Setting Steps for Reels: the Aisig-thrasd

Winding up this mini-series of posts on early-nineteenth century reels, here's another interesting setting step from Scottish dancing master Francis Peacock, published in Sketches relative to the history and theory, but more especially to the practice of dancing (Aberdeen, 1805).  The Aisig-thrasd is subtitled "Cross Passes".  Peacock explains its Gaelic etymology as "From Aiseag, a pass, and Trasd across."

Peacock's description of the Aisig-thrasd:

This is a favourite step in many parts of the Highlands.  You spring a little to one side with the right foot, immediately passing to the left across it; hop and cross it again, and one step is finished; you then spring a little to one side with the left foot, making the like passes with the right.  This is a minor step; but it is often varied by passing the foot four times alternately behind and before, observing to make a hop previous to each pass, the first excepted, which must always be a spring, or bound: by these additional motions, it becomes a single step.

The Aisig-thrasd reappears in lists of Scotch reel steps in a few English dance manuals from later in the century, including The Ball Room Annual (London, c1844) and Rudolph Radestock's The Royal Ball-Room Guide (London, c1877).  The former runs the two words together, and the latter misspells it as Lisingthrasd.  It is described in both sources as follows:

Spring into the second with the right foot, passing the left across it again; the same with the left; to be repeated four times.

The basic geography of the step itself is simple: spring to the right into second position and hop, then spring to the left into second position and hop.  Each "spring-hop" takes half of a measure (count "1&").  What is interesting is what is done with the free foot.  Peacock uses the terms "cross" and "across" in this step description and no other.  That suggests to me that what the free foot is doing is not simply pointing downward like a sissone dessus.  I think the desired effect is more like that of the pied croisé described by French author Thoinot Arbeau (pseudonym of Jehan Tabourot) in his 1589 book on dance, Orchésographie (available in English translation as Orchesography).  In the pied croisé, the free foot literally crosses the other leg just below knee height, as may be seen below in the illustration from Arbeau:

The pied croisé is rarely used by Arbeau, but two of its three appearances seem oddly significant in this context.  Its most notable occurence is in the Branles d'Escosse, the Scottish Branles.  It appears in no other of the "standard" branles, though a similar step turns up in his Gavotte.  And as if that hint of a Scottish connection were not interesting enough, it also turns up in one of Arbeau's cinq-pas sequences for the galliard (the second one described here) which features a leap onto one foot and then a hop on the same foot, crossing the foot over on both moves, followed by the same move the other way and the cadence.  Other than the cadence, that is almost exactly the same as the Aisig-thrasd.  I've noticed before that certain Scotch reel steps (notably, the Seby-trast) bear some likeness to galliard steps, but the resemblance here is quite marked.

So to perform the Aisig-thrasd, when springing onto one foot, cross the other over at about a 45° angle by bending the knee.  Given nineteenth-century style, I would point the toe rather than leave the foot relaxed as in Arbeau.  The foot is then quickly pulled back a bit and then crossed over again on the hop, for a "shaking" effect.  It is possible that Peacock intended the crosses to alternate (in front/behind), but he does not so specify, and the phrase "cross it again" suggests a repeated motion to me.  Peacock is very relaxed about variations, however:

...you have it in your power to change, divide, add to, or invert, the different steps described, in whatever way you think best adapted to the tune, or most pleasing to yourself.

Given that statement, crossing in front and/or behind in whatever combination and order a dancer prefers seems quite legitimate.

Following his own advice, Peacock also offers a longer version of the Aisig-thrasd that specifies alternating crosses.  There are three hops following each spring, and the free foot crosses in front on the spring then alternately behind/in front/behind on the three hops.  This takes one measure for each "spring-hop-hop-hop", counted "1&2&".