Sackett's Harbor

There is no way in which this mid-nineteenth century American country (contra) dance can be said to be traditional in format, either for the Civil War era or before.  That's precisely what attracted me to it: the unusual twist in the figures makes them stand out from the many others published in the mid-nineteenth century.

On the matter of names
The more contra dances of the 1850s and 1860s that I look at, the more I suspect that the interchangeability of tunes and figures of the Regency era applies just as much later in the century, eventually evolving into the modern contra practice of dance figures having names and, with a very few traditional exceptions, being done to whatever tune suits the fancy of the musicians.  In this case, these figures appear under at least four different names, which suggests to me that the names belong to the music rather than the dance figures:

"Speed the Cable" ("Speed the Telegraph" in the index)
    Elias Howe, Howe's Complete Ball-Room Handbook.  Boston, 1858.

"Irish Hornpipe"
    Anonymous, The Ball Room Guide.  Laconia (New Hampshire).  1858.

"Steamboat Quickstep"
    Elias Howe, American dancing master, and ball-room prompter.  Boston, 1862.

"Sackett's Harbor"
    Anonymous, The ball-room manual of contra dances and social cotillons.  Belfast (Maine) and Boston, 1863.

In Howe's 1862 book, a different set of figures appears with "Irish Hornpipe" and in the 1863 Maine manual, different figures appear with "Steamboat Quickstep".

The same figures reappear in a few later manuals from Boston:

In French's The prompter's handbook (Boston, 1893) and Elmwell's Prompter's pocket instruction book (Boston, 1892) they appear under "Steamboat Quickstep". 

In Schell's Prompting: How to do it. (Boston, 1890) the figures actually appear under both "Speed the Cable" and "Steamboat Quickstep" on the same page of the book, as may be seen at left (click to enlarge). 

This set of figures could accurately be called any of the above names, or, more likely, none of them.  My only real reason for calling them "Sackett's Harbor" is that it is the first title under which I encountered them and, as far as I can tell, that title only appears with these figures.  It also conveniently matches the name used for the modern contra version.

Sackets Harbor (modern spelling) is a village on Lake Ontario in upstate New York which was named after its founder.  In the early nineteenth century, it was the site of a shipyard and naval headquarters.  Two battles between British and American forces were fought there during the War of 1812; the battlefield is now a historic site. I expect that the name commemorates the battles.

The dance itself is quite straightforward to reconstruct.  It is a triple minor contra, which would likely have been started "snowball" fashion, with only the very first three couples in the set beginning the dance and other dancers joining in as the active couple moved down the set and new active couples began.  (I've discussed this progression style at more length here.)  However, Elias Howe was also a fan of more dancing and less waiting, so one could reasonably adopt the "take hands six from the top" approach with everyone in the set starting at once.  I'd still dance it until each couple had returned to place, so this approach does not shorten the dance, it just means a little less waiting out.

The setup for this dance is the standard long line of couples, gentlemen on one side and ladies on the other.  The unusual figure in this dance is a sinple three-quarter circle, which in a brings the three couples in each minor set perpendicular to the overall lines.  This would be routine in a modern duple minor contra, but in a triple minor it has a more visually interesting effect.

Reconstruction
4b    Three couples forward and back
4b    Hands six round to the left 3/4 (leaves the gentlemen facing up the set, ladies down)
4b    Active couple take two hands and gallop sideways between the other two couples and back
4b    Active couple cast off one place 
8b    Swing corners
4b    All six forward and back
4b    Hands six round to the right 3/4 (return to original lines)

Notes
Swing corners is described in detail here.  While Howe and other writers use phrases like "turn contra corners" for this figure, I believe that what was intended was the Regency "swing corners" with one-hand turns rather than the Regency "turn corners" with two-hand turns.

The progressive figure, variously described as "down centre and back, cast off" and "chassé [or chassa] across the set and back cast off", can be reconstructed in different ways.  "Down" and "up" are a bit confusing when the minor set is turned ninety degrees; "across and back" makes more sense from a dancer perspective.  As for how to do it, I have a strong personal preference, when working with dances from Elias Howe, who is often a bit old-fashioned in his figures, to have the active couples face each other, taking two hands, and gallop ("chassé") down between the other two couples for two bars (1&2&3&4) then back up for two bars, leaving a full four bars for a graceful cast off.  A historical chassé-down shouldn't go further than the end of your three-couple minor set, and this is a dance of the hoop-skirt era, so tracks for moves like casting off are a bit bigger and slower to accomplish for the ladies.  I dislike the modern habit of strolling down the set for four bars followed by squeezing turning around, coming back up, and casting off all into the final four bars.

To help visualize how the three-quarter circling leaves the minor sets, here is a video of the dance done in modern contra context and style.  Note that the dancers do the progressive figure in the modern way, strolling right out of their minor sets and using the second couple to help swing the active couple around in the cast off.  Please keep in mind that this is not the style I'm looking for for historical purposes!

Music
Obviously, it is possible to dance these figures to a number of different tunes.  I haven't been able to find music for tunes called either "Sackett's Harbor" or "Speed the Cable", but here are Howe's melody lines for "Irish Hornpipe" and "Steamboat Quickstep" from his Musician's Omnibus (1861).  Click to enlarge the images.  Any other thirty-two bar contra dance tune will also work.

Comments

[Robert Messer]

The Fiddler's Companion has information about "Sackett's Harbor" that might be relevant: http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/SAA_SAIG.htm#SACKETT%27S_HARBOR

[David Millstone]

Thanks for citing so many references for this classic dance! In particular, I really liked seeing the same figures appearing on the same page under two different names in Schell's Prompting: How to do it. Great find!

> Two battles between British and American forces were fought there during the War of 1812; the battlefield is now a historic site. I expect that the name commemorates the battles.

Although that's certainly possible, I think there's another explanation for the name. Here's an excerpt from my article on that subject from Cracking Chestnuts:

---
While doing research into Hull’s Victory, we were looking through books of military history relating to the War of 1812. It became clear that in addition to the naval engagements in the Atlantic, serious fighting took place in the northwest of the new nation. Britain controlled Canada, and an invasion from that direction was a grave threat. Lakes Erie and Ontario were vulnerable, and Lake Champlain reached well into New York state, giving an invading army easy access. Sackett’s Harbor, located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario in northern New York state, was the headquarters of the American fleet on the lake during the war, a fleet intended to neutralize the British threat. But supporting this outpost was no easy feat in these days before railroads and canals and with roads in only primitive conditions. All serious trade was by water, and the British Navy was a strong presence.

There was an important battle at Sackett’s Harbor. A force of 800 British soldiers attacked on the night of May 26, 1813, taking advantage of the absence of the American fleet, which was itself then attacking British positions at the west end of the lake. The British landed and launched three separate assaults before they were repulsed. Could the dance be commemorating this event in much the manner of Hull’s Victory? Possibly, but we believe that there is a more specific reference. The clue comes from Ralph Page’s observation that the Sackett’s Harbor dance at one time had been known as Speed the Cable.

One source that proved particularly helpful was Willis J. Abbot's The Naval History of the United States, first published in 1886. This dusty blue volume had been checked out by only five library patrons in the past forty years; it was a dark book of the sort that can be found in the American history section of any older library, widely shunned in favor of more recent writing. But Abbot describes one event in detail which effectively solves the riddle:

When in May, 1814, the new United States frigate Superior lay at her dock at Sackett’s Harbor, her ordnance, stores, and cordage had to be brought from Oswego Falls, some fifty miles away. A clear water-route by the Oswego River and the lake offered itself; but Sir James Yeo, with his squadron, was blockading the mouth of the harbor, and the chance for blockade-runners was small indeed. To carry the heavy ordnance and cables overland, was out of the question. The dilemma was most perplexing, but Yankee ingenuity finally enabled the Superior to get her outfit. The equipment was loaded upon a small fleet of barges and scows, which a veteran lake captain took to a point sixteen miles from the blockaded harbor. By sailing by night, and skulking up creeks and inland water-ways, the transports reached this point without attracting the attention of the blockading fleet. They had, however, hardly arrived when news of the enterprise came to the ears of the British, and an expedition was sent to intercept the Americans, which expedition the Yankees successfully resisted. The question then arose as to how the stores were to be taken across the sixteen miles of marsh and forest that lay between the boats and the navy-yard at Sackett’s Harbor. The cannon and lighter stores were transported on heavy carts with great difficulty, but there still remained the great cable. How to move this was a serious question. No cart could bear its ponderous weight of ninety-six hundred pounds. Again Yankee ingenuity and pluck came to the rescue. Two hundred men volunteered to carry the great rope on their shoulders, and in this way it actually was transported. Along the shore of the little creek the great cable was stretched out with prodigious labor, and lay there looking like a gigantic serpent. The two hundred men ranged themselves along the line at regular intervals, and at a given signal hoisted the burden to their shoulders. At the word of command, all stepped off briskly together, and the long line wound along the narrow path through the forests. They started out cheerily enough, enlivening the work with songs and jests; but at the end of the first mile all were glad enough to throw down the load, and loiter a while by the roadside. A few minutes’ rest, and up and on again. Now arms began to ache, and shoulders to chafe, under the unusual burden; but the march continued until noon of the next day, when the footsore and weary carriers marched proudly into Sackett's Harbor, to find sailors and soldiers assembled to greet them with bands and cannon-firing. In accordance with the custom of the time, these demonstrations of honor were supplemented by the opening of a barrel of whiskey, in honor of the arrival of the cable.

Abbot doesn’t mention it, but it is easy to imagine a dance in celebration. At some point, probably close in time to these events, a dancing master came up with the figures and selected a contemporary title for his composition. So, Speed the Cable it was, and as time passed and the details of that event faded, only the name of Sackett’s Harbor remained associated with the dance.

[Michael Bergman]

There is dance music named Sackett's Harbor. However, the only source I know for it has several transcription errors in it, including substituting the name "Satan's Vision" for "Devil's Dream", so I wouldn't call it definitive.

Music historian Jim Kimball has released both a recording and a reprint of the tune book: http://www.samplerfolkmusic.com/booksh.htm
http://samplercd.com/sackett.html

[Lisa Brown]

Sheet music for the tune called Sackets Harbor can be found here:
https://natunelist.net/sacketts-harbor/

I grew up near Sackets Harbor and one of my favorite books as a child was
"The Great Rope" by Rosemary Nesbitt. When I saw the dance named "Speed the Cable" associated with Sackets Harbor I immediately thought, it's not a telegram, it's a rope.