IRISH LAMENTATIONS
Walsh 1718 3/4 slow
Cook 1979
Recording: AABB irish_lamentation-072-bntad-03.mp3.zip
Video: AABB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GpPLlVzQWY
AABB Version
A1 Take hands 4, all step set 2X to L & R 1M and 2W turn 2 hands to places A2 repeat and 2nd corners turn B1 1-4 All move up set and face own wall (1/2 turn away from partner) take inside hands on sides for assisted cast up to progress 5-8 All move down and set and 1st couple assisted cast up to original places 9-16 1st couple cross and cast down, 1/2 figure of 8 up thru 2s who lead up B2 1-8 Face partner, 4 changes circular hey with hands 9-16 Ballroom hold, 1s and 2s dance round each other
AAB version
IRISH LAMENTATIONS (N. Broadbridge, Walsh 1735 duple 3/4)
Recording: irish_lamentation-walshb06-04.mp3.zip
A1 1st corners set twice R & L (fwd and back) and turn 2 hands A2 2nd corners same B 1-8 C1 cast and whole fig. 8 up through C2 (M hand W across in front of him) C2 move up at end 9-16 4 changes of circular hey with hands (1 bar, 3 steps per hand) All turn partners 2H
The tune is at least a generation older than the dance, and its provenance is still contested; it is known as “Lament for Limerick“,
and plausible tradition attributes it to Myles O'Reilly (b. 1636) and assigns it to 1691-2, in the wake of the loss of Limerick, under Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan
to the English army of William III.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GpPLlVzQWY
Colin Hume AABB Version
There is another version by Colin Hume, https://www.upadouble.info/dance.php?id=IrishLamentation-Hume Hume splits the long B part of the AABB music into B and C.
A1: First corners set and turn single. Two-hand turn. A2: Second corners the same. B1: Ones cast, go well down the outside. Cast back to place. C1: Ones cross; go below the twos who lead up. Ones half figure eight up. B2: Four changes with hands (6 steps each). C2: Right-hand turn partner (12 steps). Left-hand turn.