Table of Contents
The Punch Bowl
Playford, 1701
Duple Minor Longways for as many as will
Interpreted by Pat Shaw in 1969
Recording: punch_bowl--044.mp3.zip
A1 12 Ones cross and go below, meet and lead through couple below and cast back to place As seconds meet and lead up, separate and go outside the down-coming ones, turn inward to partners and lead down to meet their original ones 6 Circle half-way 6 Ones cast, two lead up A2 24 Reverse roles and repeat all that (all now in original place improper) B1 3 Second corner positions change 3 First corner positions change 6 Circle half-way 6 One cast, twos lead up 6 Turn partner half-way to get proper
The Punchbowl
by Pat Shaw 1969 duple minor, longways
Part Bars Description A1 2 1's cross and go below, while the 2's lead up one place 2 1's lead down between new 2's, while 2's dance up the outside 1's cast up one place while the 2's lead down End facing your neighbor, 1's below the 2's, 1's improper 2 Circle left 1/2 2 1's cast down while the 2's lead up End with 1's below the 2's, 2's improper A2 8 Repeat A1 with 1's and 2's roles reversed End with the 1's above the 2's, all improper B 1 2nd corners (on the right diagonal) cross 1 1st corners cross 2 Circle left 1/2 2 1's cast down while the 2's lead up 2 Partners two-hand turn 1/2
Interpretation: Colin Hume, around 1995.
The Punch-Bowl
Format: Longways duple.
A1: Ones cross moving down through the twos (twos move slightly up and in), down outside the next twos, meet and lead up through them (12 steps). With original twos circle half-way; ones cast, twos lead up. A2: Twos the same. [All now improper] B: First corner positions (first lady, second man) cross; second corners cross (3 steps each); circle left half-way. Ones meet, then cast, twos lead up; all two-hand turn half-way finishing close to partner and then fall back.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V16y3FoJJKk
Panch (from the Sanskrit for “five”) was a beverage of Indian origin,
traditionally made from alcohol, water, sugar, lemon, and spice
in English rose rapidly in popularity after the 1660s. Celebrated in comic poems and songs
and lauded by wits, doctors, and politicians, it became closely associated with
the rising Whigs and the ascendancy of William and Mary (like the beverage
itself, welcome foreigners). It became the fashion to throw biscuits (sweet
or savory) called “toasts” into the mixture, hence the phrase to drink a toast
when commending the health of another, especially a beautiful woman, in
drink.
The punch bowl itself less the tubs we use now than a generous bowl
or large goblet quickly became a household necessity, a perfect wedding gift
or presentation piece for a valued employee; in some families, the generous bowl
did double duty as a baptismal font.
Inevitably, many coffeehouses served
a good strong punch, and many taverns were named “The Punch-Bow!” or
added the term to their signs, as a kind of Whig loyalty badge, hence “The
Crown and Punchbowl,” “The Red Lion and Punchbowl,” and many others.
The apotheosis of punch may be said to have come in 1694, when Edward
Russell, then Lord of the Admiralty, gave a smashing party at Alicante in
Spain where, under a protective canopy, a fountain was made to run with
punch composed of four hogsheads of brandy, a pipe of Malaga wine, twenty
gallons of lime juice, twenty five hundred lemons, over half a ton of sugar,
five pounds of nutmeg, three hundred toasted biscuits, and eight hogsheads
of water, A small boy in a purpose-built little boat rowed around the fountain
to pour cups for the six thousand guests.
But perhaps we should leave the last word to political philosopher Bernard Mandeville, from his Fable of the Bees of 1714: “I would compare the Body Politick to a Bowl of Punch: Experience teaches us that the Ingredients judiciously mixt will make an excellent Liquor, lik'd of and admir'd by Men of exquisite Palates” And so it is with all good things, and with the dance named for that strong and sweet potation. (Refer- ences: Chambers 496-7; Larwood and Hotten 88)