Paper 7

The Lancers Quadrilles

Contributed by Paul Cooper, Research Editor

A previous paper has discussed the First Set of Quadrilles. In this article we'll consider the other incredibly successful Quadrille Set from the Regency era, The Lancers¹. There were several versions of The Lancers in circulation, we're going to learn about their origin and history during the early 19th Century.

Figure 1. Cover of a c.1857 reprint of The Lancers' Quadrilles, Duval of Dublin's Second Set

There are two main variants of The Lancers, those of John Duval and of Joseph Binns Hart. There has been debate about which version came first; my research is firmly in support of Duval's primacy. Duval's Set are made up of five separate Quadrilles, La Dorset, Lodoiska, La Native, Les Graces and Les Lanciers; they're a lovely set of dances and easily my favourite Quadrille Set. They were first published in 1817, by the early 1820s they had become one of the most popular Quadrille Sets in England, second only to the First Set.

Duval of Dublin and the Irish Quadrille

John Duval was at least a second generation dancing master. His father had, presumably, left France at some point in the second half of the 18th century. There is anecdotal evidence that John Duval (senior) was married in Liverpool in 1764². By 1797 Duval senior was working at the Theatre-Royal in Dublin³, a year later he was advertising his new Rooms and his availability to teach both dancing and fencing⁴. There was also a prominent dancing master in London in the 1780s named Mr Wall du Val, I've no reason to believe he was related to the Duvals of Dublin though there could have been a connection.

By 1807 John Duval Junior was advertising his own dancing business in Dublin, he promised that he continues teaching all the most Fashionable Dances, he attends Schools both in Town and Country⁵. He spent his 1817⁶ and 1818⁷ winters teaching in Liverpool; the Liverpool Mercury for March 6th 1818 included Duval's advert, he wrote that he teaches Dancing, in a peculiarly elegant and graceful stile, in a system entirely new, and calculated to facilitate the improvement of the Pupil beyond any thing heretofore invented. By mid 1818 his academy was based in the main Ball Room at the Rotunda, one of the most fashionable venues in Dublin⁸. In 1819 he advertised that he was late from London and Paris⁹ perhaps after a recent tour of those cities. He was also publishing Quadrilles by this date, in January 1818 he announced publication of his third Set of Quadrilles¹⁰ and in December 1818 he announced his 4th and 5th Sets¹¹. His 6th Set, known as the Louvre Quadrilles, were published in 1821.

The Quadrille was a variety of French Country Dance that we've investigated in other papers, this dance had already enjoyed a rich history in Dublin by 1817. French Cotillion dances (a predecessor to the Quadrille) were published in Dublin in the 1770s (e.g. Saunders's News-Letter, 15th March 1773) and dancing masters such as Signor Callori (Saunders's News-Letter, 11th April 1778) and Mr Dempsey (Dublin Evening Post, 12th November 1782) taught them to Dubliners in the 1770s. A simplified arrangement of the Cotillion for just four dancers was taught in Dublin (and in Britain) in the 1780s, we've written more about this early form of the Quadrille elsewhere. A Fete conducted by Mr Castro in 1784 at Dublin's Rotunda promised The four Parts of the World will be distinguished by a most elegant Quadrille Dance (Saunders's News-Letter, 10th March 1784). Monsieur Landrin, son of the Composer of the Cotillon Figures to her Majesty the Queen of France and Royal Family had been teaching these earlier Quadrilles since at least 1785 (Dublin Evening Post, 15th January 1785). By 1790 Landrin had been joined in Dublin by Mr Fontaine who taught Quadrilles, and a variety of other most fashionable Dances (Dublin Evening Post, 1st April 1790) and Mr Dempsey who taught fancy Minuets, Gavotes, Ballets, and Quadrilles (Dublin Evening Post, 6th February 1790). An 1814 ball held at the Rotunda in Dublin was described as including quadrille, waltzes, and country dances, (Saunders's News-Letter, 7th May 1814), this later Quadrille is likely to have been arranged for four couples as was the norm in the 1810s. The Quadrille dance experienced a meteoric growth in popularity in London from around 1816 (following it's having been danced at the 1816 Carlton House Ball) but it wasn't a new dance in either city at this date. The French Country Dance, and especially the Quadrille may have evolved somewhat separately in Dublin and London between the 1770s and 1810s, Duval was able to draw upon an indigenous experience of Quadrille Dancing when choreographing his Irish Quadrilles of the 1810s. He combined figures from the newly fashionable arrangements arriving from London along with unqiue figures perhaps derived from an existing Irish tradition. Both cities were of course heavily influenced by Parisian dance conventions but each had it's own traditions to draw upon.

Duval did have family in London. One of his sisters married a London based dancing master named Mr Burghall around 1801 (Morning Chronicle, 16th January 1802). Burghall advertised that he had some New Irish Steps ... acquired from his brother-in-law, Mr. Duval, and subsequently visited Dublin. Duval had visited both London and Bath in 1797 (Saunders's News-Letter, 16th November 1797) and probably made numerous other such trips. Duval and Burghal may be responsible for an important transmission of dance culture between the two cities.

Several stage performers published Quadrilles in Dublin at around the same date as those published by Duval; other examples were published by Mons Simon, Mons Montague, Mons St. Pierre and Mons St. Albin, often through the successful music shop of John Willis. An 1822 advert published by Willis (Dublin Weekly Register, 6th April 1822) advertised the availability of six Quadrille sets by Simon, six by Duval, four by Montague, two by St Pierre, four by Le Feuillade and one each by St Albin, Aubrey and Murgriffe.

Figure 2. The first report of Duval's Lancers, April 22nd 1817. With Thanks to Irish Newspaper Archives (www.irishnewsarchive.com).

Duval's Second Set, 1817

John Willis advertised six sets of Duval's Quadrilles being available for sale in 1822 (Dublin Weekly Register, 6th April 1822): The Louve or Duval's Sixth Set, with a Grand Millitary Finale, dedicated to the Countess of Errol, the Music by Sir John Stevenson - Price 3s; Duval's Fifth Set, dedicated to his Pupils, in which is the much admired Cage Figure, the Music by Bandonin - Price 3s; The Hunters, or Duval's Fourth Set, dedicated to Miss Vandeleur - Price 3s; The Prisoner, or Duval's Third Set, dedicated to Miss Chambers, containing the admired figure of The Prisoner, to which are added several favourite Waltzes and Spanish Dances; The Celebrated Lancers, or Duval's Second Set, dedicated to the Countess of Farnham, the Music by Yaniewicz & Spagnoletti - Price 3s; Duval's First Set, to which are added Seven Popular Airs - Price 4s.

Most of these Quadrilles have been forgotten today, indeed I've yet to find extant copies of most of them. Duval's second Set¹ were different (see Figure 1). The earliest reference I've found to them is from April 22nd 1817 (see Figure 2); the advert in the Freeman's Journal records that This Day is Published four quadrilles as danced at the Countess of Farnham's Ball on Wednesday, the 9th of April, 1817; at the Nobilities' Assemblies; and at the Rotunda. The music by Yaniewicz and Spagnoletti. The Figures by Mr. Duval¹². A few days earlier the Journal reported that The Countess of Farnham held a Grand Ball and Supper on Wednesday April 9th, 1817, attended by nearly 300 fashionables¹³. Duval evidently introduced his Quadrilles at that Ball, presumably at the request of the Countess herself.

The advert issued by Willis mentions four of the individual dances that make up Duval's Lancers: La Dorset, Lodoiska, La Native, and The Lancers. Willis didn't mention what (at the time) was the single most popular dance from the collection, Les Graces, we'll investigate that anomaly in a moment; first let's first consider the four dances that Willis did name:

• La Dorset: This appears to be named after the Duchess of Dorset. She was living in Dublin at this time and hosted several popular balls¹⁴; the music is by Spagnoletti.
  
  Spagnoletti was a celebrated musician from the King's Theatre Opera House in London, he visited Dublin several times during his career. Spagnoletti's December 1816 advert in the Freeman's Journal indicates that at the request of several persons of distinction, he is induced to remain some time in Dublin, for the purpose of giving instructions on the Violin¹⁵ (see Figure 3). Presumably he met Duval and they worked on this Quadrille together. The dance contains a distinctive figure named The Cage; Duval seems to have invented this figure, Willis referred to it as the much admired Cage Figure in his 1822 advert for Duval's 5th Set¹⁶, he also emphasised that Duval introduced the much admired Cage Figure in his advert for the 1820 Second Edition of The Lancers.
• Lodoiska: The music for this dance was adapted from a popular Opera. There were several operatic versions circulating at this time: Cherubini's 1791 Lodoïska; Kreutzer's 1791 Lodoiska¹⁷ (see Figure 4), Kemble's 1794 version of the same name, and Mayr's 1796 La Lodoiska. Duval credited his version to Rodolphe Kreutzer. It became a common practice in the 1820s to adapt operatic music to Quadrille dancing, this is a relatively early example. Lodoiska had been performed several times in Dublin in 1816¹⁸, it was presumably a popular tune.
• La Native: Duval informs us that this tune is from The Beggars' Opera, another Opera playing in Dublin in 1816¹⁹. According to Wikipedia it was a ballad opera written by John Gay in 1728, with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch²⁰. I don't know the significance of the name La Native, the word 'native' only appears once in The Beggar's Opera itself (in Air LXIV)²¹. The tune had been published prior to being used by Gay under the names Would You Have a Young Virgin (of Fifteen Years) and Would You Court a Young Virgin: or, Poor Robin's Maggot, a bawdy song had been associated with the tune since at least as early as 1709.
Figure 3. Spagnoletti in Dublin, December 1816. With Thanks to Irish Newspaper Archives (www.irishnewsarchive.com).
• Les Lanciers: Willis named this dance in English as The Lancers whereas Duval used the French name. This Quadrille provides the name by which the entire set subsequently became known. The music is by Felix Yaniewicz; Yaniewicz co-owned a music shop in Liverpool²² and was a regular visitor in Dublin. He performed in many concerts and was described as the Leader of the Band in an 1817 advert for a Grand Concert at the Rotunda (by command of her Grace, the Duchess of Dorset²³). A brief biography of Yaniewicz is available in the 1824 A Dictionary of Musicians²⁴. Yaniewicz had originally composed this tune back in the 1790s under the name Polish Rondo, the Dublin Evening Post for the 27th of April 1794 refered to it having been played in Dublin at that date.

Yaniewicz, Spagnoletti and Duval were regularly mentioned in Dublin's newspapers around the year 1817. Their celebrity, combined with that of The Countess of Farnham and The Duchess of Dorset, must have helped to promote these dances locally in Ireland. They're well formed dances, the music is catchy and the figures are interesting, but the same could be said of many other Quadrille Sets, it's unclear why this specific set rose to such prominence.

The Lancers happened to be published in Dublin at around the same time as the Quadrille dance form was experiencing a dramatic rise in popularity in England; perhaps the Lancers were sufficiently different from the London Quadrilles to excite interest amongst English dancers.

Figure 4. The Celebrated Overture of Lodoiska, composed by Kreutzer

Les Graces, 1816

The Quadrille that Willis did not name in his 1817 advert (see Figure 2) was named Les Graces. It was a popular and established Quadrille from London, perhaps of Parisian origin, that was already reasonably well known at the time. Duval didn't compose or choreograph this dance, he may have been unable to credit the composer of the music as it's the only uncredited score in the publication. Les Graces contains a particularly distinctive figure similar to The Triumph figure from Country Dancing, it was evidently a favourite with dancers.

Figure 5 shows a caricature of this distinctive figure²⁵ published in May 1817. Three dancers are depicted, the middle most is shown turning the other two under his arms, this is the key moment in the Les Graces dance. The title Les Graces de Chesterfield indicates that Les Graces was a well known dance (it had to be, otherwise contemporary readers would have missed part of the joke); the de Chesterfield suffix appears to poke fun at the Duchess of Devonshire whose country home was at Chatsworth, a few miles from Chesterfield. As a Duchess, she would be addressed as Your Grace. The Devonshire family had been promoters of Quadrille dancing since at least 1811, this picture hints that their friends had the same inelegant dancing moments as everyone else! There were two variants of this caricature published, Figure 5 is the second and more political version. The original is available through the Lewis Walpole Library; it was published in London on the same day as the Countess of Farnham held her Ball in Dublin, this futher emphasises that Les Graces Quadrille pre-dates The Lancers.

The Les Graces Quadrille was also included in James Paine's 1816 3rd Set of Quadrilles, it was almost certainly danced under Paine's direction at the popular venue of Almack's Assembly Rooms. Edward Payne also included it in a later edition of his 5th Set of Quadrilles c.1817 (it replaced a Quadrille called L'Arabelle from the first two editions of his work). The Scottish writer Barclay Dun included Les Graces in his Third Set of Parisian Quadrilles in 1818 (they in turn were sourced from band leader Nathaniel Gow's c.1817 Third New Set of Quadrilles, Waltzes, & Spanish Country Dances, though Gow isn't credited). The Scottish variant uses slightly different figures to the London variant. Google Books have a facsimile of Dun's book²⁶ but unfortunately it's missing the page that documents this dance; a transcript is available that provides the missing information²⁷. Dun also documented a Quadrille named La Finale-Lodoiska from Edward Payne's c.1816 3rd Set, it has different figures to Duval's similarly named dance though the music is similar. The Cheltenham Chronicle for December 25th 1817 carried a report of the Berkeley Hunt Ball and Supper that featured both Les Graces and La Finale-Lodoiska, amongst many other Quadrilles to be danced²⁸. George Shade included Les Graces in his 3rd set of Quadrilles of date unknown, they probably post-date Duval's use of the dance (Shade's 3rd Set is entirely made up of Quadrilles borrowed from the publications of Edward Payne and James Paine).

J. S. Pollock in his c.1830 La Terpsichore Moderne reported that Les Graces is a peculiar figure, which although commonly danced in Paris, is but seldom introduced in this country, as in the Third and Tenth of Pain's sets and Duval's Lancers; to perform it properly, the instruction of a master will be indispensable.. Amongst its other oddities Les Graces is an unusual 20 bars in length; when danced it is played through eight times; most other quadrille dances are a multiple of 8 bars in length and would be danced through either twice or four times. In Les Graces each individual dancer takes it in turns to lead the dance; first the four men lead the figure, then the four ladies repeat it. It shares some of these characteristics in common with another popular French figure dance of the era named La Batteuse, we've written about La Batteuse in another paper.

The earliest edition of Duval's The Lancers that I've seen is a facsimile of the third edition, it's in Volume 7 of Dr. John Gardiner-Garden's Historic Dance²⁹ series. It's effectively the same as the version in Figure 1 but can't be dated to a specific year. I'm lucky enough to own a hand written copy of Duval's Second set on paper watermarked for 1818 (but otherwise undatable), this copy is also identical to the version in Figure 1. The earliest independently datable document I've found that shows Les Graces alongside the other dances from The Lancers is a newspaper advert for Willis' A Selection of Quadrilles, Dances and Waltzes from 1818³⁰ (see Figure 6).

Figure 5. Les Graces de Chesterfield, May 1817. Courtesy of The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.

The Lancers, the Early Years, 1817-1822

The Quadrilles that form The Lancers originated in Dublin but their influence soon spread to Britain and beyond. At some point Yaniewicz began selling copies from his shop in Liverpool. His 1821 advert in the Liverpool Mercury claims that they are just published and that The Public are particularly requested to observe, that no copy of the Lancers' Quadrille can be correct, or lawfully sold, unless published for and signed by Mr. Yaniewicz³¹ (emphasis in the original, see Figure 7). By 1821 the Lancers' popularity had grown exponentially and alternative versions were circulating.

Incidentally, Yaniewicz's copyright only applied to the finale dance Les Lanciers; the copyright was eventually (according to a footnote in later editions of Duval's Lancers) transferred to Willis, and then to Messrs Cocks & Co³². Earlier versions of Duval's Lancers explicitly stated of Les Lanciers that the Air is published by permission of Mr. Yaniewicz. As noted above, Yaniewicz had composed the tune back in the 1790s as the Polish Rondo, it had already circulated under that name for many years before being used within The Lancers.

The success of The Lancers continued to grow. A brief report in the Freeman's Journal for 1821 notes that It must be highly flattering to our countryman, Mr. Duval, that the Set of Quadrilles composed by him, called the Lancers, should now be so much the fashion in Bath, where we understand there is nothing else danced³³. An 1822 advert for the 5th edition as sold in London by M. A. Burke refers to them as highly celebrated and unrivalled (New Times, 24th June 1822).

Amusing anecdotes begin to surface around this time of socialites who were unaware of The Lancers. An 1821 story in The Etonian tells of a lady who was asked if she was fond of the Lancers, we're told that she answered with a blush and a frown. The story continues Upon after-consideration, we are sure that the Lady was thinking of a set of dashing young officers instead of a set of Quadrilles³⁴. The Manchester Iris in 1822 contains the first-hand story of a young man who ruined a Quadrille dance by attempting to dance the First Set figures when the rest of the company were dancing The Lancers³⁵.

Figure 6. Willis' New Quadrilles, 1818. With Thanks to Irish Newspaper Archives (www.irishnewsarchive.com).

At least four other Quadrille Sets also named The Lancers were also in circulation by 1821, other publishers were, perhaps, attempting to trade off the success of the name. For example, The Morning Chronicle newspaper for April 14th 1819 included an advert for White's Quadrilles, this collection includes a Quadrille that was also named The Lancers. John Charles White ran a music shop in Bath, his Lancers were his 21st Set of Quadrilles. White's advertisement declared that the public in general are cautioned against purchasing Dances under the same names, or names resembling the above, which are quite different³⁶. His Lancers have nothing in common with those of Duval other than the name, the music and figures are quite different; we've animated them here. White also published an English Country Dance named The Lancers. We've written of John Charles White in another paper, you might like to follow the link to read more.

A second collection was mentioned in the Morning Post newspaper for 16th October 1821, it refers to The Lancers by Parry³⁷. John Parry's quadrilles were named The New Lancier's Fashionable Quadrilles, the copy at the British Library is printed on paper watermarked for 1820. Parry's Lancers consist of eight Quadrille dances and a Finale, once again they have nothing in common with those of Duval other than the name.

The other new versions were the 1820 Les Lanciers of Joseph Binns Hart, and the c.1821 Original Lancers by G.M.S. Chivers. These publications are different to those of Duval but they're related; Hart's version claimed to recreate a Welsh variant of the dance as danced by the nobility & gentry at Tenby, in the summer, 1819 (see Figure 9), Chivers' version (see Figure 10) is a minor variant of Hart's.

Hart's Lancers, 1819

The origin of Hart's version of the Lancers is a little unclear. Hart named his Set Les Lanciers; they're very similar to Duval's Lancers but offer a simplified set of figures. Hart changed some of the titles and he replaced Les Graces with a different quadrille named L'Etoile. Hart's La Dorset uses the figures and music from Duval's La Native and Hart introduced a new tune named La Rose which employed the figures from Duval's La Dorset. Hart's Quadrilles are simpler than Duvals; for example, they omit the much admired Cage Figure.

I've been able to compare several copies of Hart's Lanciers, including an 1820 first edition and a c.1825³⁸ 4th edition. A copy of the 4th edition is available online³⁹, though it's missing its cover; I've authenticated it through comparison to a copy at the British Library. The 4th edition are made up of La Rose, La Lodoiska, La Dorset, L'Etoile and Les Lanciers.

I don't know how Hart came to publish his version. He clearly had access to Duval's music and he knew the names of some of the dances, but the figures as published are slightly different. Perhaps Hart had a musician's hand written copy of Duval's music and wrote the figures down from memory? It's unlikely to have been plagiarism in the modern sense, popular dances and tunes were often reused (for example, consider how Les Graces came to be included in Duval's Lancers, or the story of the Country Dance Captain Wyke). I suspect that Hart either knowingly and deliberately simplified Duval's version, or the nobility and gentry at Tenby did. I have two main reasons to suspect this:

Hart subtitled his version as Les Lanciers, a second set of Quadrilles and described them as having entirely new figures. This could imply that they are Hart's second Set of Quadrilles, but a different Set was published under that name⁴⁰. So perhaps Hart was acknowledging his variant as a second version of Duval's original. As it happens, they may genuinely have been Hart's second Set of Quadrilles to be published, though I suspect they were his third or fourth such set. The 1820 Quadrille Set that eventually came to be known as Hart's Third Set was subtitled The Hussars⁴⁰ and were presumably intended to be a sequel to The Lancers.

Figure 7. Yaniewicz's advert, 1821.
Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Image reproduced with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

There are alterations introduced to Hart's figures between the 2nd and 4th editions of his Lanciers. The differences in the 1825 4th edition correct what appear to be mistakes in the 1st edition, later editions of Hart's publication are more similar to those of Duval's than was the first edition. The key differences are that the sequence of Hart's 4th and 5th Quadrilles are transposed (the first edition had the Les Lanciers Quadrille in 4th position and L'Etoile in 5th), and the initial figure of La Rose is taken away from the first Gentleman and given instead to the first Lady. The correction of mistakes strongly imply that Hart's Quadrilles were derived from Duval's.

Yaniewicz's 1821 statement in Figure 7 is tantalisingly unclear, it's possible (though unlikely) that he was advertising Hart's version of The Lancers having licensed his copyright for the Les Lanciers music to Hart. It's notable that a W. Burton Hart was employed as a dancing master in Swansea (also in South Wales) from at least 1805 (The Cambrian, 26th October 1805); it's possible that W. Burton Hart was related to Joseph Binns Hart and that W.B. was present at the 1819 Ball in Tenby at which Hart's Lancers were reported to have been danced. W.B. may have been Joseph's immediate source of information. W. Burton Hart published a collection of Country Dances for 1812 named the Cambrian Trifles, the subtitle to this collection implied that he was very aware of the fashionable dancing at Tenby.

However it came about, Joseph Hart's simplified Lanciers were published in London in 1820, they helped to fuel the interest in The Lancers. Hart himself went on to publish many more Quadrille Sets, including the Der Freyschutz (his 10th Set, in 1823); this Set was singled out by Thomas Wilson in his 1824 Danciad as being both popular and trite or wretched stuff⁴¹. It featured figures derived from The Hussars (Hart's 3rd Set), itself a Quadrille Set named in reference to The Lancers.

The author of the c.1830 The Fashionable Quadrille Preceptor described Duval's Lancers as Lancers - First Set and Hart's as Lancers - Second set (Usually known as Hart's Set). This could imply that Duval's version was preferred by London's dancers of the late 1820s. Thomas Wilson affirmed The Lancers popularity by complaining in his 1824 Danciad that many Quadrille dancers only know the figures to the First Set and the Lancers⁴² and refuse to learn anything else. R. Hill, author of the 1822 A Guide to the Ball Room, documented Duval's version of the Lancers in his book but only included Hart's variant in the 1830 edition within his Additional Quadrilles appendix; he did however name Hart's version the Original Lancers (probably in reference to the variant published by G.M.S. Chivers who routinely used the word original within his publications). These documents hint that Duval's version of The Lancers was better known.

It appears that Willis (perhaps as the copyright holder) was concerned about the rising popularity of Hart's version of the dance, he published an advert in 1826 emphasising that the Public are particularly cautioned against spurious Editions of this Set of Quadrilles, and are requested to observe that no other Set can contain the whole of the original tunes but those bearing the signature of 'J. Willis'⁴³ (see Figure 8). Willis was unequivocal, he firmly supported Duval's Lancers as the official and original version.

Figure 8. Willis' Lancers' advert, 1826.

The Original Lancers by G.M.S. Chivers (see Figure 10) derives from Hart's version. The word original is misleading in this context, Chivers published at least eight Quadrille Sets by 1822 prefixed with this word, including his version of the First Set (he called them his Original Parisians). He can't possibly be the originator of the First Set, so the word original can't be taken too literally - either it only applied to the music or Chivers believed his notation to be an accurate reproduction of the original. It's possible that Chivers did collaborate with Hart over the figures for Hart's Lanciers, they shared other Quadrille figures (such as those of The Original Caledonians), and Hart explicitly credited Chivers as supplying the figures for his 3rd and 4th Sets of Scotch Quadrilles. But it's unlikely that Chivers' version was published before 1821. Chivers' Original Lancers were made up of La Rousseau, La Parmesane, The Dorset, L'Amusette and De Berri, the figures are those of Hart's Les Lanciers (the first edition, not the revised version).

The Ventagli Quadrille Fan⁴⁴, tentatively dated to 1816, contains hand written figures for the First Set on one side and for Hart's Lanciers on the other. If the Fan's 1816 date was confirmed it would represent significant new evidence, it would date Hart's Lanciers before those of Duval! I suspect the correct date of the Fan should be 1820 or later.

It's unclear which version of The Lancers was preferred by London's dancers of the 1820s, arguments can be made in favour of either variant. An 1824 review of Mr Lloyd's Quadrilles declares that they promise to eclipse the popularity of Duval's celebrated Lancers⁴⁵; they didn't, but the explicit reference to Duval hints that his was the more popular version. The Lancers waned in popularity in the 1830s but Hart's version was subsequently revived. Many new Lancers' variants emerged during the Victorian era in England, Ireland, the Colonies, and elsewhere in Europe; these new variants were usually derived from Hart's version of the Lancers. Duval's version remained in print throughout the 19th century however. Some later commentators report that Hart invented The Lancers, a theory that is sometimes still repeated today; it's likely that Chivers' original prefix was a significant cause of the confusion.

Figure 9. Hart's 1820 Les Lanciers, a Second Set of Quadrilles with entirely New Figures

Image © BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD, g.270.d.(12.) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Les Lanciers, a Mystery

A different version of the fifth Quadrille, Les Lanciers, circulated in Scotland from at least 1822. Alexander Strathy included this dance in his 1822 Elements of the Art of Dancing⁴⁶. His version is related to that of Duval and Hart, with significant differences. It was also included in the Lowe brothers' 1831 third edition of their Ball Conductor and Assembly Guide, which was first published in Glasgow in 1822. Ellis Rogers in The Quadrille⁴⁷ calls this a Scottish variant of the dance, he has identified a couple of later sources that retained Strathy's version. It's perhaps significant that the advert in Figure 7 explicitly states that The Lancers (as sold by Yaniewicz) were being danced in Edinburgh by 1821, this hints that the Scottish variant could be derived from Duval's by way of Yaniewicz. Willis himself published his Select Collection of Popular Airs, No, 7 no later than 1822 in Dublin containing a New Set of Quadrilles to Pain's First Set, with the Finale of the Lancers (Dublin Weekly Register, 6th April 1822), which suggests that Les Lanciers evolved separately to the rest of the Lancers.

Another interesting possibility is offered by John Gardiner-Garden in volume 7 of Historic Dance²⁹. He makes an argument for Strathy having recorded an older version of Les Lanciers from France, and that Duval adopted this older original (much as Les Graces was adopted). Duval may have invented the name Les Lanciers, in which case Strathy accepted that name; or the entire dance may be older. Rogers identifies two c.1825 French dances that are similar to Les Lanciers: La Malboroug and La Nouvelle Panurge. These dances may have been influenced by Duval's Les Lanciers, or they may be examples of an older tradition from which Les Lanciers itself is derived. For example, all three dances share a passing similarity with a c.1769 Cotillion published in England by Mr. Villeneuve Junior named La Ballet Hollandoise.

A further possibility is that Yaniewicz supplied the name Les Lanciers along with the music; he was Polish, and may have named his music after the Uhlans, his nation's own celebrated regiments of Lancers.

Unfortunately I'm unable to shed any further light on these issues.

With the exception of the Cage figure, each individual element of Duval's Lancers can be found in dances by other choreographers (for a description of The Cage see Durang's 1856 guide⁴⁸). Duval may have brought all the material together, arranged some tunes and allocated some names, but the Quadrilles themselves are related to earlier works and are part of the grand and international tradition of dancing.

That concludes my investigation into the early evolution of The Lancers. Many questions remain unanswered however, if you can provide new clues do please get in touch. For example, several authorities assert that Duval wrote the Lancers for the troops in Dublin; I've not found any evidence to support this theory but I'd be interested to know if any such evidence exists.

I've not discussed how to dance The Lancers. You can use the animations here at RegencyDances.org to help learn both Duval's and Hart's versions, or for the academically minded, I can recommend Ellis Rogers' The Quadrille⁴⁷ and volume 7 of John Gardiner-Garden's Historic Dance²⁹.

Figure 10. Chivers' 4th Set of Quadrilles, c.1821 The Original Lancers.

Image © BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD, 558*.c.40 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

References

^{1. Duval, 1817, The Lancers' Quadrilles}

^{2. Rootschat, Dublin dancing master 1770-1800}

^{3. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Apr 13, 1797: An advert for the Theatre-Royal mentions a new dance by Mr Duval}

^{4. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Oct 04, 1798: An advert in the name of Mr. Duval, Senior}

^{5. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Nov 28, 1807: An advert in the name of Mr. Duval, Junior}

^{6. Liverpool Mercury, Feb 07, 1817: An advert in the name of Mr. Duval}

^{7. Liverpool Mercury, Mar 06, 1818: An advert in the name of Mr. Duval}

^{8. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Jan 30, 1818: An advert in the name of Mr. Duval}

^{9. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Dec 30, 1819: An advert in the name of Mr. Duval, Junior}

^{10. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Jan 28, 1818: An advert in the name of Mr. Duval}

^{11. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Dec 24, 1818: An advert in the name of Mr. Duval}

^{12. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Apr 22, 1817: An advert for New Quadrilles}

^{13. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Apr 11, 1817: Fashionable Intelligence}

^{14. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Jun 28, 1817: An advert in the name of Mr. Yaniewicz}

^{15. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Dec 31, 1816: An advert in the name of Signor Spagnoletti}

^{16. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Apr 13, 1822: An advert for Willis' Music Shop}

^{17. Kreutzer, 1791, Lodoiska}

^{18. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Feb 01, 1816: An advert for the Theatre Royal}

^{19. Greene, 2011, Theatre in Dublin, 1745-1820: A Calendar of Performances, Volume 6}

^{20. Wikipedia, The Beggar's Opera}

^{21. Gay, 1760 The Beggar's Opera}

^{22. Liverpool Mercury, Feb 09, 1821: An advert for Yaniewicz and Weiss's Music Warehouse}

^{23. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Jun 28, 1817: An advert for Mr Yaniewicz's Night}

^{24. Gerber et. al., 1824, A Dictionary of Musicians}

^{25. Fores, 1817, Les graces de Chesterfield, or Quadrille dancing pour la pratique}

^{26. Dun, 1818, A Translation of Nine of the Most Fashionable Quadrilles}

^{27. Dun, 1818, A Translation of Nine of the Most Fashionable Quadrilles (transcript)}

^{28. Cheltenham Chronicle, And Gloucestershire Advertiser, Dec 25, 1817: Home News}

^{29. Gardiner-Garden, 2013, Historic Dance, Volume VII}

^{30. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, May 27, 1818: An advert in the name of J. Willis}

^{31. Liverpool Mercury, Feb 09, 1821: An advert for Yaniewicz and Weiss's Music Warehouse}

^{32. Duval, c.1857, The Lancers' Quadrilles}

^{33. Freeman's Journal, Dublin, Nov 29, 1821: News}

^{34. Knight et. al, 1821, The Etonian}

^{35. Manchester Iris, Jun 29, 1822, The Pons Asinorum}

^{36. The Morning Chronicle, London, Apr 14, 1819: Advert for White's Quadrilles}

^{37 The Morning Post, London, Oct 16, 1821: 'Margate'}

^{38. Ayrton, 1825, The Harmonicon}

^{39. Hart, 1820, Anonymous Lancers Set}

^{40. Ayrton, 1824, The Harmonicon}

^{41. Wilson, 1824, The Danciad}

^{42. Wilson, 1824, The Danciad}

^{43. Ayrton, 1826, The Harmonicon}

^{44. Fan, Hand written instructions for Hart's Lancers}

^{45. The Morning Post, London, Dec 14, 1824: News}

^{46. Strathy, 1822, Elements of the Art of Dancing}

^{47. Rogers, 2008, The Quadrille, 4th Edition}

^{48. Durang, 1856, The Fashionable Dancer's Casket}