Elizabeth Coatsworth THE and COUNTRY Genevieve Vaughan-Jackson DANCER have combined their talents in two gaily illustrated, enchanting books for the nursery age: MOUSE CHORUS

Rhymes and pictures of happy mice and hungry mice, country mice and city mice, mice that sing and mice that dance. The New: Yorker: "Nimble and polished VOLUME 12 verses, adorned with dainty drawings in brown ink." NUMnER 1 HIDE AND SEEK

Chicago Tribune: 11A mother 1 s tender game with her small boy. Imaginative verses and beautiful illustrations are perfectly in tune in this lovely little bedside book." r EACH VOLUl'lE $2. 00 At your bookseller I TRIMMING THE TOP OF PANTHEON BOOKS, Inc. l SPRING FESTIVAL l~YPOLE 333 Sixth Ave., New York 14, N.Y.

35c SPRING 1956 THE COUNTRY DANCER New Jersey Festival -at Piper's Fancy EDITOR: May Gadd There was a special feeling this year about the Festival at ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Piper • s Fancy, the home of fu. and Hrs. \'Iilli~ Partingto~. For "Bill11 had recently undergone a serious operatJ.on and until close Roy Arnold - Edward Tatnall Canby - Abigail Hoffsommer to the date there was doubt as to whether the Festival could be Margaret M. Ide - Ruth Sanders Genevieve Shimer held. But members of the Summit Center rallied round to take over much of the hard work of preparation and clean-up, the dressing Evelyn K. Wells Elsie vfuiternan - Roberta Yerkes and raising of the Maypole was omitted, and not only were there Published four times yearly by about 150 people having their usual good time with picnics and dancing on the outdoor flo.or, but there was Bill Partington danc­ THE COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA ing along with them. In fact so much good did the Festival work 31 Union Square West, New York 3, N.Y. for him that he returned to work $1.00 a year; Thirty-five cents a copy the following Copyright 1956 by The Country Dance Society Inc. week - much ear­ lier than had been expected. There must be some magic about CDS CALENDAR this Spring danc­ ing. PINEWOODS CAMP - COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA. August 5-26. Another delight­ Long Pond, Buzzards. Bay, Mass. Director: May Gadd. Callers and aspect of the teachers include Dick Forscher, Bob Hider, Rickey Holden, Philip Festival was Merrill and other experts in dance and music. 28th annual Camp. that it produc­ ed $50 as a " PINEWOODS WEEKEND - Boston Centre COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETY, June benefit for The children have 22-25. Director: Louise Chapin, Long Pond, Buzzards Bay, Hass:- The men try a sword dance national c.D.S. a dance BRASSTOWN, N. C. -JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL. RECREATION We send our thanks to everyone - and especially to the host and COURSE June 5-16. CRAFT COURSES June 15-30 and October 15-27. hostess Write to the School for details. BIRTHS NEW YORK • END OF SEASON The New York classes wound up a successful season on May 30th RIVKIN: Hr. and J:.Irs. Herbert Rivkin of Haywood, N.J., have with a Party for class members and guests,attended by 106 dancers. a little girl named Leslie Minna, born March 1, 1956. In addition to the dances for all, various 11 stages"of dancers showed one of the dances that they had acquired during the season. BARRON: Iv".lr. and fus. Frank Barron of Norwell, Mass., sent Advanced dancers showed Mr. Beveridge's 14aggot, which was followed in news of their son Peter Morgan, born March 21, 1956. by a less difficult dance for all in the same triple time - Hole in the Wall. Less experienced dancers showed Fandango. Experienced KNOWLES: Maud and Kenneth Knowles have announced their Morris dancers demonstrated Step Back and others showed Lads a Bun­ adoption of a son, Kenneth Edward, born April 12, 1956. chun. The two Recorder groups that have been playing regularly this WEDDINGS season - Advanced and Intermediate - also were performers. The au­ dience was very impressed by their numbers and their application - KENNEY-PERKINS: March 18, 1956, in St. Catherine of and by their progress. Genoa Church, Brooklyn, New York, Clare Kenny and Audie Refreshments were served - Dick Forscher dropped in to call a R. Perkins of the U.S.A. Navy. square for us, Phil Merrill also called squares and contras, every­ one was able to get most of their favorite English dances. Alto­ McCORMICK-PERKINS: May 5, 1956, at the Seminary, Chicago, gether a good evening. The opening evening of next season will be Edith McCormick and Edgar H. Perkins. held on Saturday, September 29th. Classes will start the following Wednesday. 2 3 Frank Harner, folk singer and collector; Eric Darling, guitar and PINEWOODS 1956 VERSION banjo performer and teacher; Phil Herrill, pi anist and orchestra Hill you be at Pinevroods? If you plan to come, get your leader; Evelyn "\'Tells, outstanding authority on the traditional reservation in right now. He'd hate not to be able to take you. ballad; a wonderful group. The idea behind Folk lfusic vleek The 1956 season is clearly going to be an entertaining one. Of is not to model it on the techni­ course the marvellous 11 Long Pond'' with its crystal clear "~London to the New York Times. U. S.A. air men in Great B:itain are taking part in a campaign whereby the Royal Air l1USIC PATTERN Force ~ll restore famous St. Clement Dane~ Church in the Strand. Neasures FIGURE 1 The church, designed by Christopher Wren in the 17th century was A l-8 All advance and retire twice (not taking hands) destroyed by bombs in December, 1941. The ten Bells which ~sed Bl 1-2 Men honor partners, then corners to ring out Oranges and Lemons slightly off key cra~hed to earth 3-6 Men join hands and circle left halfway - to opposite lady in ruins; fire left the church a mere shell. ' B2 l-2 Women honor new partners, then corners 3-6 Women join hands and circle left halfway - to opposite gent The Royal Air Force plans to raise $350,000 to restore the B3 1-6 As in Bl but circle to the right church itself. American air men stationed in Great Britain hope BL; l-6 As in B2 but circle to the right to raise $75,000 in addition, for a new organ. Ten new bells FIGURE 2 already have been cast, and still another will be cast. Eleven A l-8 Partners side twicP bells are needed to play the R.A. F. marchpast. St. Clement Danes Bl 1-2 ~nursery rhyme 'Oranges and Lemons' is not left and side couples facing head couple on their left, form­ this one but St. Clement's of Eastcheap, which is located near •I ing diagonal lines lst and 4th couples facing 2nd and 3rd. where fruit ships from the Hediterranean docked." However the +All honor opposite, then partner story is that the ten new bells will ring out the old rhym~ in Bll-2 any case. 3-6 Each couple circles four with opposite couple, halfway round to the left, and then each circle opens out into a line of four facing the opposite four, forming new diagonal lines. Four years ago the Country Dancer published one version of Each man keeps his partner on his right. the bell song - sent in by Helen Chadbourne. This is the way Repeat from + three more times, to places. the song is given in the recent news dispatch: Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clement's. You owe me f ive farthings, say the bells of St. Nartin's. 'ifuen will you pay me? say the bells of Old Bailey. \tlhen I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch. OltANGES AN:C When will that be? s.ay the bells of Stepney. I do not know, says the great bell of Bow. Here comes a candle to light you to bed. Here comes a chopper to chop off your head. And the sharp ending of the song is the climax of a traditional child's game similar to "London Bridge Is Falling Down." For many years an annual festival was held at St. Clement's and each child received an orange and a lemon to.take home. 6 (continued on page 12) 7 SUMMER DANCING IN ENGLAND I

Morris Dancing at Windsor The Abingdon Mayor ,

Sword Dance at Stratford Country Dancing in Stratford Streets

o j

I

These dances will be included in the Pinewoods program thos e vlhich h·e considers authent ic. No two peop.L e agr ee on the Book Reviews more or l ess "authentic''· I would question, f or instance, his 1 THE BALLAD BOOK . Edited by MacEdwar d Leach. (New York, Har per star r ing of Shep Gi nandes oversung "Little Musgr ave", and the and Br other, 1955. Pp xiv plus 842. Glossary, bibliogr aphies of lack of a star against Philip Tanner's 11 Henry .hartyn". The list collections, criticism, r ecor dings.) itself may be already out of date, so f requent today ar e additions to and vat hdr awals f rom folk son8 items. John Langstaff' s name To be abl e to hold so comfortably in hand a book containing does not appear; t her e is only one song by Jean Ritchi e . In t his some 250 ballads in one or more variants is a special pleasure. connection c ow~ ent might be hel pful on The Ballad Record, mentioned Dr. Johnson's r equirement has been fully met, that "a book, Sir, in the last issue of The Country Dancer. This is designed t o be should be of a size that one can take and stand before the fire used with The Ballad Book, and contains a fine sampling of Leach's to read." Many good hours before the f ire can be spent with this ballads, recorded by Ed He Curdy . HcCurdy, by his own statement, book, so wieldy, so meaty. is not an"authentic11 singer, but some of the ballads, especially A compact and lively introductory essay contains much that "The Unquiet Gr ave" and "The Three Ravens" are beautifully sung . His recordings of Jean Higgin' s 11 Son Davie" and Ewan Ma cColl' s one should know of the nature, subjects, style, origins, and col­ 11 Sir Patrick Spens" l a ck the vitality of these singers. lecting of ballads in Britain and America - familiar information, but often given a stimulating new turn. To know a ballad, the Professor Leach finds that most of the texts surviving in best way is to hear it from a traditional singer. And i f not, to America are debased, having been preserved in gener al by "the il­ get hold of an authentic field recording. And if not that, "to · literate and the vulgar" rather than by s i nger s of "taste and in­ read it in a book like this." And so, without cumbersome scholar­ telligence." Collectors often find that illiteracy does not im­ ~y machinery, but with admirable notes on each, Professor Leach ply vulga rity, and that the illiterate singer has an i nstinctive gives us some 200 Child ballads, often accompanying them by their taste and intelligence. But it is in gener al true that in a Scandinavian and/or American analogues and relating them to their changing culture, a singer becomes self-conscious, so that t he continental past and new world survival. This is the unique ser­ tone of his song changes. "In pla ce of the deep emoti on i n the vice of t he book . To the Child texts he adds many which Child old ballads there is sentimentality; i nstead of tragedy there is Hould have included had he known them, such as 11 The Bitter Withy", melodrama; insted of poetry, ver s e." As Amer i ca list ens more and 11 Dovm in Yon Forest", and "The Bold Fisherman"; also a group of more to its folksong, Professor Lea ch 's book provides an excellent English broadside-derived songs prevalent in America, like 11 The touchstone for the taste and intelligence of the list ening audi ence. Nightingale", "High Barbaree" and 11 Holly Bawn 11 • The collection of indigenous American songs, - "Little Hohee", "Old Smoky" and the EVELYN K. WELLS rest - is well chosen, keeping away f rom sentimentality and special TRADITIONAL BRITISH BALLADS, A Selection. Edited by Bartlett pleading . Jere Whiting • (Pp xii plus 148, including glossary and short ., bibliography. New York, Crofts, paper-bound .) In such an inclusive collection it is perhaps invidious to mention omissions. But occasionally there is an assumption of in­ Professor wniting gives us in his 38 Child texts some of the f ormation which the ordinary reader does not have, as in the lack finest ballad poetry, each ballad prefaced by wise and often witty of definition of a term like "carol-ballad"; and generalizations comment. In almost every case, he refers us to an American vari­ are sometimes over-simplified. There is no reference to l1aud ant. The. introductory essay is packed with information , and with Kar peles 1 s Newfoundland "Bonnie Banks of Fordie", nor to Mrs.Flan­ sugges t ~ons as to where to· find more. The very brief list of re- ders 1 rare Vermont 11 King John and the Bishop". vlhile the pres­ cordings is merely reference to longer lists, such as Amer ican ence of dead-namimg in the Scandinavian "Earl Brand" is pointed out, Folkson s Currentl Available on Records (Library of Congress an American version is given which has no hint of it, though many 1953. This small paper-back has been g;eatly needed and will,be widely useful. of our ver sions still contain it. EVELYN K. WELLS A really serious defect is the lack of tunes. Their omission is defended partly because of economy, but principally because of Postscript to review: A List of American Folksongs Currently the impossibility of correct transcri ption of the singer's musical Available on Records, mentioned as a valuable source of informa­ style. It is true that this is a baffling problem, but even so, tion in both books reviewed is out of print. we need some melodic guidance if we are to appreciate the text. Book Received Wi t hout the tune, one is bothered by the roughnesses of ballad verse, to say nothing of a long series of derry-downs or killum­ IRISH SONGS OF RESISTANCE by Patrick Galvin. Folklore Press. $1.50 quo-quas. The ballad is only half there. Professor Leach does History and song presented indivisibly - resistance on many levels. supply a generous bibliography of available r ecords, starring In two broad categories, the rallying cry and the lament - mostly in narrative style. Altogether, 50 songs, each with its place in 10 Irish history. 11 Pennsylvania Dance Party and Picnic CENTER NEWS This event held at the home of Hr. and JI.Irs L~l.and ~kee,. BOSTON, HASSACHUSET 'IS near Bethlehem has novT really become annual - th~s was ~ts tl_Urd consecutive y e~r. The invitation said "Dancing from ~oon unt~l THE BOSTON COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETY will vlind up its season with a Dark 'On the Green' - English Country Dances and New England Con­ Country Dance Party to be held on June 16 at Shady Hill School in tras - Recorder Pl aying - Bring a Picnic Lunch, Coffee and Punch Cambridge; and its 14th Annual WEEKEND OF DANCING at Pinewoods on vlill be served - Come and enjoy a day in the country - Dance or Long Pond, which will be held June 22 t o 25 . Relax, Listen t o the Husic, See the Garden. June 6 provided an interesting evening f or members and their That is what t he invitation said and that is what happened - guests with Dr. and 11rs . Henry Hartwell showing Kodachrome slides only more so. A slight mistiness at the end of the afternoon (we of a tour through Europe had already had a picnic lunch and danced f or several hours on.the Green) Led to the Party moving over to the local Hall and con~~u­ The Annual Meeting of Hembers of the Boston C.D.S. Centre was ing until "\'Tell after dark; Coffee and Punch appeared as pro~sed - held on May 28 . and so did a Ham, a "l'mnderful Rice dish, Ice Cream and a very large Chocolate cake; some danced, some relaxed and listened to the ACTIVITIES OF THE CHICAGO GROUP music, some played Recorders, all enjoyed the country and all saw the Garden. And such a garden - lawns, an orchard, and great bor­ THE COUNTRY DANCERS of the University of Chicago meet regular­ ders ablaze v:ith peonies, lilies, roses, and poppies. A wonderful on Wednesday nights. During the past year we did some exploring in setting for country dancing. And a collecting box set out on the the Country Dance Book. Many dances that had not been done in sev­ table brought in ~ 15 for C.D.S. national needs. eral years were reintroduced. Particularly enjoyed were Gathering Peascods, Lilli Burlero, Way to Norwich, and Childgrove. How lucl0r 'Jle are that Leland and Bernice turned up at Pine­ An exhibition group gave a demonstration of English Country woods a few s~ers ago and liked the dancing so much that they Dancing for the Library Association of the University, doing the have been doing it ever since. Now they have start~d a group. vTell-k:nown favorites, Parson 1 s Farewell, Shrewsbury Lasses, Fan­ , in the Bethlehem area. If you live near there get m touch ~th dango, and Nonesuch. The evening ended with dancing for all and them in the Fall. They'll be at Pinewoods this surruner. our teaching Christchurch Bells and Circassian Circle to the en­ tire group. JOSEPH LETSON NEWS FROM LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY " ORANGES and LEMONS THE LEXINGTON FOLK DANCE CENTER has had a busy year and I (continued from page 7) would like to give you some of the highlights since September 1955. The first meeting in the Fall was opened to all persons in­ st. Martin's was a street of money lenders sent to London by terested in joining the group and an "open house" with refresh­ Pope Gregory in the early 13th century. ments was planned by the committee in charge. On the Thursday night just before Hallowe'en we had our usual masquerade party and Old Bailey became famous as a debtors' prison. that was worlds of fun. ~.fany of our members are very clever in their choice of costume and though we know each other very well we The manor of Shoreditch was famous for its poverty. The story spend a good portion of the evening trying to guess who we are goes that -a certain inhabitant, Jane Shore by name, died of pover­ dancing with. The cider, gingerbread, and Hallowe 1 en candies were ty and neglect in a ditch. delicious and added to the party spirit. Stepney a suburb of ship chandlers, was too rich to associate The eighth annual Folk Dance Workshop was held on Friday and with Shoreditch and just rich enough not to be ignored by other and Saturday, November 4 and 5. We had an excellent committee areas. The bells are said to have a sarcastic sound. working on this Workshop and the whole thing was well attended and successful. The programs were arranged to be of interest to child­ The great hell of Bow has a low, mellow note, politely aloof ren, to both beginning and experienced leaders, and to those who and very self-assured ••• apparently concerned only with the so­ just dance for the fun of. it. An interesting variety of dances was taught to the group during the two day session, in preparation called higher things of life! for the Festival in the Spring. 12 13 The Thursday night before Christmas a social committee ar­ ranged a party with lots of well known dances on the program and a CONGRA TULA liONS beautifully decorated table arranged with delightful refreshments. This party served as a relaxing and much needed break in a very To R':'ymond ~cLain, son of Raymond and Bicky McLain, who has busy week. We all enjoyed it immensely. been appo~ted D~rector of the Hindman Settlement School Hindman A wonderful beginning for the new year was a special session Kentucky •. For two year~ Raymond has been Recreation Dir~ctor of the of dancing with the Georg Bidstrups directing. All of you who have school, wh~ch operates ~ a large area, and is suceeding Miss Eliz­ had the privilege of attending an evening of dancing with Georg and abeth Watts on.her retirement as Director. For many years Miss l1arguerite Bidstrup know the fun we had, doing the light and airy Watts has carr7ed on a wonderful work in the area. She has also Danish dances which are their specialities. been a good fr~end to our Society. Our best wishes go with her for a most. happy retir?~Ilent~ Hindman was one of the schools visited Twenty Center members were the Folk dancers in the big Easter by Cec71 Sharp dur~g his song collecting tours in the Southern pageant, which gave two performances - one on the Saturday after­ Mounta~s •. It has developed a very strong tradition of country noon before Easter and one at six o'clock on Easter morning -to dance, mus~c and song. capacity crowds in our big Coliseum which seats about thirteen thousand people, so we were very proud of them. They did an Israeli dance to the rhythm of a blacksmith's anvil and it was very effec­ June Weddings tive and enjoyable. Toward the end of this month fo f · As the time drew near for the Kentucky Folk Festival plans be­ area are be' · ur 0 our dancers ~ the eastern gan to be made to stimulate interest in attending and to prepare a Sam Lind ~ marr~ed. Our best wishes for a happy life go to program that would be a pleasure to both dancers and. audience, and to J=~~~a;!aN=:dy~~~i~~dD~afShapilro of Ne~ York and Israel; Eight of our members performed on our local television program just Bethlehem. ' ormer Y of Pr~ceton and now of before the Festival, as a means of calling attention to it. The Festival was held on April 20 and 21 and all who attended seemed to have fun. The Saturday night session was especially good with the dancers in high spirits and the callers doing an excellent job of directing the program. SUMMER VACA liONS ~~. FU~SiiTUTE at Thayer Hotel, West Point, New York. August 19 to This week a small group of our "Thursday night" dancers enter­ 0 tained the Business and Professional Women's Club here in Lexington ~· der from Al Brundage, Candlewood Shores, Brookfield, Conn. l j and the members were very favorably impressed with the dances. On LIGHTED LA~ERN, LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, NEAR DENVER COLORADO Jul l1ay 19 we were invited to send volunteers to dance in "Ante Bellum" 2 costumes at the Hunt l>lorgan Home - a newly opened historical ~e~ ~; J~f 2 9 t~ August 12; August 13 to 18. Director: Paur shrine. We have three interested groups dancing each week, on e • a 1ers ~elude Ray Smith. Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights, and one especially geared to MAINE FOLK DANCE CAI1P Brid t .Ma • the needs of University student~ on Friday nights. Michael and Ma A H ' g on~ ~e. June 9-28. Directors: r;y nn erman, Deta~ls from Mrs. Alice Dudley I see that I have failed to mention the Valentine party so Bryan t Pond, Ma~e. ' have probably left out some other important events; but I think that I have mentioned enough to show that we are a very active and NEVi ENGLAND SQUARE AND FOLK DANCE CAMP, Becket Mass Au st happy bunch down here. Come to see usl i7 ~~ September 3. Director: Charlie Baldwin. ~formation from MINERVA M. JEI'T ¥:s dnse?xtMhcNutt, Boston YMCA, 316 Huntington Avenue, Boston 15 = s. ~ annual Camp, '

SUMI>UT I NEW JERSEY r SQUARE ACRES CA11P, East Bridgewater, Mass. July 1 to 8 and Huly l5D ~o 22; August 12 to 19. Details from Marion and Howard THE SUI>~UT COUNTRY AND FOLK DANCE GROUPS have had an active ogue, ~rectors. season with six monthly Folk Dance evenings and nine twice monthly Contra and Country Dance evenings in 1956. Sword dancing was also of ~ Iill~~IRE) FOLK DANCE CAMP (Camp Merriewoode, 25 miles north included and four Recorder playing sessions with Phil Merrill. eene, • • • September 5-10. Abe Kanegson Ralph Page Don A special highlight was a Contra Dance Workshop with Rickey Holden, Armstrong~ Jeannie Carmichael and other experts: Details f;om Ada and Phil Merrill supplying the music. Page, Reg~strar, 182 Pearl St ., Keene , N. H .

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