Colonial Music and Dance

by Denise Weimer

One of the ways I’ve always enjoyed creating period setting in my historical novels is through the use of music and dance. A song can capture any mood, including that of an era or area. Most recently, I've focused on the Colonial years in my writing.

During the American Revolution, Colonists enjoyed tunes they’d brought over from their native countries. Some of them, like “Lavender’s Blue” (English, printed 1670s-80s), “The Willow Tree” (a much older tune printed in Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, 1776), “Barbara Allen” (British or Scottish) and “The Girl I Left Behind Me” (English fife tune long known but popularized in America during the Revolution) traced back a hundred years or more. "Johnny Has Gone For a Soldier," based on the Irish folk song "Shule Aroon," became popular during the Revolution as well.

Colonists also enjoyed the music from stage musicals like The Beggar’s Opera, performed in London as early as 1728 and in the Colonies by 1750, taking home printed copies to play and sing.

The turbulent emotions of the Revolution also generated new music, like “The Rich Lady Over the Sea,” born of taxation resentment. “My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free” became the first song penned by an American, Francis Hopkinson of Philadelphia, in 1759. The verses were included in a 1788 collection of songs for his personal friend, George Washington. Hopkinson signed the Declaration of Independence for New Jersey and helped design the American flag.

Any article on American Revolution-period music would be remiss without mention of “Yankee Doodle.” The song was said to have been written by a British Army surgeon as a sarcastic critique of the motley American troops during the French and Indian War. Those troops adopted it as their own. Origins of the American version remain unclear. Some attribute it to Richard Schukburgh of New York in 1755, but apparently, proof is lacking. Rumor also has it that during the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, the British band played “The World Turned Upside Down,” while the Americans played “Yankee Doodle.”

What about dancing of the time period? If the guests were attending a formal ball, their arrival around seven p.m. would be greeted with light refreshments. Minuets began every ball and were arranged from the highest ranking couple in the room to lowest, danced in silence where the man led the dance by signaling his partner with arm movements and intense eye contact. One couple would dance while the others watched. Jigs and hornpipes from France were also popular. These included personal routines with step combinations and floor patterns adapted to the skills of a soloist or two dancers for jigs. Allemandes, rigadoons, and gavottes taught at dancing schools were choreographed to display skill. A seated supper would commence at ten. By midnight, the dancing would resume. At five a.m, the last weary guests would leave.

More casual dances included Scottish reels and country dances with couples creating long lines facing each other, danced with two or three couples at a time, then progressing, moving down the line and back up, dancing with every couple on the floor twice. The top couple often chose the dance and recited the figures.

Denise Weimer writes historical and contemporary romance from her home in North Georgia and also serves as a freelance editor and the Acquisitions & Editorial Liaison for Wild Heart Books. A mother of two young adult daughters, she always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.

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