Originally published in 1651 as the "English Dancing Master", this was an instruction manual for country dancing. Accompanying each dance was a tune, 105 in the first edition. "The Dancing Master" as it was known from the second edition onwards, eventually ran to 18 editions over a period of 80 years, and during that period, over 500 tunes were included. It is an invaluable source of popular music of the second half of the 17th century and many of the tunes, especially from the earlier editions, date back to the 16th century.
Copyright © Geoff Walker 2001 - 2003
Last Modified 28 December 2003