Paper 37

Programme for a Richmond Ball, 1815

Contributed by Paul Cooper, Research Editor

There are two Regency era Balls that resonate in the modern imagination to a greater extent than any others, the 1811 Carlton House Ball in London and the 1815 Duchess of Richmond's Ball in Brussels. The first unofficially marked the commencement of the Regency, the latter formed part of the pageantry of the Battle of Waterloo. But, as with most historical Balls, relatively little can categorically be stated about the dancing at these events; this paper investigates a Ball held in the London borough of Richmond in early 1815, it's entirely unrelated to the celebrated Duchess of Richmond's Ball, but it's a rare example of a Ball for which some of the dancing can be rediscovered. In previous papers we've studied two historical Royal Balls of 1813, this paper will investigate a less prestigious Ball of 1815 that (by chance) has a name that might appear more significant than it should.

Figure 1. The Star and Garter at Richmond Hill, c.1804. Image courtesy of the British Museum.

The tunes and dances that we'll be investigating further in this paper are:

• The Sicilian
• Calder Fair
• Waltz Medley
• Isle of Sky
• La Batteuse
• The Saxon Dance

No, not *that* Richmond Ball

Charles Lennox the 4th Duke of Richmond (1764-1819) lived in Brussels in 1815. His wife was Lady Charlotte Gordon (1768-1842), the oldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Gordon; the Gordons had been highly influential amongst London society around the turn of the 19th century, the Duchess of Gordon (c.1748-1812) is often credited with having encouraged the Prince of Wales's personal fascination with Scottish music and dance. The Prince in turn influenced fashion in general. The Gordon's didn't achieve this success in isolation of course; many members of the Scottish peerage travelled with their families to London each year, often to represent their constituents at Westminster; an enclave of rich and influential Scottish peers were active in London, their Balls were amongst the most popular events of the season. Society enjoyed dancing the Reel, the Strathspey and the Highland Fling. The Gordon's were successful in finding partners for their children; their daughters became (through marriage) the Duchesses of Bedford, Manchester and Richmond. It is perhaps fitting that The Duchess of Richmond's Ball of 1815 should be so celebrated today, her family had helped to shape the popular dancing trends of Regency London. Her ball famously featured the family's regiment of Gordon Highlanders performing Reels to entertain the guests; many of those guests were members of the British military command, when word arrived of Napoleon's advancing they were called away to war while still wearing their dress uniforms. The romanticised image of young officers being called from the ball-room to the battle-field endured, the Ball lived on in popular imagination. In the words of the Morning Chronicle newspaper for the 24th June 1815: The Duchess of Richmond gave a ball at Brussels the night before the battle of the 16th. The Officers after their quadrilles took leave of their partners, and filed off with the same sang froid to the battle, that Lord Castlereagh displayed at the Opera Ballet after it. Their indifference was truly honourable.

The Ball we're studying in this paper is not however linked to the Duchess of Richmond. It was hosted in (what is now) the London borough of Richmond on Monday the 23rd January 1815 at the Star and Garter Tavern at Richmond Hill (see Figure 1). Some 200 or more guests attended, including the former Prime Minister (and serving Home Secretary) Lord Sidmouth, also the Earl of Ailesbury together with a couple dozen other notables; most of the clientele seem to have been untitled (though presumably wealthy) local people. This was not a Royal Ball on the scale of the events we've studied previously. One of the London newspapers described the content of the Ball, it did so in sufficient detail for us to investigate the tunes that were played and some of the dances that were enjoyed; what follows was printed in The Globe newspaper for 26th January 1815 (see Figure 2), the dance references have been emphasised:

On Monday night the Nobility and Gentry of Richmond and its vicinity, assembled at the Star and Garter on Richmond-hill where a grand ball and supper were given. The ball-room, which is very magnificent, was brilliantly illuminated, and the floor elegantly chalked. At ten o'clock the company began to arrive, and at half past ten dancing commenced. The first dance, (a new one called The Sicilian) was led off by Miss Addington (second daughter of Lord Sidmouth) and Lord Bruce; forty couple followed, in two sets. No dance was ever kept up with more spirit; it continued for an hour and twenty minutes. The next dance called for was Calder Fair; after which the Medley Waltz, the Isle of Sky, La Batnore, the Saxon Dance, &c. were danced in succession. The tables in the supper rooms were decorated in the most modern and tasteful manner, and covered with a profusion of every delicacy that could be obtained. Two hundred covers were laid. At half past one, the company sat down to a supper, which was excellent, both with respect to the materials and the preparations. The wines were highly praised, being of the first quality. After supper dancing was resumed, and at four o'clock the ball-room was still full. About six o'clock the company, seemingly with regret, broke up.

Figure 2. The Grand Fete at Richmond, The Globe, 26th January 1815. Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Image reproduced with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

We might prefer to have more information to work with, but this is a better quality of information than was usually published. Several Country Dances were evidently introduced, together with Waltz couple dancing and a French Country Dance. It's the type of programme that might have been enjoyed at private balls outside of London, and perhaps even in Brussels. We don't have the entire programme for the event, there were evidently some additional dances enjoyed after supper, but we're informed of much of the repertoire for the evening.

We'll consider each of the named dances and tunes in turn, but first a brief diversion to consider the preparations for the Ball.

Preparing to Host a Ball

The ball-room, which is very magnificent, was brilliantly illuminated, and the floor elegantly chalked.

Numerous descriptions of society Balls were published in the London press, some were quite brief and others rather verbose; certain details regularly recur across those descriptions, they help to indicate just how grand an event was considered to be. If a hostess wanted to impress her guests then two of the most important considerations involved illumination and chalking of the floors. These details tend not to be considered for modern recreations of Regency era Balls, but they were of great importance at the time. A particularly wealthy hostess might go further and lure a celebrity orchestra to her Ball (perhaps the Gow Band, or that of Paine of Almacks), or a celebrated chef might be hired to prepare a feast. Flowers and exotic fruit might be liberally distributed, sweetmeats and ices prepared; artificial flowers may be displayed and professional entertainers hired.

Society Balls were usually held throughout the night, suitable illumination was therefore important. Mr Lunardi promised that his balloon themed events at the Pantheon Club in London would be completely illuminated with wax lights (Morning Chronicle, 11th November 1784); in 1807 Lady Scott held an elegant ball and supper... at her house in Leicester-square. The arrangements were in the highest style of elegance. The grand hall was brilliantly lighted by variegated lamps. In 1809 Captain Fitz-Clarence's Ball was reported to have been superbly illuminated by Grecian lustres and chrystal lamps (Morning Post, 29th December 1809); it was reported of a military Ball in 1814 that the staircases and ball and supper rooms were most brilliantly illuminated with variegated lamps, and fitted up in a very unique and splendid style, decked with wreaths of laurel and oderiferous plants of every description. The Princess of Wales hosted a ball in 1809 at which the superb suit of rooms made a most magnificent display; they were illuminated by the newly invented Grecian lamps, which have lately been suspended in the centre, from golden rosetles.. Lighting was clearly important, an effective arrangement is something that would be talked about; Ball gowns might look their best and diamonds would sparkle.

Floor chalking is an almost lost art form today but it was highly approved of 200 years ago. Chalking involved decorating the floor of a ball room with elegant chalk (or sometimes water-coloured) designs. It's unclear when the convention arose, references to chalking were common from around the start of the 19th century; an early example from a Royal Ball was described in 1804: The chalked floor was more than usually beautiful; the centre piece represented an Imperial crown, with the Admirals of England under, incircled by a mantle composed of red and white roses, the thistle, and the shamrock. Other fanciful devices were introduced, among which were the Prince's feathers, at the four corners of the room. (The Star, 1st April 1804). It was recorded of an Arundel ball of 1815 that the floor is chalked with many emblematical devices, festoons, wreaths of flowers, laurels, &c. The figures of a lion and a horse, as the supporters of the family arms, are introduced in various situations; they are exquisitely chalked by artists from London (The Star, 16th June 1815). Chalking may have served a practical purpose beyond mere decoration; it could, for example, allocate space for Quadrille dancing, it's recorded of an 1820 ball that the floor was chalked for six sets of quadrilles (Morning Post, 29th May 1820). A more modest event might involve simple geometric patterns drawn in chalk, a grand event might involve great works of commissioned art from a specialist floor chalker. The design wouldn't last long under the feet of the dancers however, it was an entirely ephemeral form of art; Maria Edgeworth in her 1812 novel The Absentee wrote of the fate of a fictional chalked floor: the chalked mosaic pavement of the Alhambra was, in a few minutes, effaced by the dancers' feet. How transient are all human joys, especially those of vanity!.

The earliest reference I've seen to decorating a floor for dancing dates to 1791. The Bath Chronicle newspaper for the 18th of August 1791 referred to a ball held by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle, it reported that It was held in the great guard-room adjoining St. George's Hall, and to give an additional beauty to the room, the flooring was painted in a number of devices. It's possible that this early example may have initiated the trend for chalking and painting ballroom floors.

Our Richmond ball of early 1815 evidently involved both fancy lighting and chalked floor designs. The expense was presumably on a more modest scale than might be expected of a grand ball but it was sufficient to distinguish the event as being held in an elite style.

We'll now return to considering the dances at our Ball.

The Sicilian

The first dance, (a new one called The Sicilian) was led off by Miss Addington (second daughter of Lord Sidmouth) and Lord Bruce; forty couple followed, in two sets. No dance was ever kept up with more spirit; it continued for an hour and twenty minutes.

Figure 3. The c.1769 La Mignonnette Francoise by Landrin and La Hante (left), The Sicilian from Martin Platts's c.1813 7th Number (right); Happy Clown from James Aird's c.1783 A Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, Vol. II (middle), and Thomas Wilson's declaration concerning the Sicilian Dance from his 1816 Companion to the Ball Room (bottom). Right image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD, g.443.o.(35.) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The ball opened with something quite fascinating, a new dance named The Sicilian that was so popular that it would be danced across two sets of twenty couples over an elapsed period of an hour and twenty minutes. That's a lot of dancing! The leading couple of Miss Addington (1793-1870, second daughter of Lord Sidmouth) and Lord Bruce must have been utterly exhausted by the finish! The identity of Lord Bruce is open to debate; context suggests that he must have been the 10 year old son of the Earl of Ailesbury, but he could perhaps have been the 14 year old son of the Earl of Elgin who used the same title at this date. It's not unreasonable for the children of the most honoured guests to be invited to lead-off the dance together, but it is odd for a 10 year old to be present at a ball at all; quite how the 21 year old Miss Addington felt about having such a juvenile partner can only be imagined. The text explicitly identifies Miss Addington as being the second daughter of Lord Sidmouth which makes her the Hon. Frances Addington (1793-1870, 21 years old), not her older sister the Hon. Mary Addington (1782-1847, 32 years old); but perhaps one of her younger sisters was actually the dancer, either the Hon. Charlotte Addington (1796-1870, 18 years old) or the Hon. Henrietta Addington (1800-1868, 14 years old) would have made a more suitable partner for Lord Bruce under the circumstances. The possibility does of course exist that the date of birth for the young Lord Bruce has not been recorded correctly, such errors can occur.

The 80 minute duration of the dance is also surprising. It's difficult to know how seriously to interpret statements of this nature, it seems implausible that anyone could dance with spirit for such a length of time, modern recreations of country dances rarely extend the dancing beyond perhaps ten minutes. The convention at this date was for the leading couple to dance to the bottom of the set, return to the top, then dance down a second time; if the set were 20 couples deep then that would indeed take a long time, 12 couple sets were more common. Moreover, the tune does consist of four parts; it could take most of a minute to play through a single iteration, the 80 minute duration is therefore within the realms of plausibility... it does seem a little exaggerated however! Putting that issue aside, what can be known about the dance itself?

Many country dancing tunes named the Sicilian Dance (or a minor variation of that name) had been published over the decades up to 1815, I know of at least six candidate tunes. There can be little real doubt about the identification of our tune however, it was published numerous times in London c.1814, this newly popular variant must have been the new tune alluded to. One of the first publications was issued by Martin Platts in his c.1813 7th Number under the name The Sicilian (see Figure 3); another early version of the same tune can be found in Wheatstone & Voigt's c.1814 9th Book under the name Sicilian Dance where the tune is credited to a mysterious Hatton. I don't know who Hatton might be, perhaps the name was intended to imply that the tune was popular at Hatton Garden? It was also published in James Platts's c.1814 44th Number and in Edinburgh in Nathaniel Gow's 1815 Marchioness of Huntly's Strathspey.

One of the most interesting publications of the tune can be found in Thomas Wilson's 1816 Companion to the Ball Room; Wilson issued the tune under the name Sicilian Dance or La Mignionette, but with a fascinating footnote as follows: This popular & pretended new dance for 1816 called the Sicilian dance was the La Mignionette cotillion published about the year 1770 & only altered by putting 2 bars of Kammells Rondo at the conclusion of both strains, & to go still further the 1st strain is copied almost note for note from The Happy Clown published about 100 years ago (see Figure 3). Wilson's information was correct, the tune genuinely was known as La Mignonette c.1770, and was partially derived from the much earlier Happy Clown (see Figure 3). A tune named Wallpoole: Or, the happy Clown was published in the 1718 3rd Edition of Walsh's Second Volume of The Dancing Master; Figure 3 shows a later version of the same tune as published in James Aird's c.1783 A Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, Vol. II. It is a tribute to Wilson's memory for tunes that he could recognise duplicates in this fashion, he clearly had an extensive repertoire.

Returning to La Mignonette, it seems to have first been published in Paris c.1769 under the name La Mignonnette; the composition of the music was credited to Monsieur La Hante and the associated Cotillon figures were choreographed by Monsieur Landrin (see Figure 3). It was then published in London c.1772 by Giovanni Gallini as La Mignonette Francoise. It went on to be published in Edinburgh in Alexander McGlashan's c.1781 A Collection of Scots Measures, and in Neil Stewart's c.1788 A Select Collection of Scots English Irish and Foreign Airs, Jiggs & Marches. It's unclear how this largely forgotten tune of French origin came to re-emerge in London c.1813 with a new name; it's possible that Wheatstone's mysterious Hatton had sold the older tune as his own composition, passing it off as a new creation; it's also possible that La Mignonnette was genuinely popular in Sicily, and a traveller (perhaps our Mr Hatton) had brought it to England under the belief that it was an indigenous Sicilian Air.

However it came about the tune was considered to be new in London in 1815. I have one other reference to the tune being danced socially; it was reported of the early 1814 Christmas Festivities Ball at Brutton-Hall in Yorkshire that The dancing was resumed at three, with the Sicilian Dance (Morning Post, 10th January 1814). The tune must have been moderately popular; it can even be found arranged for the La Poule quadrille figures in a c.1829 manuscript. We've animated an arrangement of Martin Platts's c.1813 version (see Figure 3), and of William Dale's c.1815 version.

For futher references to the tune, see also: Mignonette (1) (La) at The Traditional Tune Archive

Calder Fair / Cawdor Fair / Hawthorn Tree of Cawdor

The next dance called for was Calder Fair;

This is another example of a highly fashionable tune with a much older provenance. It was widely published in London between roughly the years 1813 and 1816, it might even have been thought of as new. Its roots are understood to have been much older. The tune is known under two different names, Calder Fair and Cawdor Fair; the Scottish Clan Calder had their seat at Cawdor Castle near Inverness, the two names are essentially interchangeable.

Figure 4. Calder Fair from James Platts's 1813 37th Number (top left), the Cawdor Hawthorn (top right), The Hawthorn Tree of Cawdor from Captain Fraser's 1816 The Airs and Melodies peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland (middle), and Cawdor Fair from Nathaniel Gow's 1813 Miss Platoff's Wedding (below). Left image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD, h.726.m.(10.) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, right image courtesy of the official Cawdor Castle website.

One of the earlier London publications of the tune can be found in James Platts's 1813 37th Number (see Figure 4), it can also be found in both Goulding's c.1814 33rd Number and their c.1815 34th Number (and also in their 24 Country Dances for 1815); it's in an unnumbered Martin Platts collection from c.1814 and also in Wheatstone & Voigt's 1814 9th Book. It's in the Preston collection of 24 Country Dances for 1815 and it replaced Michael Wiggins in Button & Whitaker's c.1813 21st Number following legal complications involving the tune they'd originally published (you can read more about that dispute in our paper on the subject).

The initial publication of the tune (as far as I can determine) was issued in early 1813; Nathaniel Gow published it in Edinburgh as part of his Miss Platoff's Wedding publication (see Figure 4), the contents of which were described as being performed at his Annual Ball, George Street Assembly Rooms, the 9th of March. Gow used the name Cawdor Fair and described the tune as a Reel, very Old. The tune evidently formed part of the repertoire of the Gow band, they were also recorded to have played it at the Queen's Assembly in Edinburgh in early 1814 (Caledonian Mercury, 22nd January 1814); it's probably the London branch of the Gow band under John Gow who promoted the tune in London, it had been enjoyed at a Ball held near London hosted by Sir James Sibbald at around the same date (Morning Post, 13th January 1814).

The tune may have been old, but it seems not to have appeared in print prior to 1813. It was known however, Captain Fraser included it in his 1816 The Airs and Melodies peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland (see Figure 4); he issued it under the name Friomh is Croagh Tigh Challadair, or The Hawthorn Tree of Cawdor, he wrote in his appendix (referencing the earlier Gow publication) that:

This popular air is mentioned as old, by Mr Gow. The Editor discovering it under the name now given in M.S. of Mr Campbell of Budyet, formerly mentioned, corroborates that truth. The gentleman was a cadet of the family of Lord Cawdor, and a celebrated composer and modeller of our best strathspeys. The hawthorn tree is still visible in Cawdor castle, and is so venerated as the roof-tree of the family, that, on an annual meeting of his Lordship's tenants, and other friends, usually held on the day of Cawdor fair, to drink prosperity to the family, the company merely name The hawthorn tree, - hence the probability of its having been composed by Mr Campbell for the occasion.

Indeed, the celebrated Hawthorn tree still stands in the cellar of Cawdor Castle even today (see Figure 4). The Castle's official website records the ancient story of the tree: the Thane of Cawdor, who had a small castle about a mile away, decided to build a new, stronger tower. Visited by an oracle in his dream who instructed him to load a chest of gold onto the back of a donkey. The spot where the animal rested would be a safe haven to build a Castle for his family. Finally resting at the foot of a Hawthorn Tree, the Thane built his tower. The tree exists to this day, standing at the heart of Cawdor Castle.. The Undiscovered Scotland website adds some ironic details: Legend has it that the tree has magical qualities which have on more than one occasion saved the castle from disaster. Modern scientific analysis has revealed that the tree died in about 1372, presumably as a result of being deprived of light following the building of the castle: and that it is a holly and not a hawthorn. It is strangely moving to see the tree still standing in the cellar after all these centuries..

Our dancers of 1815 are unlikely to have known of these origins of the tune, it was simply a popular dancing tune that had been circulating for perhaps a year or more. We've animated a suggested arrangement of James Platts's 1813 version and of Wheatstone & Voigt's 1814 version.

For futher references to the tune, see also: Calder Fair at The Traditional Tune Archive

Waltz Medley

after which the Medley Waltz,

Figure 6. The start of Skillern & Challoner's waltz medley in their c.1815 22nd Number. Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD, h.925.o ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The couple waltz is a dance form that we've written about before. The Waltz had been growing in popularity in London since the 1790s, it had reached a critical mass of popular appeal by around the middle of 1814, the date of the visit to London of the Tsar of Russia and the Allied Sovereigns. 1814 was a time of celebration in Britain; the year opened with military and political successes that rapidly led to the exile of Napoleon and a general peace in Europe, the year concluded with a celebration of the Brunswick Centenary (100 years of the reign of the Hanoverian dynasty); it might be argued that the giddy freedoms of the couple-waltz matched the celebratory mood of the nation. Anti-waltz moralists continued to resist the new dance form of course, but with little effect; waltzing was increasingly normalised in the ball rooms of the aristocracy. You might like to refer to our paper on the Waltz to read more. It's interesting to find a Waltz medley being danced at our Ball in 1815, it's a very different form of dancing to the Country Dances that preceded it earlier in the evening.

A Waltz Medley was a series of waltz tunes that were played in succession. The precise nature of the dancing isn't entirely clear, my impression is that each tune in the medley would be used for a single round of Waltzing. The Waltzing couples would form a circle around the dance floor, and the band would start playing the first tune at a slow pace; the couple would begin a slow waltz, gently turning clockwise while making an anti-clockwise progression around the room to take the place of the couple in front of them. The leader of the band would gradually direct the musicians to play a little faster, and likewise the dancers would rotate a little faster; after a suitable period the music would once again slow down, and so too would the dancers. It's at this stage that I suspect the band would move on to the second tune in the medley; meanwhile the dancers might adopt a different embrace (of which many different examples are documented), and begin anew with another round of waltzing. The medley might last for maybe four or six tunes, different waltz steps being employed as the tempo changed. Some couples would inevitably get dizzy and retire from the dance, I imagine the company might dissolve into giggles when the dance ended... accidents on the dance floor were not uncommon! One early commentator emphasised how the morality of the dance was entirely dependent upon on the leader of the band, if the music were played very quickly then any semblance of control might be lost!

Numerous references to waltz medleys being danced in London exist across the 1810s, some refer to walking or polonaise marching prior to the commencement of the waltz. Earlier waltz references hint that a genteel embrace was used (such as holding one's partner by the elbows or fingertips), the later references often hint at a more permissive or intimate embrace.

One of my favourite Waltz references can be found in the Chester Courant newspaper for the 4th February 1817, it quoted a correspondent who wrote that: There is at Cheltenham, an assembly for the tradesmen's daughters, and buxom country lasses; to which, though the fashionable fair do not attend, you may be sure all the lads of spirit go. When Waltzing first came up, these girls had it introduced there, but, in its adoption, they made, what some may think, an egregious mistake; for after the first round, when the gentlemen had the honour of measuring their waists, they, in their turn, actually gave them a return of the ceremony. Many laughed at it, but I assure you, upon my word, that I approve of it highly; and do sincerely think, that if the gentlemen are so good as to give the embrace courteous, the ladies cannot do less than make the embrace mutual.. The young ladies near Cheltenham danced waltzes in rounds; after the first such round (presumably in a medley) they not only permitted their partners to hold them around the waist, but they offered the same embrace in return! Maybe a similarly licentious form of Waltzing was enjoyed at our Richmond Ball of 1815.

Figure 6 shows the start of a Waltz Medley as published by Skillern & Challoner in their 1815 22nd Number; their publication is made up of six separate waltz tunes that were partly original, and partly selected from the most popular in use, particularly those danced in the most fashionable circles, by the Emperor of Russian &c when in England. A footnote added: N.B. These Airs are arranged so as to be played in immediate succession and to form one continued Waltz. There's no reason to think that this specific medley was played at our 1815 ball though it's representative of what might have been played.

Isle of Sky

... the Isle of Sky, ..

The Isle of Sky was a veteran dancing tune, we've written about it before as it was featured in one of the Royal Balls that we studied from 1813. It was evidently a favourite. It had been published many times in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it experienced a burst of publishing interest in London c.1813. You might like to refer to our previous paper for more information on this tune.

Figure 7. The Battuese from James Platts's 1813 38th Number (top); The Batteuse from Nathaniel Gow's 1815 Lady Hunter Blair's Reel and Waltz (bottom); and La Batteuse from Charles Wheatstone's c.1817 A Selection of the favorite Quadrilles or French Dances (Right). Top image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD, h.726.m.(10.) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

La Batteuse

... La Batnore, ...

The next dance is a little difficult to investigate as the title is hard to read (see Figure 2), it appears to name a dance called La Batnore, unfortunately I'm unable to locate any tune or dance of that name. The title is clearly in French, it sounds as though it should be the name of a French Country Dance. The term French Country Dance was used to describe dances of French derivation that were arranged in a square formation, a principal characteristic of which was the requirement for the dancers to memorise the figures before commencing the dance. Twenty years earlier the term Cotillion might have been used to describe this dance, three years later the term Quadrille might be used, but at this intermediate date of 1815 the conventions were fluid; numerous dances were described as French Country Dances that wouldn't quite qualify as either Cotillions or Quadrilles in a modern-but-simplified understanding of those terms. Several popular off-formula French Country Dances existed including La Boulanger, La Tempete and Les Graces; one example was especially popular around our date of 1815, a dance named La Batteuse (also referred to as La Bateuse). I suspect that it was this dance that was enjoyed at our 1815 Ball, perhaps the name wasn't recorded correctly by our correspondent, minor errors in transmission are not uncommon.

Whether La Batteuse really was danced at our Ball isn't certain, it's possible that the missing La Batnore may surface at some point in the future; La Batteuse is nonetheless the type of dance that may have been introduced and it was sufficiently well known to be casually named in a newspaper. We've written about La Batteuse in detail elsewhere, you might like to follow the link to read more. A quirk of La Batteuse is that it was danced to ten bar strains of music rather then the typical eight or four bar strains of most social dancing; it involved clapping of the hands and fancy stepping during the unforgiving solo passages of the dance. A skilled dancer could show off, whereas a novice dancer probably wouldn't attempt the dance at all! These choreographed dances had the advantage that they offered a burst of excitement for a party; a traditional Country Dance might extend for forty or more minutes as the leading couple slowly progressed their way down the set (perhaps 80 minutes in the case of The Sicilian above), whereas a French Country Dance might take only five or ten minutes to perform, and each of the dancers would receive an approximately equal share of the activity. The French Country Dance (as with the couple Waltz) offered instant gratification, it would go on to dominate the ballrooms of the 1820s in the form of the Quadrille. Our Richmond ball was perhaps a little ahead of its time; Waltz and Quadrille Balls were very popular in London by 1817, but the combination was still a relatively new concept in 1815.

Figure 7 shows three different musical arrangements for the La Batteuse French Country Dance that were issued between about 1813 and 1817; all three depict the unusual 10 bar strain of music for which the dance was known. Several different tunes circulated for use with the dance; further examples, along with the dancing figures, can be found in our separate paper on this dance.

It was shortly after our 1815 date that the First Set of Quadrilles began their rapid rise to prominence, by around 1818 most interest in La Batteuse had faded as the Quadrilles had replaced it. There was a brief period of time between about 1800 and 1816 during which the terms Cotillion, French Country Dance and Quadrille were used somewhat interchangeably, any Ball of 1815 could conceivably include an example; the Duchess of Richmond's Ball in Brussels genuinely did feature Quadrille dances.

The Saxon Dance

Figure 8. The Saxon Dance from James Platts's 1814 41st Number (top) and Saxon Dance from Wheatstone & Voigt's 1814 9th Book (bottom). Top image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD, h.726.m.(10.) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, bottom image © VWML, EFDSS.

... the Saxon Dance, &c. were danced in succession.

This was another fresh and briefly popular tune, it was widely published in London between 1814 and 1815; as with several other popular tunes its precise provenance is open to debate.

One of the first publications of the tune was that of James Platts, it can be found in his 1814 41st Number (see Figure 8). Platts would subsequently claim in his 1815 copyright disputes to own the rights to this tune; this might imply that he was genuinely the first to publish, but the story is a little more complicated than that. Other early publications include those of Skillern & Challoner in their c.1814 21st Number and Wheatstone & Voigt in their 1814 9th Book (see Figure 8). It was also published in William Campbell's Collection for 1815, Martin Platts's c.1815 8th Number and in collections issued by Charles Wheatstone, Christmas & Falkner, Clementi, Dale, Munro and probably others. A second tune with the same name was also in circulation, the rival tune was published at around the same date by Bland & Weller in their collection of 24 Country Dances for 1816 and in Davie's 34th Number; there can be little credible doubt that the widely published tune was the popular variant.

The publishing company of Button & Whitaker issued the tune in their c.1815 reprint of their originally 1813 24th Number. The first edition of their publication included a tune named Prince Kutusoff, it transpired that there were copyright concerns involving that tune, so they replaced it c.1815 with the supposedly uncontroversial The Saxon Dance. Unfortunately The Saxon Dance in turn was also subject to a copyright dispute and they were required to defend themselves in court. James Platts (against whom they had won a copyright dispute in 1814) accused them of copying several of his tunes, including The Saxon Dance. He claimed to have purchased the rights to this tune from Carl Böhmer for a valuable consideration. The Platts claim was under dispute but it certainly could have been true; unfortunately Platts did not mark the tune as property in his 1814 publication, this meant that there was no obvious reason for the other London publishers to resist copying it. Button & Whitaker had received their version of the tune from another publisher, William Dale; Dale in turn would have copied it from somewhere else; the industry were oblivious to anyone claiming ownership of the music. The story is a little more complicated however, James Platts issued a collection named Three favorite dances, The Alexander, Arabella & Saxon Dance, by C. Böhmer in 1815 (Morning Post, 7th April 1815); this collection clearly identified the tune as being subject to copyright, but it was only issued after many of the London music sellers had already published their versions of the tune. Button & Whitaker alleged in their response that Platts had only purchased the publishing rights from Böhmer in 1815, and that he did so specifically in retaliation for losing their previous dispute. It's unclear whether Platts' claim could be upheld in law, copyright issues involving foreign nationals and the international trade were complicated; Platts ultimately lost the dispute on a technicality. He took the opportunity to finesse his arguments then levelled the same complaint against Charles Wheatstone a little later in 1815, he probably won this later dispute. You can read more about these copyright trials in our paper on the subject.

It's not possible to reconstruct the precise sequence of events involving our tune, but I suspect that Platts really was the first to publish the tune in 1814; he may have paid Böhmer at that date, he may not have done (a tune of European origin wouldn't necessarily be subject to British copyright, so there may not have been a payment); there was no reason to expect this specific tune to be successful so no particular care was taken to protect it. The tune was, however, proving popular with the public (e.g. at our Richmond ball of 1815) and the other music sellers began reissuing it in the belief that it was common property. Platts then lost a copyright dispute with Button & Whitaker in 1814 and he wanted his revenge. He reissued the tune with an explicit copyright declaration, if the transfer of copyright was uncertain prior to this date then he corrected the issue. He then launched his counter accusation at Button & Whitaker. Whether Platts won or lost is relatively unimportant, these legal disputes caused ripples that affected the entire industry; the new copyright uncertainty must have had a chilling effect, publishers became increasingly cautious of reissuing tunes of uncertain provenance, thereby hastening the collapse of their entire industry. 1815 was the last great year for country dance publishing, London's music sellers simply ceased production of the old style of tune books thereafter, it took a few years to entirely fade away but by 1820 there were very few publishers still actively issuing country dance tune collections.

Returning to 1815, Button & Whitaker made an interesting counter accusation in their defence, they claimed that The Saxon Dance was itself in part taken from an old foreign air called Ah Ca Ira and also a song composed by Doctor Arne. The Ah Ca Ira tune was also widely published but I can detect no obvious similarity between it and The Saxon Dance.

We've animated suggested arrangements of James Platts's 1814 version (see Figure 8), Wheatstone & Voigt's 1814 version (see Figure 8), Skillern & Challoner's c.1814 version and of Martin Platts's c.1815 version.

Conclusion

We don't have the complete programme for this 1815 Ball, what was recorded shows an event at a transitional moment in time featuring a mixture of Country Dances and more modern dance forms. The named tunes were all in fashion in 1815, some were of recent composition while others were older, but they were all considered to be new. The addition of a Waltz Medley and a French Country Dance demonstrate the societal shift away from the time-consuming and fussy Country Dances (such as the 80-minute Sicilian Dance that the Ball opened with) towards dances that an entire company could enjoy together in just a fraction of the time. The old style of Country Dancing was beginning to be displaced from the nation's Ball Rooms.

It's possible that a similar programme of dancing would have been enjoyed a few months later in Brussels at The Duchess of Richmond's Ball; the dances and tunes we've investigated were clearly well known, if you would like to recreate an 1815 Ball then these tunes and styles of dancing would all be suitable to use. We'll leave the investigation here, if you have further information to share, please do Contact Us as we'd love to know more.