Haste To The Wedding

Source: Traditional; published in English Dance & Song, January February 1940, Volume IV, Number 3.
Formation: Longways; Duple Minor; Proper

A1	#1s (each turning left) the man casts to face down on the outside of the set, the lady turns to face down the middle they dance down, turn, dance back
A2	#1s (each turning right) the man turns to face down the middle, the lady casts to face down on the outside of the set they dance down, turn, dance back
B1	#1s with #2 Lady: (Sussex) Circle Left; Circle Right; make an Arch and "pop" Lady #2 into Lady #1's place OR (Dorset) Circle Left; make an Arch and "pop" Lady #2 into progressed place; Circle Right (Two Hand Turn);
B2	Repeat with #2 Man

Music:
32 bar jig. It has its own tune, "Haste to the Wedding", in which bar 5 of the B music is just two dotted crochets (quarter notes); this punctuation is used to effect in certain versions of the dance.

The first known appearance of the tune was in a stage show "The Elopement", produced in London in 1767. The tune is known under countless names including " Cut Your Toenails You're Tearing All The Sheets"!

Notes:
This version of the dance is from Sussex and Dorset. The Community Dance Manual has this version and also a completely different dance with the same name in a Sicilian Circle, which used bar 5 for two claps. Thomas Hardy's Dorset version uses bar 5 for the "pop", followed by reversing the direction of the circle. The circle & "pop" move is also a popular Appalachian move known as "Shoot the Owl".

"Haste to the Wedding" is a very popular tune and countless other dances have been written to it. There are Irish and Scottish dances, and lots more historical ones documented at Dance History Alive!.

Original page from English Dance & Song, January February 1940

Original page from English Dance & Song, March April 1940

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