In the English language we have the word ballad, which means a long poem in which a story is told. We also use the French word ballet, for a dance on the stage. These two words come from the same root, and show that at one time ballads and dance tunes were practically the same thing.
The English dance song, the “round” or the same dance in France called the ronde, was a popular dance for many centuries, some of which are most amusing and curious. One dance tune from the 12th century has Latin words; there is also a well known tune, Sellenger’s Round, from the collection called the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Another famous ballad (dance) was Trenchmore, a good sample of English folk dance at the end of the 16th century:
Trenchmore
An English writer (how childlike was his fun!) in 1621 says of Trenchmore, “Who can withstand it? be we young or old, though our teeth shake in our heads like virginal jacks (see page [310]), or stand parallel asunder like the arches of a bridge, there is no remedy; we must dance Trenchmore over tables, chairs, and stools!”
The Morris Dance
The English Morris Dance is a sort of pageant accompanied by dancing. It may have come from the Morisco, a Moorish dance popular in Spain and France, or perhaps from the Matassins, also called Buffoons, who did a dance in armor, which may have come from the Arabs. This dance of the Buffoons, popular in France during the 16th and 17th centuries, was performed by four men with swords, and bells attached to their costumes, used also in the Morris Dance. It may have come into England at the end of the 14th century, but in the 15th it was flourishing. First it was given as a part of the May festival and the characters who took part in it were a Lady of the May, a Fool, a Piper, and two or more dancers. The dance then became a part of the Robin Hood pageant, and the dancers were called after the characters of the Robin Hood ballad: Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Little John, and Maid Marian. Later, a hobby-horse, a dragon, four marshals, and other characters were added. The Puritans stopped the Morris Dance as they thought it too frivolous, and it was never so popular again.
The Cushion Dance
In the Story of Minstrelsy is quoted a description of the Cushion Dance from The Dancing Master (1686):
“This dance is begun by a single person (either a man or woman), who, taking a cushion in hand, dances about the room, and at the end of the tune stops and sings, ‘This dance it will no further go.’ The musician answers, ‘I pray you, good sir, why say you so?’ Man: ‘Because Joan Sanderson will not come too.’ Musician: ‘She must come too, and she shall come too, and she must come whether she will or no.’ Then he lays down the cushion before the woman, on which she kneels, and he kisses her, singing, ‘Welcome, Joan Sanderson, welcome, welcome.’ Then she rises, takes up the cushion, and both dance, singing, ‘Prinkum-prankum is a fine dance!’” Why not try it?