Cotswold Notes: Headington: Constant Billy

Phrasing

The music has 6 beats per bar but it is danced as 4 counts.

Props

Two short sticks.

Sticking

Clash own sticks together at the end of both halves of every verse & Ch.

Chorus

Clash own sticks together, R stick with partner's, own sticks, L stick with partner's, own sticks, R stick with partner's, L stick with partner's, R stick with partner's [each clash on beat 1 or 3 of a bar; 4 bars total]. Half Hey [4 bars]. Then repeat it all back to place.

Source of Information

Learnt as part of Lagabag Morris’s dance repertoire.

Tune Variation

This can be danced to the Christmas carol tune ‘Jingle Bells’ by doubling the verses [which unfortunately makes the monotony of Whole & Half Heys at the end of this dance even worse]. Replace the (Double Foot Up) x 2 with (Foot Up, Foot Down) x 2 to make it less uninteresting. [Origin = Lagabag invention for a carol service performance.]

Further Information

This page only contains features specific to this dance. Where not specified, the features of this dance are in common with other dances in this tradition.


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