strathspey@strathspey.org:28053

Patricia Ruggiero

RE: Lead up - which hand?

Nov. 6, 2001, 3:44 a.m. (Message 28053, in reply to message 28042)

About the hands in the "reverence" Adam wrote: "Possibly you can interpret
the Arbeau's picture of a reverence in that way, but they could easily have
changed hand hold specifically for the reverence..."

Quite so, but I cited the picture of the "reverence" because that's the only
one that shows a couple (all the rest are of the man demonstrating the
various steps);  in it the nearer hands are joined, but I can't tell the
orientation of the hands, as per Rosemary's comment.  Several other pictures
show our man holding a woman's disembodied hand; I think it's obvious that
they also are nearer hands, but in these the orientation is ambiguous.  In
the "pied joints" I could almost make a case that both palms face downward.
In the "pied largis oblique" (both right and left), I'm more confident that
his palm faces upward and hers downward.  Charming little drawings.

I didn't mean to suggest that because Arbeau's book shows hands joined in a
certain way for a certain figure over 350 years ago, SCD today should follow
suit.  My post was mainly a rejoinder to Rosemary's comments about
historical dance, meant mostly to express my surprise at discovering that
possibly *in those days* both palms faced downward -- a point about which I
don't recall ever hearing or reading.

Maybe we could revive the "Scottish Branle".......(just kidding!)

Pat