Volume I Part 28 (1/2)

Man: Because Joan Sanderson will not come to.

Musician: She must come to, and she shall come to, And she must come whether she will or no.

Then the following words are sung as in the first example:-

Man: Welcome, Joan Sanderson, welcome, welcome.

Both: Prink.u.m-prank.u.m is a fine dance, And shall we go dance it once again, And once again, And shall we go dance it once again?

Woman: This dance it will no further go.

Musician: I pray you, madam, why say you so?

Woman: Because John Sanderson will not come to.

Musician: He must come to, and he shall come to, And he must come whether he will or no.

And so she lays down the cus.h.i.+on before a man, who, kneeling upon it, salutes her, she singing-

Welcome, John Sanderson, &c.

Then, he taking up the cus.h.i.+on, they take hands and dance round singing as before; and this they do till the whole company is taken into the ring. Then the cus.h.i.+on is laid down before the first man, the woman singing, ”This dance,” &c., as before, only instead of ”come to,” they sing ”go fro,” and instead of ”Welcome, John Sanderson,” &c., they sing ”Farewell, John Sanderson, farewell,” &c., and so they go out one by one as they came in.-Charminster (_Notes and Queries_, ii. 517, 518).

This description is almost the same as a seventeenth century version.

The dance is begun by a single person (either man or woman), who, taking a cus.h.i.+on in his hand, dances about the room, and at the end of the tune he stops and sings:-

This dance it will no further go.

The Musician answers:

I pray you, good sir, why say you so?

Man: Because Joan Sanderson will not come to.

Musician: She must come to, and she shall come to, And she must come whether she will or no.

Then he lays down the cus.h.i.+on before a woman, on which she kneels, and he kisses her, singing-

Welcom, Joan Sanderson, welcom, welcom.

Then he rises, takes up the cus.h.i.+on, and both dance, singing-

Prink.u.m-prank.u.m is a fine dance, And shall we go dance it once again, Once again, and once again, And shall we go dance it once again.

Then, making a stop, the wo(man) sings as before-

This dance, &c.

Musician: I pray you, madam, &c.

Woman: Because John Sanderson, &c.

Musician: He must, &c.

And so she lays down the cus.h.i.+on before a man, who, kneeling upon it, salutes her, she singing-

Welcom, John Sanderson, &c.

Then, he taking up the cus.h.i.+on, they take hands and dance round, singing as before. And thus they do till the whole company are taken into the ring. And then the cus.h.i.+on is laid before the first man, the woman singing, ”This dance,” &c. (as before), only instead of ”come to,” they sing ”go fro,” and instead of ”Welcom, John Sanderson,” &c., they sing ”Farewel, John Sanderson, farewel, farewel;” and so they go out one by one as they came in. _Note_, that the woman is kiss'd by all the men in the ring at her coming in and going out, and the like of the man by the woman.-_The Dancing Master_: London, printed by J. P., and sold by John Playford at his shop near the Temple Church, 1686, 7th edition.