Hambleton Round O

It was 2020, I was confined (who wasn’t?), and I finally took some time to find the title of my earworm: Hambleton round O. Here we go!

Driving, heady and yet tinged with melancholy, this superb melody goes hand in hand with a cute dance. It’s also an opportunity to try out different adaptations for a longways triple minor.

Let me introduce : Hambleton Round O. To listen here.

Being a French native speaker, I write in English as good as I can. Please let me know if you sot any error. thank you!

The title

Hambleton hills are located in the North of Yorkshire. Nowadays they are part of the North York Moors National Park.

That bucolic place hosted the Hambleton Royal Gold Cup, a horse race. That race goed back to at least the beginning of 18th century, and took place annually until 1811.

“Ce lieu bucolique accueillait aussi la Hambleton Royal Gold Cup, une course de chevaux. Celle-ci remonte au moins au début du XVII^e siècle, et aura lieu chaque année jusqu’en 1811.

“Round O” would be a corruption of the French rondeau or the Italian rondo. During the 18th century, rondo is a musical form built as a song, with a chorus and several verses: ABACAD… Very baroque, the rondeau becomes less fashionable in the next centuries.

The sources for Hambleton Round O

Hambleton Round O is to be found in the canonical Dancing Master, 15^th édition, 2^nd volume (1713 or 1714). At that time, John Young runs the collection.

John Walsh, a competitor, also published the dance in his New Country Dancing Master (2^nd volume, c. 1719). Both version are identical. To be fair, Walsh plagiarises shamelessly Young’ book.

In 1726, John Young published the same figures – and by that, I mean the exact same instructions – with another music and another title: Smith’s round O.

En 1726, John Young publie le même enchaînement de figures – au mot près ! – avec une autre mélodie et un autre titre : Smith’s round O.

Music and rythm

The music (hte first one) is a triple time hornpipe (3/2), as the famous Mr Beveridge’s Maggot. Each bar counts three beats. That rythm, triple time, was particularly popular during the first third of the 18th century.

To dance on that peculiar rythme, differents steps are possile. The simplest is to walk three equal steps, one of each beat of the music.

Hambleton Round O: choreography

Hambleton Round O is a longways triple minor set. Three couples are thus involved in the choreography. But as per usual, couple 3 sits on the sidelines, while couple 1 leads every figure.

But which figures?

Here is the original text:

The first couple cast off, the man going the Hey with the third couple, and the woman with the second couple, then turn Hands in the second couple place; then the first woman changes place with the second man, and the first man do the same with the second woman, then Hands half round and turn single, then Right and Left into the second places.

John Young (éd.), The Dancing Master, Vol. 2 (15e Edition), Londres, 1713.

Reconstruction for Hambleton Round O

Part A

1-2         Cple 1 cast off under the 2s. Cple 2 move up on second bar [progression]

3-6         M1 hey Cple 3 while L1 hey Cple 2

7-8         Cple 1 partners joins in the 2nd place and 2-hands turn

Part B

1 W1 & M2 exchange place, crossing right shoulder

2 M1 & W2 idem

3 Cples 1 et 2 1/2 circle to Left

4 Cples 1 and 2 turn single on Left shoulder (= to the outside)

5-8         Couples 1 and 2 circular hey (4 changes)

Remarks :

• If you decide to start with the Right foot, then couple 2 must begin with Left foot (and vice-versa). Doing so, all danseurs are synchronised.
• Couple 1 starts the hey naturally, so with Left shoulder (M1 crossing W3 and W1 crossing M3 with Left shoulder)
• The turn single can be made to the inside (on Right shoulder), as nothing is mentionned in the text. To the inside gives a the figure a lot of character – but it is harder to keep up the rythm that way.

You certainly noticed that couple 3 only takes part in the hey. The rest of the time, they doze motionless.

You can dance the choreography as such. It is perfectly historical, but it misses the fun, isn’t it?

Proposal for a 3-couple set

How can I make the choreography more exciting for the couples 2 and 3? For example, by turning the dance into a 3-couple set. That avoids that a couple stays inactive for too long. Because yes, when the set is long, a couple sometimes never gets to become couple 1.

The part A stays identical. For the B:

1 W1 & M2 exchange place (crossing Right shoulder)

2 M1 and L2 do the same

3 Couples 1 & 2, 1/2 circle to Left

4 Couples 1 & 2 turn single to the outside.

5-8         Couples 1 & 3 circular hey, 3 changes [2^nd progression]

The 3 changes of the circular hey create a second progression. As it involves couple 3, couple 1 finishes at the bottom of the set (and not back in the first place).

After one repeat of the dance, all couples are in a new place: Couple 1 becomes 3, couple 2 becomes 1, and couple 3 becomes 2. The old 2s are now at the top and ready to lead.

The good point of that proposal is that the dance is kept short (3 repeats to allow everyone to lead) and fair for everyone (no one dance more than another).

Proposal for a 4-couple set

If you’re still not satisfied with just three repeats, there is another solution (apart from doubling or tripling the dance, of course). This is often used in Scottish dances, such as the Duke of Perth.

It involves forming a set of four couples.

From a historical point of view, this is a slightly better solution, as it preserves the original progression. In fact, the dance remains rigorously faithful to the historical progression: a leading couple descending, led couples ascending, alternating roles 2 and 3.

How does it work?

Couple 1 dances an initial repeat with couples 2 and 3. Then the couple moves down one place (couple 3 becomes 2, the dead / fourth couple becomes 3). At the end of this 2nd repeat, couple 1 does four changes of a circular hey and moves behind the last couple. This puts the leading couple in last place. The former couple 2 (who was inactive during the 2nd repeat) is at the top and ready to lead the dance.

Conclusion

Hambleton Round O is a charming dance with galloping music. It is perfectly suited to reconstructions of early eighteenth-century balls, particularly those of the 1710s. The dance was published between 1713 (Treaty of Utrecht) and 1719 (Robinson Crusoe is published).

It will appeal to both beginners and more experienced dancers. Its difficulty can be varied by changing the formation (longways for as many as will, set for 3 or 4 couples), giving or not giving the hands in the circular chain and depending on the direction of the turn single.

You’ll find instructions for other historical dances in my free ebook!