — Origins and Over 25 Variations” at contrafusion.co.uk/Hey.html and another on Right and Left etc. at contrafusion.co.uk/RightAndLeft.html

Related topics: Interpretations Thompson's 1788 collection

B1	1st and 2nd couples foot it (twice) to partners and two changes of a hey.
B4	1st and 3rd couples three changes of a hey. All turn single.

B1	1st couple gypsy, cast and turn single. 1st and 2nd couples four changes of a hey.
B2	… 1st and 3rd couples four changes of a hey.

B2	1st and 3rd couples four changes of a hey.
B4	1st and 3rd couples three changes of a hey. All turn partners.

Leade up all forwards and back . That againe :	First and last on each side to the wall, while the 2. Cu. meet, back all to your places, men hands and goe halfe round, We. doing the like . All that againe :
Sides all . That againe :	First and last meet and change places, while the 2. Cu. goes back and meet, first foure hands and goe round, while the other set and turne S. . All this again :
Armes all . That againe :	Back all a D. meet againe. half the S. Hey : That againe :

Leade up all a D. and back . That againe :	Men fall back, and We. at the same time, change places each with his owne, men hands round, to your places, and We. at the same time, men being on the We. side, and We. on the mens side . Back againe to your places :
Armes all . That againe :	Fall back and change places as before, men the Hey, and We. at the same time, the first Cu. staying in the last place . This back again :
Sides all . That againe :	Fall back and change places as before, the first man leade downe his Wo. the rest following him, stay in the last place : This back againe, but cast off instead of leading betweene the rest :

Leade up forward and backe . That againe :	First Cu. crosse over and fall into the 2. place, crosse againe and fall into the last place . Every Cu. doe thus :
Sides all . That againe :	Halfe the S. Hey on each side; set and turne S. . All doe this change :
Armes all . That againe :	Men hands and goe halfe round, We. as much : All doe this change :

Leade up all a D. forwards and backe . That againe :	First foure the S. Hey, while the last foure do the like .
Sides all . That againe :	First Cu. slip between the 2. while the 3. does the like with the last, change places with your own . That again :
Armes all . That againe :	First man change places with the 2. wo. taking by the right hand, change places with the 2. man, the 3. man doing the like, then the other four as much :