Study Notes Copyright © William Lynch 2007
| First Figure - The Star (Polkas) | 128 bars |
| 1 | Quarterhouse: Taking waltz hold, couples dance 2 bars in place or moving slightly anti-clockwise around the set, then turn 2 bars on to the next place on their R. They repeat this 4 bar movement into each place and back home. | 16 bars |
| 2 | House around. | 8 bars |
| 3 | R hand star: dancers join R hands in the centre and wheel clockwise around to place. | 8 bars |
| Ladies chain R elbows in the centre, L elbow to turn the opposite gent, pass back by the R and into waltz hold with their partners. | 8 bars | |
| House around each other. | 8 bars | |
| 4 | Quarterhouse.
House around. |
24 bars |
| 5 | Side couples now dance 3. | 24 bars |
| 6 | Quarterhouse.
House around. |
24 bars |
| Second Figure - The Double Shuffle (Polkas) | 112 bars |
| 1 | Quarterhouse.
House around. |
24 bars |
| 2 | Top couples balance and home: with the same hold they advance and retire (4 bars) and dance at home (4 bars). The movement is then repeated. | 16 bars |
| 3 | Quarterhouse.
House around. |
24 bars |
| 4 | Side couples balance and home. | 16 bars |
| 5 | Quarterhouse.
House around. |
24 bars |
| Third Figure - The Four Shoves (Polkas) | 96 bars |
| 1 | Quarterhouse.
House around. |
16 bars |
| 2 | Ladies chain R hands in centre, L elbow to turn opposite gent, R hands in the centre and into waltz hold with their partners. | 8 bars |
| Swing. | 8 bars | |
| 3 | The four shoves: gents reverse their partners into the next place on the R (2 bars), gents' hands on their partners' hips and ladies' hands on the gents' shoulders, then turn 2 bars into the opposite place. The movement is then repeated back home. | 8 bars |
| House around, with waltz hold. | 8 bars | |
| 4 | Ladies chain.
Swing. |
16 bars |
| 5 | The four shoves.
House around. |
16 bars |
| Fourth Figure - High Gates (Polkas) | 112 bars |
| 1 | Quarterhouse.
House around. |
24 bars |
| 2 | High gates: all take hands in a circle, advance and retire and dance around clockwise (8 bars), advance and retire and dance back anti-clockwise to place. | 8 bars |
| 3 | Lead around anti-clockwise back to place, with crossed hand hold in front. | 8 bars |
| House around. | 8 bars | |
| 4 | High gates.
Lead around. House around. |
32 bars |
| Fifth Figure - Slide and Chain (Slides) | 168 bars |
| 1 | Quarterhouse.
House around. |
24 bars |
| 2 | Top couples:
Slide and change: keeping the same hold, they slide into the set 1, 2, 123 and back, 2, 123, then house across to the opposite place (8 bars). The whole movement is then repeated back home. |
16 bars |
| Slide and ladies half chain across to take the opposite gent in waltz hold. | 8 bars | |
| House around each other. | 8 bars | |
| Slide and ladies half chain back to their partners. | 8 bars | |
| Ladies full chain, back to partners. | 8 bars | |
| House around each other. | 8 bars | |
| 3 | Side couples now dance 2. | 56 bars |
| 4 | Quarterhouse.
House around. |
24 bars |
| Sixth Figure - The Hornpipe | 160 bars |
| 1 | Quarterhouse.
House around. |
24 bars |
| 2 | Changeover: all take hands in a circle and advance and retire, with the joined hands swinging inwards and up to shoulder height to emphasise the 1st and 3rd beat of each bar, advance again, drop hands and the ladies dance out and around the next gent on the R to take waltz hold with him as he falls back to place. | 8 bars |
| 3 | Quarterhouse.
House around. Changeover.... until back with original partners. |
96 bars |
| 4 | Quarterhouse.
House around. |
24 bars |
| SOURCE Timmy McCarthy, at Cecil Sharp House, London 1995. It was Ann and Mary O'Connor, natives of Sneem now resident in London, who told us during the workshop that the hands were swung in the Hornpipe Changeover as described above. |