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’ Mo. *s}./
vjcoigia ijn?erre
The STATE DANCERS.
AVERY partial writer, who (Verm to me but a ha! judge of tlie
talents of Hate dancers, has lately given a very unta'isfac
tory account of a dance that has b**en performed annually,
before the meeting of 1* 1, for many years part, much
to the amusement, but I ant furry to fay, not rnnrh to the
advantage of the publ.ck ; I therefore will write a more full Jctatl of it ;
but although 1 havo learned from Dcoovcr, ai.d was thought no bad
dancer in my time, I could hardly nuke out the figure. The perfor
mances were the ulual set at St. James’s: All of them did not dance at
the fame time, fimie pretending to be tired, fat down; but the real reason
was, they were frumpt< ti a? others Handing above them. Not one wo I
own was among them. L—d B—l, to give him his due, had much the I
appearance of nor, and footed with a great deni of grace. At the fiifl [
(hiking up of the mufick, they were all in confufiorr; bnt upon one o r
the dancers (whose name I could rot Larn, who danced ia ti c middle,
without having any particular partner, and whom they all teemed to flatter)
holding up his hand, they al came to the right about, and every maiWn*
devoured to get to the best place he co ilj. I,—d C—ni got to be fi ll
couple, then they all fell back and changed futes. G~-lie let at him ;
C—uv turned his back, and beckoned, the other fli *wed ; they then join
ed bands, fhuffled, and led up the middle; then set at L— R —m, but
disappointed hi.nn; they served L— S—nc the fame ; upon which B—ke
and B— re went down lad couple, then set to L~— T—le, turned him and
danced the Hayes. The D— of B— was always falling into the Cotil
lon flep, thinking no body saw him, as he saw no body, L— C—re
made several -feints to fit down, but always continued one of the set, and
and never ceased fhufiling and looking at ‘.he mufitlc, in order to keep in
.time. L-- B—-1 and L— C—-ra changed places, and danced back to back.
But B—l and L— G— S— had a particular manner of setting to each o
ther. which diverted me very much; whenever B—l turned his back,
S—le set at him with the wriggle ficp, who then turned his back, and
was let at by the other in fo'rae ilcp he learned at Turin ; upon which an
lri(h gentleman who flood by me remarked, that it was these fleps which
made oneofhein leave I—d, and prevented the other from going there;
as all the world knows the method of dancing at the caflle of D—ft is face
to face —>L*r- C—-in danced likt a ftage-d.inccr, very high, and kicked
about his heels very much ; complained often of his heaJ, but as o r ten re
covered, and made several cuts, to the aftonifhmcnt of the company.
L—. T—le did better thin one (hould have imagine 1, fnm his aukward
shambling manner, but was apt to put the rest out, by infilling to dunce
a figure of his own. L— S—ne danced a step, called, the Jcfuit’s (hufllc ;
you could never difeern upon which leg he flood,, or how he kept him
fclf in, or up, except now and then that he fupporred himfelf in these e
quivocal Eni techats on the shoulders of his friend I—c. R—-y al
wavs kept the olaccsof two people, declaring he neither could nor would
dance-if he Had not elbow mom. • L— ll and and L—f—d made no grr-at
figure in the dance: I only observed that thev employed thcmfclvc* in
taking handkerchiefs or what they could get out of the othe- dancers pock
ets. I tuppofeout of joke, and it being Saturday r.ight, they would rot
dance after twelve o’clock. C—y thought h; was dsing won iers while
he Buficd himfcll in his little fiddle faJJIe ilcp, which meant nothing,
and neither moved hitnfelf or others. L— R— n danced the old English
Reps, with now and then a Yorkflure (hufllc; B—ke endeavoured often
to teach him better, ’. ut and tr.ciog is not his talent; B—re was the dog in
the dancing fchool, he-was not ufH to so good company, and feeing
L—d S—n set at and baulked, he was once in hit life confounded, and
did not know which way to turn. H— on gave a few moft aftoniihingly
finifhed caprioles, but could n. t be pievailcd on to give any more, al
though he was encored by the company, who knew he had more in him
if let it out. As to the refl they were no better than chairs or
corner cpboards, and the D --e of G—n took folk and f.it flown : The
person whose name I cou’d not find out, they all in their turns endeavour
ed to dance ro md ; but he, by keeping the exait time with the mufick,
prevented them, till at lad they all joined h ind:, and danced ron*d him
li the manner of coun-ry huiikin; all the mufick this brilliant company
was put in motion by, was a Scotch piper, placed under a canopy, who
played whatever tune be plealei, .u.d made them da-ice to it: Although
G—-He often called'for Yanky Doodle, i: was obs rve J, that the
person in the mi idle turned his back, or was inattentive, the pip<’ r always
squeaked, “ Over the Water to Charley.” Talked at the door, who paid
the mufick? and a well looking man fighioir, anf-vcicd, the publick
paid the piper. SIIfcBLLAHN AUG JG.
a *■ ■ - - ~t - ■ M
IN the namebf wonder, how came our friend SIIF.ELLAI-fNAHGrG
to leave so many of my go >d friends out of bis lift of Political Dancers ?
particularly L—d E— t, anJ Polonius, wtm though he is gone to France
to learn anew dance, shall have no other mufick than mine. But it is
above all unpardonable in Shebi.lv ahwamoio to have left out my old ac
quaintance, fchoolfellow, and inti.n.itr friend, L—d R—d, who has so
often danced to my pipe, both in Spain and Frame, ns well as in England,
and is remarkably fond of Scotch airs and reels; especially Stuan ’e
IV LDNES DA Y> May io, 1^69.
Rant., am? t.ieold lilt of John Pat person's M.Aanoons FoanuoiT,
|late;y modesm/.ed) which l have adapted to the tunes, and picked out
tor I.M L—d—p's rwn private■ us. : who, though but an ir.dijfcreQt:
icraprr of catgut himklf, yet has a tolerable ear for the performances of
otlu-rs. 1
Ist D—e of G n biing the foie mailer of the ceremonies, war set at -
by I, -d R—d, with very great aoxiety for fome confidercblc time ; who
finding his a:—-e inclined to lead him to the left about, with one of his uw/i
fnuiHo:, and the fide Hep, immediately bauled Out, that unlcfs his place
w,s r hanred in the tei, he would dire.Mly call out for a Corliqw dance, or
nance no logger to the D—e of G—n’s frolick, whith put the whole com
pany m great confufion, particulaily the person in the aiiddleof the ring,
who frowned prodigiously, at the inmtion of a glance; Hat up-m
tl'.o 1) eofij turning I,—d R—d to another fide, the dance went <mi
ar. before; only that L— >l W—l went out at his tutn with ..11
cageriuf- at the —c of D—d, though ali\> out of his turn and dancing,
and therefore improper ; upon wnich his g—c directly croft, and over, figur
ed in ripht and left and led up to the top, and then in lifted ihat the fe L —4s
! dio i!d change fidcs. The p.'rfon middle upon this looked townds
me for the nod of approbation (though I was at no fnull diiia.ice) which
I irn.me'jia-.dy gave my ufuai way, by a ludlow groan of my great drmei,
and two or tftece gr.inl*. of my chunter, and then L—d R—d went i* the
p.irrtb fid :, and L—d VV—Ji to the foutli; L—J S* —e having totally loft
the use of his IngA. ,
L---H R—d being modi) man, and having no cpnft int partner, feem*
id to dam.c but very a upwardly, owieg, 1 fvppofc, to bis pafiion for
Conte f. dances. In going down the dance, howev'w, his L—p fer at
oid Polonius, and flievving him fome French lieps, recommended a young
pupil to be taken in training. Polonius funpered a compliance ; But in a
tw nkiing altering his mind, he fhuflhjd to tbf.left ?bout with a fide rtep,
and gave 1.---d R---U tnc flip, whicli made his L-.d-.-p Ipok very moro/e,
aid that be w aid never ounce with old Folonius again. Some of
the company being fond of novelty, began to revive an enquiry after th*
new dance imported from Corsica, as hi ft mentioned by R—d;
but his |—t!—p, after changing Tides, recanted dire£lly, and fried i(
down Into Jifrepute; and ‘lien making the ur>.n )1 j* R- 1 -yto foot it AfUUf
lv to B—ke and C—: and to flicw them the figure 1: *1 down (wkich hy d>4
so loud to be dillindlly heard by the whole house) it was
Over-ruled and la'd aside. * ’ ’ ‘ .
It was about this time of the ball that the D—c of G—n, and thc.'pia
ftcr of the ceremonres, began to look sulky, and was in the dumps; and
feeing so many fliufding their owb way, and not incline! o d.aca the
figure he had given, commanded B—w, his political *—-p, to -iHut
fubfeription books immediately, so to remain, for several jays, until he
should know the sense of twenty four ci y dancers, from whom he hid
great cxpeflations; and then, with an imperious and aftogaht tone of
voice (which made poor B—w flare with a doubtful panicle, .is if he had
been at his old trade again of vending prohibited goods) ordered thip
hireling subaltern to fnuff the can lies, clear the pa/IVges, shew the com
pany down Hairs, and him to the (tool root.l.
% *tbe Mafltr Piper of it*alee,
SeieMIVAMSMHI jma SJtS
G R E N A DA, iB.
TIIF. Hon. Roderick .Gwynne, Efq.'Lieutenant Governor of Tot
bngo, ‘who arrived here lall Wednesday, will depart for that island
in a few days. . . ’ ‘ ,
April t. We learn from Antigua, that, at a Court of King’s Bench
and (jrand Scfii ns held for that island the 7th iilt. — ; Butler, cor
poral, and Andrew Lord, John Fellows, Peacock*Breafte, and William
Cummings, fold iers, were tried for the muVdgc of tames Kirkpatrick, a
tailor. The jury brought in Butler guilty, and acquitted the other four.
The said soldiers were also indited ror the molder gs John Welch, and
the jury found Andrew Lord and'John.‘Fellows guilty;‘ They, all thrye
received fenter.ee of death. Butler was to have been executed the aUtoT
tall month, and the other two 30 days after fcntcncc was prbnounccd a
gair.ll them. ‘ ‘ • * ‘ ‘ *”
Bridgrtoixn in Bari pilot, Feb 25. On Sunday taft arrived here the (hip
Liberty, fnm Angola c n the Court cf Africa, commanded by William
Fatlnrly, who gor the command on the Cojtft, in the room of VFiMtam
Ford, who wert out .u.tfler of the taid (hip Jrb{ri'LlVefb6ol By bed
accounts we can at prtfeut get, the said Cipt.'Ford aiisfhpt in Ms ted the
-3th of Oilober taft, of Which wound le died the 4th or sth of November
following, many attempts ‘being maie before to po’fon’ Pirn, dr is taid
this villainous act was perpetr ted by the chief mate, James Sturgeon;
and the fte vard, Charles Nowell, and put into execution F>yJ )bn Fucker
the cabin-boy. who was to have i C'r.fide ablp premium. The falcF John
Tucker was likewita murdered by th - dv fir.- and procurement of Stuygcon
and Ndwell by negroes on the Coart, est he ihould at any cime chatgo
them with the mur.'er of the Captain. We hear edmptaint was mile by
Capt. Fathsrly, on .Monday lift, 10 (Jcorge Walroiid and Henry Hafeif,
Efqrs. two of his Mnji fly's Jullices of the Fence, who that day committed. •
Sturgeon and Nowell.