DISCLAIMER
 
This "rendition" is dedicated to my own Madame de Ravestein.
 
H

ere fooweth the maner of daunsyngs of bace daunces after the use of fraunce and other places translated out of french in englysshe by Robert Coplande.


F

or to daunce ony bace daunce there behoveth iiij paces that is to wite single double; repryse and branle. And ye ought fyrst to make reverence toward the lady and make ij singles j double a repryse and a branle. And this rule ye ought always to kepe at the begynnynge as it is said.


A

nd sometimes is made ij syngles after the doubles and before the repryses and that is done when the measures been parfyght. Also when ony songe or daunse is wryten by R betokeneth reuerence by ss betokeneth ij syngle paces and by d betokeneth j double pace.


A

nd yf there be ddd ye ought to make iij doubles after ss as the daunce requireth for sometime is made but j double and sometime iij or v one after another and therefore is ddddd thus wryten.


A

nd when r is wryten it betokeneth repryse and yf rrr be wryten it signifieth iij repryses and rrr five. For ye ought neuer to make ij nor iiij togyder nor of the doubles also for the double and repryse been euer odde in nombre.


A lso all bace daunces begyn by syngles or reuerences and end with branle. Also it behoveth to know the nomber of notes of euery bace daunce and the paces after the measure of the notes.


T

herefore ye ought to wryte that fyrst ye ought to make reuerences with the lyfte fote and a branle with the ryghte fote then two syngle paces fyrst with the lyfte and second with the ryght fote in going forward and ye must ryse your body.


T

he fyrst double pace is made with the lyfte fote in reysing the body steppynge iij pace forward lyghtly the fyrst with the lyfte fote the second with the ryght fote and the third with the lyft fote as the fyrst.


T

he seconde double pace begynneth with the ryght fote goying thre paces forward as is said of the fyrst in reysing the body etc. The thyrd double pace is done as the fyrst.


I

t is to note that there be neuer ij double paces togydre for the doubles and repryses be euer odde in nombre j iij or v etc.


A

repryse ought to be made with the ryght fote in drawynge the right fote backwards a lytil to the other fote. The second repryse ought to be made (when ye make iij at once) with the left foot in reysing the body in likewise. The thyrde repryse is made in pace and as the first also.


A

nd merke for all that is said that euery of these paces occupyeth as marke tyme the one as the other. That is to wyte a reuerence one note - a double one note - two singles one note - a repryse one note - a branle one note.


A

nd ye ought to wrte that in some places of fraunce they call the repryse desmarches and the branle they call conge in englysshe leue. This done ye ought to put in wrytinge for a repryse thus r for thre repryses thus rrr and for the branle thus b.


F

illes a maried with iiij measures

R b ss ddd rrr b
ss d rrr b unparfyght
ss ddd ss rrr b

L

e petit rouen with iiij measures

R b ss ddddd ss rrr b
ss ddd ss rrr b
ss d ss rrr b
ss ddddd ss rrr b parfyght

A

mour with ij measures

R b ss d rrr b
ss ddd ss rrr b parfyght

L

a garniere iij measures

R b ss ddd rrr b
ss d r b
ss ddd rrr b unparfyght

L

a allemande iij measures

R b ss ddd ss rrr b
ss d ss r b parfyght
ss ddd r b unparfyght

L

a brette iiij measures

R b ss d ss r b
ss d r b
ss ddd r b
ss d ss r b half parfyght

A

a royne iiij measures

R b ss ddd r b
ss d r b unparfyght
ss ddd ss r b
ss d ss r b parfyght

J

oyus espor ij measures

R b ss ddddd rrr b
ss dd rr b unparfyght

T

he kings basse dance iij measures

R b ss ddddd ss rrr b parfyght
ss d rrr b
ss d r b unparfyght

L

e Fraunces iiij measures

R b ss ddd r b
ss ddd r b
ss ddd rrr b
ss d r b unparfyght

L

a bell iij measures

R b ss r d b
ss ddd rrr b
ss d r b unparfyght

L

a a Jeynon iij measures

R b ss ddddd rrr b
ss d r b
ss ddd rrr b unparfyght

L

a dame iij measures

R b ss ddd rrr b
ss d r b
ss ddd rrr b unparfyght

L

a brandon ij measures

R b ss ddddd rrr b
ss ddd rrr b unparfyght

L

a Gylderos iiij measures

R b ss ddddd rrr b
ss d r b
ss ddd rrr b
ss d r b unparfyght

L a princes iiij measures
R b ss dddd ss rrr b
ss d ss rrr b
ss dddd ss rrr b
ss d ss rrr b parfyght

L

a basse dance de Spayn v measures

R b ss ddddd ss rrr b
ss ddd ss rrr b parfyght
ss ddddd rrr b
ss d rrr b
ss ddd rrr b unparfyght

L

a hautte de bourgone viij measures

R b ss ddddd ss rrr b
ss d ss r d r b parfyght
ss ddddd rrr b unparfyght
ss ddd ss rrr b parfyght
ss d r d r b unparfyght
ss ddddd ss rrr b parfyght
ss ddd rrr b
ss d r b unparfyght

L

a basse daunce de Venise viij measures

R b ss ddd ss r d r b
ss d ss rrr b parfyght
ss ddd r d r b
ss d rrr bb unpartfyght
ss ddddd ss r d r b
ss ddd ss rrr b parfyght
ss d r b unparfyght

L

a basse dance du gent Reney v measures

R b ss ddddd ss rrr bb
ss ddd ss rrr b
ss d ss rrr b parfyght
ss ddd rrr b unparfyght
ss d ss rrr b parfyght

A

venem v measures

R b ss sddddd ss rrr b
ss ddd ss rrr bb parfyght
ss ddddd r d r b
ss ddd rrr b
ss d r b unparfyght

M

o maters iiij measures

R b ss ddddd ss rrr b
ss ddd ss rrr b
ss ddddd ss rrr b
ss ddd ss rrr b parfyght

T

o been parva iiij measures

R b ss ddddd ss rrr bb
ss ddd ss r d r b parfyght
ss d rrr b unparfyght
ss d ss r d r b parfyght

L

a basse dance hautte la bas iiij measures

R b ss ddd ss rrr b
ss d ss rrr b
ss ddd ss rrr b parfyght
ss d rrr b unparfyght

T

hese daunces have I set at the ordre of the boke to the intent that euery lermes of the sayd boke after theyr dylygent study may rejoice somewhat theyr spyrtes honestly in escheewynge of ydleness the portress of vyces.


R

eprynted at London in the Fletestrete at the sygne of the rose garland by Robert Copeland the year of our lorde MCCCCCXXI the XXII day of Marche.


 
This is not quite a faithful reproduction of the Copeland/Coplande translation of the Franch Basse Danse mss, but gives the style and the information content. It's a reasonably friendly version which I've posted because I was discussing the style of it with with various people recently. The spelling is deliberately twee, and the choreographies are squared off with the set from the Salisbury Catholicon to give a putative set of English/Scottish Basse Dance notations.
The next stage is to do serious damage to the tenors as well and make them fit these choreographies. I know that this is bad by formal scholarship standards, but my interest is in dancing and playing the things. I'm quite happy not to go and annoy the serious academics out there, and I'm not passing my conjectures off as anything more than that.

 
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