Chestnut
(or Doves Figary)
English Country Dance
Playford, EDM 1st Ed
Longways for three couples
Intermediate (at practice)
| I | A1 | 1-8 | Double forward and back | Leade up all a D. and back •• | ||||||
| A2 | 1-8 | Double forward and back | That againe •• § | |||||||
| B1 | 1-4 | Face partner; Double back | Men fall back, and We. at the same time, | |||||||
| 5-8 | Double forward (trading places with partner) | change places each with his owne, | ||||||||
| 9-16 | Men: Take hands in a circle; 2 Doubles circling 360° clockwise while Women: As much (but circling counterclockwise) | men hands round, to your places, and We. at the same time, men being on the We. side, and We on the mens side • | ||||||||
| B2 | 1-16 | Repeat B1 (circling the other direction, and returning to initial positions) | Back againe to your places •• | |||||||
| II | A1 | 1-8 | Side to left | Sides all • | ||||||
| A2 | 1-8 | Side to right | That again •• | |||||||
| B1 | 1-4 | Face partner; Double back | Fall back and | |||||||
| 5-8 | Double forward (trading places with partner) | change places as before, | ||||||||
| 9-16 | Couple 1: Face down; Take hands and Lead down 2 Doubles, the others following (ending with set inverted, dancers on partner’s side) | the first man leade downe his We. the reset following him, stay in the last place • | ||||||||
| B2 | 1-8 | Repeat B1 1-8 returning to own side | This back againe, | |||||||
| 9-16 | Couple 1: Face down; Cast up 2 Doubles, the others following (returning to initial positions) | but cast off instead of leading betweene the rest •• | ||||||||
| III | A1 | 1-8 | Arm to left | Armes all • | ||||||
| A2 | 1-8 | Arm to right | That again •• | |||||||
| B1 | 1-4 | Face partner; Double back | Fall back and | |||||||
| 5-8 | Double forward (trading places with partner) | change places as before, | ||||||||
| 9-16 | Men: Half Hey (three changes) while Women: As much (ending with set inverted, dancers on partner’s side) | men the Hey, and We. at the same time, the first Cu. staying in the last place • | ||||||||
| B2 | 1-16 | Repeat B1 (doing three more changes of the hey, returning to initial positions) | This back againe •• | |||||||
251201 2012 | ||||||||||
Notes
Reconstruction. In I B1, I have the men circling clockwise while the women circle counterclockwise. This is easily accomplished by having the first dancer on each side go down the outside of the set, the other dancers following, taking hands as they circle. I have the dancers do a full 360° circle as Playford says men do the hands round “to your places”.
Reconstruction. As printed, Chestnut's section II is Arming and the Hey, and section III is Siding and leading down/casting up. Since this order is unusual, I choose to treat this as an error, and do the section with Siding before the section with Arming. The original text above has been reordered to reflect this choice.
Reconstruction. In III B2, I prefer to continue the hey (so bottom two dancers trade first) rather than repeat the first half of the hey (with top two dancers trading places first).