Webfeet | English Ceilidh | Dances | Guidman of Ballangigh

This dance seems to have a number of spellings; Geud Man of Ballangigh, Guidman of Ballangigh, Guid Man, Geudman, Good Man, Balangigh, Ballangeich, Ballingigh, Ballangee...

The words here in bold are as they were originally published, courtesey of Robert Keller's The Dancing Master compendium. The annotations may (or may not!) help....

Longways for as many as will

The Longways means you are in couples and in long lines down the room, like the Nottingham Swing.
The For as many as will means that you don't need a particular number of couples, as many as want to dance can dance.
It does not say but, like Nottingham Swing, this is a progressive dance. You dance in a group of four people each time through the dance and find that you have 'moved' along the set, up or down, each time through.

The music is in '32 bars' and you can think of the dance in two halves, with 'A' music and with 'B' music. For the 'A' music:

The 1. cu lead down between the 2. cu. and cast up into their places, then ...

The first couple start the dance by dancing between the second couple, casting, which is turning away from each other and walking round the the people they danced between, and heading back to where they started from...
... what has happened is the the man has cast round the man and the woman has cast round the woman. It is quite quick; just 4 bars.

... the 1. Man takes the 2. Man with his Right hand and lead them between the two Wo. and come into their own places.

The two men dance between the two women and cast.
It is the same movement as above but done across the set...
... think that the first man has not stopped, there's been no time to! It's 4 bars again. If the move feels hurried it may be bacause the set is too large but also it helps to 'know what is coming next' sand get ready for the move

The 2. cu. lead up thro' the 1. cu. and cast off in their own places and ...

The second couple dance up between the first couple and cast round back to where they started from...
... the pattern continues

... the 1 Wo. and the 2. Wo. lead thro' between the two Men and cast off into their own places.

The two women dance between the two men and cast back to place... this is across the set again

All these four casts are done in 16 bars. The music changes, you have the 'B' music, and:

The 1. Man sett to the 2. Wo. then fall back and turn S...

The first man and the second woman dance together, this is diagonally across the group of four.
When the instruction is Set and Turn Single, you step towards each other, looking into the other person's eyes, there's a fraction of a moment of stillness and you then turn quickly left and back into place. The 'turn' is quick and you have contrast between the slow advance towards each other and the quick pulling away.
The feet are doing a little more than a step forward and turn back. You probably find yourself stepping a little to the left and then to the right. With each step you are 'changing weight', you are stepping to the left, putting the right foot down and putting a little weight on it, then putting the weight back on the left. Then a larger step forward and to the right (and putting some weight on the left and then the right). Finally turn back into place.

Note there is a divergence here; the original description says that the man does the work. What you find more commonly done is that the man and the woman both set to each other. There is a modern trend to have more people in the set dancing more of the time.

In 'more formal' dances, such as Playford Balls, you may easily find people following the original description

... the 1 Wo. do the like to the 2. Man.

As above but with the first woman and the second man along the other diagonal across the group of four

... then all four hands half round, then sett to your partners and change to your own sides.

Join hands in a circle....
Move left half way round, let go of your partner's hand and take a step back into the 'lines' of the longways set. You are on the 'wrong side' of the set, facing your partner...
Dance across the set, passing your partner by the right shoulder and into place.
You are then on the right side of the set, have progressed along it and are ready to dance with a new couple (so first couple don't go too far apart, you will be taking hands and dancing between the second couple....)

If you are 'first couple' you will carry on being a 'first couple' even though you have moved down the set. Similarly if you were the 'second couple' you will carry on with this. All works nicely except for the people who have heached the top or bottom of the set, they have nobody there to dance with... They wait there, watch what is happening and join in the next time though.

If you had been a 'first couple' and reached the bottom of the set (and waited) you will continue as a 'second couple'.

Vice versa, the couple who had reached the top of the set (and waited) then starts as a 'first couple'. Means they have to be ready to dance down between the 'new' second couple and cast...

More information

Music:

Often, or traditionally, danced to Hunt (or Hunting) the Squirrel (see Hunt the Squirrel on The Session)
Many tunes fit, Nigel Eaton's Captain Courageous and Ice House Schottische No 2 (as per Random), is wonderful pairing of tune and dance, as long as you don't dance the dance elegant-like.
Chalktown's Ramshackle Jig and Port in a Teacup give you a more relaxed experience...

Dance:

Yup, this is a Playford dance, appearing in editions from 1695 to 1721 as the Geud Man of Ballangigh: To a New Scotch Jigg

Webfeet: Guidman of Ballangigh

The annotated Guidman of Ballangigh