Paper 3

Wilson's Quadrilles

Contributed by Paul Cooper, Research Editor

[Published - 10th January 2014, Last Changed - 2nd February 2023]

I recently animated three Quadrille Sets from Thomas Wilson's c.1817 second edition of the Companion to the Ball Room¹ (see Figure 1). I thought it might be interesting to discuss those Quadrilles here, and to review the evolution of the Quadrille as a dance form during the Regency era.

Figure 1. Frontispiece and title page for Wilson's c.1820 fourth edition of the Companion to the Ball Room

Quadrilles became very fashionable in London in the second half of the 1810s. They usually involve eight dancers in a square formation, much like the earlier Cotillion dances. Figures 6 and 7 show examples of Quadrilles being danced. Quadrilles were generally arranged in groups of four to six separate dances, collectively referred to as a Set. Examples of popular Quadrille Sets include Paine's First Set and The Lancers. Hundreds of Quadrille Sets were published in England in the 1820s (though often as music without dance figures), in this article we'll investigate some of the earliest, particularly the Quadrilles of Thomas Wilson.

Before going further, I'd like to acknowledge that my research on this subject has been heavily influenced by two key books. First there's Ellis Rogers' wonderful The Quadrille², then Dr. John Gardiner-Garden's Historic Dance series, especially volumes 6³ and 7⁴. My research and conclusions (and errors!) are my own, but these works investigate the subject in far more detail. If you're interested in the historicity of dancing during the Regency era, they're essential reading.

The Form of the Quadrille

Quadrille dancing evolved out of the popular four-couple Cotillion dance form. Cotillions were published in England from the late 1760's, the Quadrilles emerged as their successors in London's ball rooms from the mid-1810s. The terminology for dancing could (and did) change over time; a Cotillion of the 1770s could be quite different to a Cotillion of the 1800s, a Quadrille of the 1780s could be different to one of the 1810s. There is, therefore, a risk of over simplification when discussing these dances. We'll only discuss the major characteristics of the dances here, we have further research papers that can offer a more nuanced understanding of the shifting landscape of social dance.

Cotillions and Quadrilles share much in common, including their French origins, but there are important differences to their most typical arrangement:

A distinctive feature of the Cotillion is the concept of changes. These are simple connecting phrases that punctuate each repetition of the Cotillion; examples include the Grand Rond, Grand Chain and Promenade. Quadrilles don't have this concept, the dance flows smoothly from one lead couple to the next.
The dance figures in Cotillions usually involve all eight dancers acting simultaneously. Whereas, most Quadrille figures only involve part of the company. It's common for the head couples to dance a figure (or an entire Quadrille), and for the side couples to repeat it.
English Quadrilles are generally danced in Sets. Once a partner has been engaged for the first Quadrille, the couples remain together for the duration of the Set.

Figure 2. A two couple Quadrille

Many French Quadrilles were danced by just two couples. Figure 2 shows an example of a two-couple Quadrille figure⁵. The requirement for fewer dancers may have been one reason for the Quadrille's early popularity. In 1786 the London based dance master S. J. Gardiner wrote that Quadrilles are Danced the same as the Cotillions, only with this difference, that instead of four Couple in the Cotillions, there are but two in the Quadrilles⁶. Gardiner makes it clear that the number of dancers is a key characteristic of the Early Quadrille.

English Quadrilles of the Regency era were usually danced by eight dancers but most can be danced with just four. By the 1820s English quadrilles might be danced by twelve or even sixteen dancers⁷. Thomas Wilson even published sets of Quadrille Country Dances for pairs of couples in a longways set⁸; in this country dancing variant the first couple began improper (the man on the ladies side and vice versa), Quadrille figures were danced and each iteration ended with a progression.

The couple at the head of a Quadrille is referred to as the 1st Couple, they lead the first iteration of the dance. The 2nd couple to lead is the couple opposite the 1st Couple, then the couple to the right of the 1st Couple, finally the couple to the left of the 1st Couple. For most quadrilles the music would be played through four times to allow each couple a chance to lead the dance in turn. Some Quadrilles are arranged so that the 1st and 2nd couple dance the same figures at the same time; in which case the music is only played through twice, once for the head couples and once for the side couples. A small minority of Quadrilles were arranged for a single person to lead, typically the gentleman from the 1st couple; in which case the music might be played through eight times to allow each dancer to take a turn at leading.

The French Dancing Master Landrin published groups of Cotillion dances arranged in Sets from around the year 1760. A collection of 10 such Potpourri Cotillion sets are available to view through the Library of Congress⁹ website. This convention may have influenced the publishing tradition that would eventually emerge for the Quadrille dances whereby five or six Quadrille dances would be issued together. The anonymous author of the 1823 The Etiquette of the Ball-Room by A Gentleman offered an interesting observation of the English Cotillion dancers at London's Hanover Rooms in the later 18th Century, he described the Cotillions as being danced perpetual, in the manner of Quadrilles; this hints that the traditional form of the Cotillion had been evolving towards the end of the 18th century. The Quadrille, as danced in London from the mid 1810s, had its roots in the Cotillion dances of previous decades.

The First Set

Figure 3. An illustration of the La Trenis Quadrille from The First Set

An anonymous story published in 1829¹⁰ claimed that a lady of celebrity held a Parisian Fête on the 16th August, 1797 in which Monsieur Hullin introduced an entirely new set of figures of his own composition. These elicited general approbation: they were danced at all parties and still retain pre-eminence. The names of Pantalon, L'Eté, La Poule, La Trenis, &c which were given to the tunes, have been applied to the figures. This party is alleged to have launched a new Set of Quadrilles which would later evolve into what was known in England as The First Set. If this narrative is believed then the originator was Jean-Baptiste Hullin, a successful choreographer¹¹ and ballet dancer; he went on to perform at London's King's Theatre Opera House from 1820¹². The dance figures associated with these supremely popular Quadrilles were danced in England for the next 100 or so years. The Hullin claim to having arranged these dances together is subject to doubt, it's a story that he could have invented for his own purposes, it would go on to be repeated in some later publications¹³.

Figure 3 is an 1821 illustration of the La Trenis dance from the First Set¹⁴. I don't know whether the Hullin creation myth is accurate but it was endorsed by the Lowe family in the 1831 third edition of their Ball-Conductor and Assembly Guide (and presumably also in the 1822 second edition). I've also found the First Set of Quadrilles arranged as Cotillions in a 1786 collection published in London (see, for example Les Pantalons), and a close approximation in Michael Kelly's c.1804 Eight French Country Dances, their origin is clearly more nuanced than the Hullin claim would have us believe. Regardless of their origins, these Quadrille dances eventually became so popular in England that Thomas Wilson in 1824 complained that most dancers only knew the figures for the First Set and The Lancers and refused to learn anything else¹⁵.

The English dancing master who claimed to have introduced the Quadrille to London was Edward Payne. Payne's First Set of Quadrilles were published c.1815 (perhaps early in 1816), they preserved the French figures for the dances. Payne went on to publish 11 sets of Quadrilles before his death in 1819. One early commentator on Payne was the Scottish dancing master Barclay Dun. Dun's 1818 A Translation of Nine of the Most Fashionable Quadrilles¹⁶ recorded that Payne selects the Quadrilles that were chiefly used in London. Payne's First Set consisted of Le Pantalon, L'Été, La Poulle, La Trénise and La Finale; you can learn how to dance them here.

Another early promoter of the First Set was James Paine. Paine was an orchestra leader at Almack's Assembly Rooms in London. Paine's First Set of Quadrilles were published in 1816 ¹⁷, they reused the figures of Payne's First Set but added an extra Quadrille named La Pastorale. Paine went on to publish 17 sets of Quadrilles by 1821. The obvious potential for confusion between the names Payne and Paine resulted in both men being credited as the originator of the First Set. It's not uncommon for commentators, both contemporary and modern, to confuse or conflate them. The term First Set can therefore imply Payne's First Set of Quadrilles, Paine's First Set of Quadrilles, or the first set of Quadrilles widely known in London. Regardless of the etymology, the figures were recognised to be French in origin, though it was in England that they achieved unrivalled adoption.

The First Set were catapulted to prominence in London, and elsewhere in Britain, after having been danced at the 1816 Carlton House Ball. We've written of this important event elsewhere, you might like to follow the link to read more. The First Set, as published from 1816, are often claimed to be the very first Quadrilles danced in London, that's unlikely as Quadrilles were being danced at fashionable venues from at least as early as 1811. The Morning Post newspaper for June 13th 1811 contains a glowing report of a Quadrille Waltz Ball held at the Argyll Rooms, and hosted by the Duchess of Devonshire and other ladies of distinction¹⁸ (see Figure 4). Early Quadrilles had been displayed on Stage in the 1780s, and adverts for Monsieur Le Pulley indicate that he'd taught Quadrilles from 1802 (The Morning Post, 27th December, 1802). The composer Louis Litolff was selling Quadrille music in London from 1806 (The Morning Chronicle, 18th July, 1806), and Dance Master Delatre claimed to have published the first Quadrille in England in 1775 (Ipswich Journal, 1st July, 1775). The firm of Clementi & Co published numerous Quadrilles (under the name of Cotillions) in London between 1810 and 1811, mostly derived from the Parisian publications of Louis-Julien Clarchies. But it was the First Set of quadrilles from around 1816 that popularised the Quadrille in London, even if earlier examples were known.

Captain Gronow, in his memoirs, recalled the introduction of the First Set to Almack's: It was not until 1815 that Lady Jersey introduced from Paris the favourite quadrille, which has so long remained popular.¹⁹. It was this favourite quadrille that became the First Set; it seems to have been instantly fashionable. Lady Jersey was a keen Quadriller, not only did she champion the Quadrille at Almack's, she was also a patroness of the Quadrille Ball from Figure 4. We also know that Quadrilles (not necessarily the First Set) were danced in Brussels and Paris by the officers who fought at Waterloo, and that they may have returned to England with a taste for them. For example, F. B. Hervey wrote to his friend Mrs Lloyd in July 1815 of the Quadrilles that they'd danced together at a Ball in in Brussels shortly prior to the battle (he didn't name it, but the Ball was almost certainly the Duchess of Richmond's Ball). A c.1816 publication from Brussels by Hendrik Messemaeckers named Choix Des Plus Jolies Contredanses Exécutées dans les differentes fêtes données a Bruxelles par S. A. R. le Prince d'Orange et par S. A. Le Duc de Wellington Prince de Waterloo includes music and figures for several Quadrilles that were popular in London in 1816, many themed around the Battle of Waterloo. It may be the direct source for some of the early British Quadrilles (or it could be a later tribute to them, the date of publication is uncertain). Indeed, Wilson himself hosted a public ball in 1815 (advertised in the The Statesman newspaper for the 27th of May 1815) at which would be danced French Waltzing and a variety of French Dances; it's likely that the French Dances referred to were Quadrilles.

By the early 19th Century the Quadrille had evolved into a four couple dance. Thomas Wilson wrote in the 1822 second edition of his Quadrille and Cotillion Panorama that the first set of French Quadrilles that were publicly danced in this country don't need eight dancers, but eight persons generally stand up for the sake of convenience, as it enables the second and fourth Couples, or those not employed, to see the Figure (should they require it) before it comes to their turn to perform it²⁰. The anonymous French author of the 1818 Le Maître a Danser went further, and wrote Quadrilles are some times danced by sixteen, twelve, or eight partners; but by eight is quite the original dance and are always the most commonly danced.

Figure 4. Report of a Quadrille and Waltz Ball, 1811.
Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Image reproduced with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk).

We know the First Set was very popular in Regency London. So much so that many subsequent Quadrille Sets either omitted dance notation (the figures of the First Set were implied), or they supplied notation but could substitute the First Set figures. One clue to the importance of the First Set is the existence of aide-mémoire Fans decorated with Quadrille instructions. A superb example tentatively dated to 1816 (I'd date it to 1820 or later) can be seen in the Ventagli collection²¹.

Chronology of Wilson's Quadrilles

Thomas Wilson was a London based Dance Master, he published at least ten Quadrille Sets of his own invention, not including his Quadrille Country Dances or his Waltz Quadrilles. There are four sets of Quadrilles in his 1817 Quadrille Instructor²², three in the 1817 second edition of the Companion to the Ball Room¹, and three more in the 1824 Danciad²³; he was also credited with the Quadrille Set in the c.1816 No 31 of Button, Whitaker & Compy's Selection of Dances, Reels & Waltzes. He was further credited with publishing instructions for popular Quadrilles by other choreographers in The Complete English Quadrille Preceptor for 1823 (which was expanded further in 1830, though his authorship of these works is doubted), in La Batteuse and Le Moulinet &c. in 1817, and in the Danciad. As can be seen from the dates, Wilson was active in teaching Quadrilles from almost the moment they became popular in London.

I don't know if Wilson's published Quadrilles were ever danced at society Balls, they would certainly have been used within his own dance academy²⁴, an advert for which can be seen in Figure 5. The cover of the 1817 second edition of the Quadrille Instructor claimed that they are used at the Author's Balls & Assemblies. Several newspaper adverts from the 1820s mentioned further Wilsonian Quadrilles that were danced at Wilson's public Balls, but as far as I know they were never published. Examples include Les Saisons and Les Graces (from the New Times, 1st March 1822), though Les Graces was probably the popular Quadrille of the same name that was widely danced in London.

In 1817 Button & Whitaker published a collection of Quadrilles called Button, Whitaker, and Co's Miniature Edition of Payne's and Wilson's Quadrille Figures, in French and English²⁵. It contained 50 quadrilles, presumably 10 sets of 5; this may be independent evidence of Wilson's Quadrilles being danced socially; dancers would find such cards convenient as an aide-memoire when attending a Ball. However, Wilson regularly published through Button & Whitaker, so I suspect it's a work that he himself sponsored.

Before investigating the dances, it's perhaps worth reflecting on the chronology of these works. Wilson didn't date either the Quadrille Instructor, or the Companion to the Ball Room. I've had to do a little research to provide reasonably plausible dates. The main challenge is that multiple editions of each work exist; I don't have access to each edition, so I can't easily determine whether the Quadrilles date to the first editions, or to later editions; here's what I've discovered:

The May 1817 New Monthly Magazine²⁶ records the publication of the Second Edition, greatly improved of 'The Quadrille Instructor'. They had previously reviewed the first edition in February 1817. The differences were the 10 new diagrams, and the 15 new tunes and figures. This suggests that one of those Quadrille sets dates nearer to 1816, and three to 1817. The edition I have access to is the second edition²².

Figure 5. Thomas Wilson's advert, c.1820

The Gentleman's Magazine in 1816 records the publication of the first edition of the Companion to the Ball Room²⁷. At this date the book is 232 pages long, and neither its title page nor review mention the inclusion of any Quadrilles. A similar 1816 review in the Repository of Arts²⁸ also fails to mention any Quadrilles. It appears that there were no Quadrilles in the first edition; this is confirmed by a footnote in the fourth edition that apologises for the lack of Quadrilles in the index of the 1817 second edition: The Sudden popularity of Quadrilles made necessary for the Author, in publishing the second Edition, to use the Letter-Press printed for the first, which was the reason they were not inserted in the Index. The edition I have access to is the 257 page long fourth edition¹ - I've not been able to date it, but someone wrote the date 1820 on the title page (see Figure 1). This date seems plausible, it certainly dates no earlier than 1818 as it quotes a review from December 1817. The third edition was also published in 1817²⁹, so I've assumed it must be the fourth edition.

The significant expansion of the second edition of The Quadrille Instructor, and the inclusion of new Quadrille dances in the second edition of the Companion to the Ball Room, are evidence of the sudden (Wilson's word) popularity of this dance form at this time. Wilson's 1819 Quadrille and Cotillion Panorama (expanded in its 1822 second edition) provides a systematic review of the figures used in Quadrille dancing; it doesn't include any new Quadrille dances, but is clear evidence of the demand for teaching collateral.

Further evidence of the Quadrille's new found popularity can be seen in the caricatures and prints published around this time, including the images in Figure 6 ³⁰ and Figure 7 ³¹, both of which date to 1817. These images show French Dancing Masters teaching Quadrilles in private London homes; Wilson had a significant teaching business, it's tempting to imagine him into the pictures (and affecting a French accent)! It's notable that the first 'Department' of dancing mentioned in his c.1820 advert (see Figure 5) was the Quadrille.

Figure 6. Practising the La Poule Quadrille at home, 1817. Courtesy of The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.

Content of Wilson's Quadrilles

The Quadrilles I've studied most closely are those I've animated from the Companion to the Ball Room and the Quadrille Instructor. Each Quadrille Set is made up of 5 dances, for a total of 35 separate Quadrilles. Unfortunately Wilson didn't use a simple naming convention, so I've had to apply my own. I've called the first (and earliest) unnamed Set in the Quadrille Instructor Wilson's 1816 Set. Wilson numbered the remaining Quadrille Sets from 1 to 3, and did the same thing in the Companion to the Ball Room. I've called them Wilson's First Set, Wilson's Second Set and Wilson's Third Set, and suffixed them with (QI) or (CB) to indicate which source they come from.

The first dance from Wilson's First Set (CB) is called La Coquette³², and can be seen in Figure 8.

I'm unsure of the provenance of the tunes for the Quadrilles. If any reader is able to shed light on the subject, then please do get in touch. I'd like to know if Wilson wrote/commissioned the music himself, or whether he 'borrowed' established tunes from somewhere else. In the introduction to the Quadrille Instructor Wilson emphasised that most other Quadrilles published in England had little musical merit and were incompatible with modern taste, implying that he was particularly proud of his music.

You may be able to see in Figure 8 that La Coquette is subtitled La Pantalon. Wilson provided dance figures for this Quadrille, but he designed it so that the figures from the Pantalon quadrille of the First Set could be used instead. This is made explicit in the Preface to the Quadrille Instructor, where we are told: The Figures in this set of Quadrilles will be found to differ from those already published and which have been copied ... into almost every collection of recent date. It being the Author's intention to accomodate those persons who wish to dance those Quadrilles as well as the others, he has adapted his music to suit both; thereby affording the choice of two sets of Figures instead of one²². This convention continued into the 1820s, Wilson may have been influential in initiating the trend.

The Quadrille Instructor is a particularly helpful work for anyone seeking to interpret Quadrilles. Wilson provides the music, an indication of which strain to use for each dancing figure, a diagram and description of each figure, and specific stepping instructions.

Most of the figures in the Quadrilles employ only four dancers at a time; the dance has to be repeated to allow the other couples to have a turn. This follows the convention from the First Set, and emphasises the early heritage of the Quadrille as a two couple dance. The figures used in many of the Quadrilles are simple, perhaps indicating that they are used to teach novices. They're often composed of turns, promenades, chasse movements and chains; figures that are easily learned. The Quadrilles do include some unusual figures, such as the Pousette and the Transverse Lines, with detailed instructions to explain them.

Figure 7. Quadrilles: practising the La Trenis Quadrille for fear of accidents!, 1817. Courtesy of The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.

Each Quadrille Set ends with a Finale dance. This involves all of the dancers, and marks the end of the Quadrille. Wilson explained this further in the Quadrille and Cotillion Panorama: It has been usual, in Quadrille Dancing, to have, to every Set of Quadrilles, what is termed a Finale, or Finishing Dance. These Finales, are more properly Cotillions, as they all contain some Figure or Figures, that employ the whole set, or eight persons³³. It's interesting that Wilson considered a fundamental difference between a Quadrille and a Cotillion to be the number of dancers involved in the figures.

Wilson's Quadrilles were published at an important transitional time when the Quadrille was rapidly gaining popularity in England. As such, they're a fascinating insight into the era. Here are the individual dances (with alternative figures from the First Set in parentheses):

1816
1st Dance
2nd Dance
3rd Dance
4th Dance
5th Dance

Wilson's 1816 Set
La Psyche (La Pantalon)
Le Pomone (L'Ete)
L'Amour (Poule)
La Floré (La Trenise)
La Finale

1817
1st Dance
2nd Dance
3rd Dance
4th Dance
5th Dance

Wilson's 1st Set (QI)
La Juliette (La Pantalon)
Le Phantome
La Sensible (La Poule)
La Somnabule (L'Ete)
La Bruyante (La Promenade)

Wilson's 2nd Set (QI)
L'Etoile
La Chinoise
L'Incounue
La Bonne Vielle
La Biche

Wilson's 3rd Set (QI)
Le Lys
Robinet et Mariette (Pastourelle)
Les Pantouflettes
La Brillante
L'Elegante

1817
1st Dance
2nd Dance
3rd Dance
4th Dance
5th Dance

Wilson's First Set (CB)
La Coquette (La Pantalon)
La Sibylle (L'Ete)
Jacintha (La Poule)
Nannette (L'Ete)
La Finale (Finale)

Wilson's Second Set (CB)
Atalanta (La Pantalon)
Ariadne (La Trenise)
La Junon (La Poule)
Floretta (La Trenise)
The Pavilion (A)

Wilson's Third Set (CB)
Le Point Du Jour
The Regency
The Union
The Terpsichore
The Pavilion (B)

Figure 8. The La Coquette dance from Wilson's First Set (Companion to the Ball Room)

Many of the Quadrilles are designed to be compatible with the figures from the First Set, though some aren't. Wilson included two L'Ete dances in his First Set (CB), and none in the second; he used two La Trenise dances in his Second Set (CB), but none in the first. My guess is that this is deliberate, though it could be a printing error. A further curiosity involves the length of the La Trenise dances; two are 32 bars long, and one is 40 bars. Paine's version from the First Set used 40 bars, but the associated figures are less standardised than the rest of the First Set.

A further anomaly is that Wilson didn't provide a Finale for his Second Set (CB), but provided two for his Third Set (CB); I've assigned one of the Finales to the Second Set.

The Triumph of the Quadrille

Quadrille dances gained popularity incredibly quickly. So much so that within a few short years they had almost completely displaced the English Country Dance from England's fashionable Ball Rooms. There were relatively few new Country Dances published in England in the 1820s compared to previous decades, but hundreds of Quadrille Sets. Wilson did his part to ensure their success.

The poet Thomas Moore, writing under his pseudonym of Thomas Brown, the Younger wrote an 1823 poem called Country Dance and Quadrille³⁴ (see Figure 9); this poem beautifully describes the changes to the Ball Room of his day. In his poem, the anthropomorphic 'Mamselle Quadrille' reigns in London, the 'Nymph' of the Country Dance is relegated to a provincial town. The Country Dance experiences one last victory before the Quadrille takes over entirely.

Figure 9. The first three verses of Thomas Moore's 1823 Country Dance and Quadrille.

ONE night the nymph call'd COUNTRY-DANCE,--
Whom folks, of late, have us'd so ill,
Preferring a coquette from FRANCE,
A thing, Mamselle QUADRILLE--

Having been chas'd from London down
To that last, humblest haunt of all,
She us'd to grace -- a Country Town --
Went smiling to the New-Year's Ball.

Here, here, at least, she cried, though driv'n
From London's gay and shining tracks--
Though, like a Peri cast from heaven,
I've lost, for ever lost Almack's.