Talk:Virginia Reel (dance)

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[edit] Roger de Coverly

Current article says "[The dance] was first published in England (1865) by Sir Roger De Coverly." and "Described below is Sir Roger De Coverly's version of the Virginia Reel".

I think there's some confusion here -- "Roger of Coverly" is the name of a dance published in the 9th edition of The Dancing Master (1695). I think the tune may have been published earlier than that. I don't know the exact origin and evolution of the Roger de Coverly dance and tune -- there are lots of stories that I read, but I suspect many of them are apocryphal. So I'm removing all references to him as an actual dance publisher from this article.

-Insouciance 08:31, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

My current understanding is that the current Virginia Reel dance was originally called (or developed from) the original dance and tune called (Sir) Roger de/of Coverl(e)y. This seems to have appeared in England during the 17th century and remained popular through to at least the 19th century (from Dicken's A Christmas Carol: "... the great effect of the evening came after the Roast and Boiled, when the fiddler ... struck up “Sir Roger de Coverley.” Then old Fezziwig stood out to dance with Mrs. Fezziwig." (this scene is from Scrooge's youth)).

However I'm not in the position to say this with any authority. With the amount of dubious information out there I suggest that people are careful about citing their sources on this matter.

-Insouciance 11:27, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

I've put what I know (or think I know) into the Roger de Coverley article. -Insouciance 13:24, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Copying without sourcing

Whoever wrote this article seems to have copied much of it from this website: [link]http://homepages.apci.net/~drdeyne/dances/vareel.htm[/link] Or one just like it-- there are many.