Historical SourcePublic Domain
The Ball-Room Manual of Contra Dances and Social Cotillons, with Remarks on Quadrilles and Spanish Dance. Vest Pocket Edition. (Washburn, Belfast Maine 1863)
Publisher: BELFAST, ME.: H. G. O. WASHBURN. BOSTON: G. W. COTTRELL. 1863. Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1862, by H. G. O. WASHBURN, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Maine. R. WHEELER, STEREOTYPER, 17 Washington Street, Boston. Source: DATA/LIBRARY_OF_DANCE/TXT/1863-Washburn-Ballroom_Manual_(Arc).txt (565 lines OCR; Internet Archive scan, clean American 1860s typography). DEDICATION: 'the Belfast Young Ladies, as danced by them at their evening parties and Sociables.' FORMAT: pocket-format Civil-War-era Maine country-dance ledger; the manual's stated mission is to preserve 'the good old Contra Dances of our ancestors, as enjoyed by them in their hours of relaxation and amusement' against the encroaching Quadrille / Polka / Cotillon vogue documented in 'Ball-Room Instructors' and 'Guides' of the period. STRUCTURE: (I) CONTRA DANCES — 55 named New England contra dances grouped by 80-step / 100-step / 120-step lengths, each with figure-prose and tune-attribution: Downfall of Paris (120), Isle of Skye (120), Girls of Belfast ('Otis's Quickstep'), Chorus Jig (80), Money Musk (80), Fisher's Hornpipe (80), Drunken Sailor (80), Cincinnati Hornpipe (80), Durand's Hornpipe (80), Miss Brown's Reel (80), The Good Girl (80), Rickett's Hornpipe (80), College Hornpipe (80), Hull's Victory (80), Chassard Hornpipe (80), Lady's Triumph (80), Speed the Plough (80), Beaux of Oak Hill (80), New Century Hornpipe (80), Humors of the Priesthouse (80), Beaux of Albany (80), Twin Sisters (80), Hob or Knob ('The Campbells are coming') (80), Cheat the Lady (80), Irish Washwoman (80), Jefferson and Liberty (80), Thursday Night (80), Sackett's Harbor (80), Roy's Wife (80), Megunticook Reel (80), Figure Eight (80), Ives' Hornpipe (80), The Girl I Left Behind Me (80), Morning Fair Hornpipe (80), Chase the Lady ('Rustic Reel') (80), Fly ('Fisher's Hornpipe') (80), Maid in the Pump-Room (80), Hard Times (120), Opera Reel (80), Virginia Reel ('White Cockade') (-), Village Reel ('Downfall of Paris') (120), Lady of the Lake (80), Belles of Damariscotta (80), Forest de Bondi (80), Jackson's Hornpipe (80), Boston Fancy (80), Reefer's Hornpipe (80), Partners All (80), California Reel (120), Sicilian Circle ('Tempest') (100), Soldier's Joy (80), Mischief ('Scotch Reel') (80), Tempest (80), Portland Fancy ('Steamboat Quickstep') (120), Kentucky Reel (80), Favorite Rustic Reel. (II) SOCIAL COTILLONS — Sociable Set (5 figures), Violet Set (5 figures), Ninepin Set (parlor-amusement variant with center-person designated 'Ninepin'), Eight Hand Reel. (III) QUADRILLE — brief remark that Quadrille is 'similar to cotillions, with eight couples instead of four' (significant 1863 Maine attestation of the 8-couple Quadrille format vs. the 4-couple Cotillon — distinct from the Hillgrove / Howe / Coulon definitions of the period). (IV) SPANISH DANCE OR WALTZ — column-of-couples format with waltz-position hold and circular-hall layout. (V) HINTS FOR THE BALL-ROOM — etiquette (introductions, dance-engagement, lady's list, declined-dance comportment, leading-position contention, gentleman's temper). HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE: (a) PRIMARY-SOURCE MAINE / NEW-ENGLAND CONTRA-DANCE LEDGER for the Civil War era — Belfast was a Maine coastal shipbuilding town, and the manual's Belfast Young Ladies / Megunticook Reel / Belles of Damariscotta references give regional-Maine cultural anchoring. (b) Post-Howe-1858 / Hillgrove-1858 / Howe-1862 — sits in the immediate post-Howe / pre-Brown 1891 New England contra-dance succession. (c) Step-count specification ('80 Steps' / '120 Steps' per dance) is a notable convention establishing total-dance-length expectations to musicians, distinct from the per-step foot-position tables that don't appear in this manual. ROSETTA-STONE VALUE: 100% of the 62 named dances match existing canonicals — pure Rosetta-stone ingest with 0 new canonicals. Confirms 5y stability of the New England contra-dance vocabulary across Howe-1858 → Hillgrove-1858 → Howe-1862 → Washburn-1863 → Brown-1891 (~33y span). Has_Step_Detail = No (figure-prose with total-step counts only — no per-step foot-position / Rise-and-Fall / CBM / sway data).Year: 1863Family: washburnCatalog: local
Dance manual/reference by BELFAST, ME.: H. G. O. WASHBURN. BOSTON: G. W. COTTRELL. 1863. Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1862, by H. G. O. WASHBURN, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Maine. R. WHEELER, STEREOTYPER, 17 Washington Street, Boston. Source: DATA/LIBRARY_OF_DANCE/TXT/1863-Washburn-Ballroom_Manual_(Arc).txt (565 lines OCR; Internet Archive scan, clean American 1860s typography). DEDICATION: 'the Belfast Young Ladies, as danced by them at their evening parties and Sociables.' FORMAT: pocket-format Civil-War-era Maine country-dance ledger; the manual's stated mission is to preserve 'the good old Contra Dances of our ancestors, as enjoyed by them in their hours of relaxation and amusement' against the encroaching Quadrille / Polka / Cotillon vogue documented in 'Ball-Room Instructors' and 'Guides' of the period. STRUCTURE: (I) CONTRA DANCES — 55 named New England contra dances grouped by 80-step / 100-step / 120-step lengths, each with figure-prose and tune-attribution: Downfall of Paris (120), Isle of Skye (120), Girls of Belfast ('Otis's Quickstep'), Chorus Jig (80), Money Musk (80), Fisher's Hornpipe (80), Drunken Sailor (80), Cincinnati Hornpipe (80), Durand's Hornpipe (80), Miss Brown's Reel (80), The Good Girl (80), Rickett's Hornpipe (80), College Hornpipe (80), Hull's Victory (80), Chassard Hornpipe (80), Lady's Triumph (80), Speed the Plough (80), Beaux of Oak Hill (80), New Century Hornpipe (80), Humors of the Priesthouse (80), Beaux of Albany (80), Twin Sisters (80), Hob or Knob ('The Campbells are coming') (80), Cheat the Lady (80), Irish Washwoman (80), Jefferson and Liberty (80), Thursday Night (80), Sackett's Harbor (80), Roy's Wife (80), Megunticook Reel (80), Figure Eight (80), Ives' Hornpipe (80), The Girl I Left Behind Me (80), Morning Fair Hornpipe (80), Chase the Lady ('Rustic Reel') (80), Fly ('Fisher's Hornpipe') (80), Maid in the Pump-Room (80), Hard Times (120), Opera Reel (80), Virginia Reel ('White Cockade') (-), Village Reel ('Downfall of Paris') (120), Lady of the Lake (80), Belles of Damariscotta (80), Forest de Bondi (80), Jackson's Hornpipe (80), Boston Fancy (80), Reefer's Hornpipe (80), Partners All (80), California Reel (120), Sicilian Circle ('Tempest') (100), Soldier's Joy (80), Mischief ('Scotch Reel') (80), Tempest (80), Portland Fancy ('Steamboat Quickstep') (120), Kentucky Reel (80), Favorite Rustic Reel. (II) SOCIAL COTILLONS — Sociable Set (5 figures), Violet Set (5 figures), Ninepin Set (parlor-amusement variant with center-person designated 'Ninepin'), Eight Hand Reel. (III) QUADRILLE — brief remark that Quadrille is 'similar to cotillions, with eight couples instead of four' (significant 1863 Maine attestation of the 8-couple Quadrille format vs. the 4-couple Cotillon — distinct from the Hillgrove / Howe / Coulon definitions of the period). (IV) SPANISH DANCE OR WALTZ — column-of-couples format with waltz-position hold and circular-hall layout. (V) HINTS FOR THE BALL-ROOM — etiquette (introductions, dance-engagement, lady's list, declined-dance comportment, leading-position contention, gentleman's temper). HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE: (a) PRIMARY-SOURCE MAINE / NEW-ENGLAND CONTRA-DANCE LEDGER for the Civil War era — Belfast was a Maine coastal shipbuilding town, and the manual's Belfast Young Ladies / Megunticook Reel / Belles of Damariscotta references give regional-Maine cultural anchoring. (b) Post-Howe-1858 / Hillgrove-1858 / Howe-1862 — sits in the immediate post-Howe / pre-Brown 1891 New England contra-dance succession. (c) Step-count specification ('80 Steps' / '120 Steps' per dance) is a notable convention establishing total-dance-length expectations to musicians, distinct from the per-step foot-position tables that don't appear in this manual. ROSETTA-STONE VALUE: 100% of the 62 named dances match existing canonicals — pure Rosetta-stone ingest with 0 new canonicals. Confirms 5y stability of the New England contra-dance vocabulary across Howe-1858 → Hillgrove-1858 → Howe-1862 → Washburn-1863 → Brown-1891 (~33y span). Has_Step_Detail = No (figure-prose with total-step counts only — no per-step foot-position / Rise-and-Fall / CBM / sway data). (1863). Imported from local collection.