Sources.  This dance appears in all seven manuscripts as the fifth Old Measure. Music entitled “The Oulde Almaine” appears in A. Holbourne, The Cittharn Schoole, from 1597.

Reconstruction.  Section order: All the manuscripts first describe the section of the dance we have called section B, then describe our section A. RD describes the dance as “begening at the second strayne,” which we take to be the B music. To be faithful to the manuscripts, dancers should wait through the first eight measures of the music, then begin the dance with section B, and do section A in subsequent repeats. We prefer to simply begin with section A; this more closely follows many of the other dances. Note that other reconstructions choose to do what we call dance section B to the A music, and vice versa; one can make this choice with this dance since music sections A and B are the same length. However, Turkelone and Queen's Alman have similar “second strayne” instructions but the lengths of the music sections are different; they are more compatible with the kind of arrangement we've chosen here.

Reconstruction.  Section B: For the circle to right in section B, rather than turning to face partners straight on, the figure is more easily performed if the men turn about 135° to face slightly down the line, and the women turn just 45° to face slightly up the line. Thus, when doing the forward singles and doubles, they will move around in a circle, rather than running directly into their partners. For the later circle to the left, women face slightly down, and men slightly up. IT and RCM describe these steps as “slide… round in armes” which might suggest moving sideways rather than walking forward. However, later in the text, these sources describe the four doubles as “slide 4 doubles round about the house/hall” where the other sources explicitly say these doubles go forward

Recordings.  Dances from the Inns of Court: 2 and 4 repeats. Musick for Dauncinge: 4 repeats, nice tempo, fine sound.