Playford in 1652.
Adapted by Bolton in 1989.
Proper 2 couple longways dance.
Tune: Parson upon Dorothy
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7v-yw7lS8s

Adapted by Cecil Sharp in 1922.
Proper 4 couple longways dance.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAS70WHjJPg

Graham Christian (2015, p. 85) points out that both dance and tune were not static, but rather sustained “numerous if at time subtle alterations” over the hundred year period they appeared in London country dance publications.

The meaning of the title has yet to be ascertained, and was perhaps the name of a ballad or song air. Christian (2015) thinks it possible 'Parson' was “a musician who created a popular alteration of variation set on a folk melody, making the figures of the social dance more attractive” and suggests in may have been Martin Peerson (c. 1570-c. 1651), a madrigalist, singer and keyboardist who died just prior to Playford's publication of the tune. Christian concludes the 'Parson' of the title may have been a tribute to his memory (Christian also connects him with the dance “Parson's Farewell”). Dorothy' could simply have been an identification in folk memory. Regardless of title, It was a popular tune (given the number of times it was printed in the 18th century), and, as the custom, was used as the vehicle for other songs. “The Beautiful Shepherdess of Arcadia” is the name of a c. 1693 Roxburghe ballad [Roxburghe 2.30-31] set to the tune, although versions of the text of that ballad are yet older, dating to the close of the 16th century (c.f. “The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter”, Child Ballad 110). The South Carolina Gazette of April 20, 1738, gives:

In a short time will be published an excellent new ballad entitled Parson upon page. To the old tune of Parson upon Dorothy. Price half a bitt.

Kate Van Winkler Keller astutely points out (in Dance and its Music in America, 1528-1789, p. 93) that this is not a creditable announcement, but is rather a satiric comment in the guise of an advertisement. No doubt referring to some incident well-known to the small Charleston, S.C., community of the time.