A Victorian “Sir Roger de Coverley”

Several years ago I wrote up a description of a version of Sir Roger de Coverley from the early nineteenth century and talked a little about the background of the tune and the association of the dance with Charles Dickens’ famous novel, A Christmas Carol.

Over time, Sir Roger de Coverley mutated in various ways, and I promised back then to describe some of them. Better five years late than never, here’s another version, a “modernized” English one from the mid-nineteenth century which moves along much more briskly than the earlier version, even with a fairly lengthy set. According to Mrs. Nicholas Henderson, who seems to have been the first to publish this version, the country dance was generally in decline in the English ballroom by the early 1850s, but Sir Roger de Coverley was an exception:

To make amends for the fashionable dereliction and banishment of the old favourites of “Merrie Englande,” it is usual to conclude the evening’s festivities with one particular species of Country Dance, called “Sir Roger de Coverley.” It has of late enjoyed considerable vogue, and is patronised by her Majesty, at her own entertainments. We give it as at present danced at the Palace, somewhat modernised and adapted to the prevailing taste.

The anonymous “man of fashion” who authored one manual attributes the changes to “the professional taste and discrimination” of Mrs. Henderson herself and notes that with “the partial modernization of the figure, a certain slow stateliness of step has been introduced, which adds much to its gracefulness.” This suggests that, as would be expected for mid-century England, the dance is now simply walked through rather than stepped in any way.

This version of the dance has four distinct parts, so I’ve broken my writeup into separate sections and given them labels for ease of reference.

The dance
The formation is the standard column of couples, facing partners, gentlemen with their left shoulders toward the head of the room (usually the location of the band). The top couple are the ones nearest the band.

Introduction (16 measures)
4b    All advance and retire
4b    All cross over (pass right shoulders with partner and turn to the right to face again)
8b    Repeat all of above back to places

Part One (no specific timing)
Top lady & bottom gentleman advance to each other, bow/curtsy, and retire to places
Top gentleman & bottom lady the same
Top lady & bottom gentleman advance and turn by right hands all the way round back to places
Top gentleman & bottom lady the same.

Part Two (no specific timing) “generally omitted”
Top couple cross over, taking right hands in passing, and go down the outside of the set, passing two couples, then cross over again, taking left hands in passing, and go down the outside of the set two couples further, continuing thus, alternating hands and passing two couples each time, to the end of the set. Cross over once more if need be to return to original sides. Face up the set, take near hands, and promenade up to the top.

Part Three (no specific timing)
Top couple advances, bows/curtsies, turns away, and casts off down the outsides of the set, all the others following. At the bottom, the top couple joins hands to make an arch. The other couples pass under the arch and move back up the set. The original top couple stays at the bottom of the set; the original second couple will now be at the top.

The dance begins again from Part One with new leaders and is repeated until every couple has had a chance to lead and is back in their original places.

Reconstruction and performance notes
Part Two is consistently said to be often or always omitted; one American source calls it a “somewhat tiresome and not very exhilarating performance”.

That same source also suggests that the introduction is never repeated; as each new couple takes the lead, they begin from Part One. All the other sources are ambiguous on this point; they merely say to repeat the figure of the dance. I could see some logic to either repeating or omitting the introduction, but have chosen to follow the only source that gets specific.

Making an arch was apparently optional, too; the lead couple could just stand there and let the other couples pass between them. With the ladies’ fashions of the day making it both hard to raise the arms and hard for a couple to pass side-by-side through an arch of hands, that’s just as well.

Even with the omission of Part Two and not repeating the introduction, this is still potentially a lengthy dance, so limiting each set to perhaps eight or ten couples is recommended, keeping it on the low end of that if dancing Part Two.

Music
There are several recordings of the 9/8 slip jig “Sir Roger de Coverley” available that are long enough to dance to, including those on The Regency Ballroom, by Spare Parts; The Victorian Dance, by the Brassworks Band, and Sir Roger de Coverley, by Bangers & Mash. Sheet music is also not hard to come by.

Some sources for this version of Sir Roger de Coverley
Mrs. Nicholas Henderson, Etiquette of the Ball-Room and Guide to all the New and Fashionable Dances, Third Edition (London, c1854). (This version also appears in at least one earlier edition, c1850, in the seventh and ninth editions, c1861-1862, and presumably in all the intervening ones.)

“A Man of Fashion”, A Guide to the Ball Room and Illustrated Polka Lesson Book. (London, c1850).

The ball-room guide (Warne’s Bijou Books). (London, 1866).

Routledge’s Ball-Room Guide (Routledge’s Miniature Library). (London, c1868).

Mr. Bland, The Ball-Room Companion. (London, c1868).

The dancer’s guide and ball-room companion. (New York, c1874).

Note that despite the one New York appearance (in a manual which borrows liberally from other books), this is really an English dance. Americans had their own version, the Virginia Reel.

Also note that other English manuals contemporaneous with those above continued to give the more traditional version of the dance, with no introductory figure for the whole set and the traditional series of figures for the top and bottom couples. (Edited 12/24/2019 to add: and some offered an even shorter version, which I have described here.)

Wishing Merry Christmas to those celebrating today!

Capering & Kickery

A Victorian “Sir Roger de Coverley”

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