Dance Green grow the Rashes 2661
Also known as “John Black's Daughter”.
Strathspey · 32 bars · 3 couples · Longwise - 4 (Progression: 213)
- Devised by
- Jno Johnson (18C) (1742)
- Intensity
- 888 840 408 800 = 58% (1 turn), 44% (whole dance)
- Formations
-
- Reel of three - on side (REEL;R3;SIDES;)
- Hands round - 3 (HR;3P;)
- Steps
-
- Strathspey setting, Strathspey travel
- Published in
-
- Book 12 [2]
- Scottish Country Dances Books 7 to 12 (Combined A5 edition) [68]
- Pocket: Books 10,11,12 [26]
- Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 9 [75] (diagram only)
- Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 8 [75] (diagram only)
- Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 7 [61] (diagram only)
- Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 6 [58] (diagram only)
- Recommended Music
- Extra Info
Notes:
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In bars 17–20, the circle needs to break in time to allow 3rd man to dance out to his …
-
Notes:
-
In bars 17–20, the circle needs to break in time to allow 3rd man to dance out to his partner’s place while 1st man and 3rd woman continue to dance round, finishing with 1st man in 2nd man’s place and 3rd woman in her partner’s place.
-
Bars 21–24 are danced similarly.
Green Grow the Rashes
(or “John Black’s Daughter”)
Over the centuries there have been several versions of the song “Green Grow the Rashes” and so popular was one that it established Robert Burns’ reputation as a song writer.
The old tune was mentioned in the “Complaynt of Scotland”, printed in 1548, and was called “Cow thou me the Rashes green”. “A Dance, Green grows the Rashes” is found in Robert Gordon of Straloch’s An Playing Booke for the Lute of 1627. William Stenhouse said: “The air of this song is old; a bad set of it occurs in Oswald’s first collection, 1740, but he seems to have forgot the tune had been used as a reel as well as a song, in Scotland, time out of memory. Some fragments of the ancient song are still preserved”.
We’re a’ dry wi’ drinkin’ o’t,
We’re a’ dry wi’ drinkin’ o’t,
The parson kissed the fiddler’s wife
And he couldna preach for thinkin’ o’t.
Chorus
Green grow the rashes O,
Green grow the rashes O,
The feather bed is no’ sae saft
As a bed amang the rashes O.
The down bed, the feather bed,
The bed amang the rashes O;
Yet a’ the beds is no’ sae saft
As the bellies o’ the lasses O.
According to Stenhouse “the song seems to have been one of those burlesque and sly satires on the real or supposed profligacy of the priests prior to the reformation.”
Satire or not, the ancient song and its tune fascinated and inspired Robert Burns. In 1784 he wrote his own “Green Grow the Rashes” and it was published in James Johnson’s The Scots Musical Museum, Volume 1, 1787.
There’s nought but care on ev’ry han’,
In every hour that passes, O;
What signifies the life o’ man,
An’ 'twere na for the lasses, O.
Chorus
Green grow the rashes, O;
Green grow the rashes, O;
The sweetest hours that e’er I spend,
Are spent among the lasses, O.
The war’ly race may riches chase,
An’ riches still may fly them, O;
An’ tho’ at least they catch them fast,
Their hearts can ne’er enjoy them, O.
But gie me a cannie hour at e’en,
My arms about my dearie, O,
And war’ly cares and war’ly men
May a’ gae tapsalteerie, O!
For you sae douce, ye sneer at this;
Ye’re nought but senseless asses, O;
The wisest men the warl’ e’er saw,
He dearly lov’d the lasses, O.
Auld Nature swears, the lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes, O:
Her prentice han’ she tried on man,
An’ then she made the lasses, O.
In the Commonplace Book, finished in 1784, Burns felt compelled to write the following in regard to his composition: “I do not see that the turn of mind, and pursuits of such a one as the above verses describe – one who spends the hours & thoughts which the vocations of the day can spare with Ossian, Shakespeare, Thomson, Shenstone, Sterne &c. or as the maggot takes him, a gun, a fiddle, or a Song to make, or men; and at all times some heartsdear bony lass in view – I say that I do not see the turn of mind & pursuits of such a one are in the least more inimical to the sacred interests of Piety & Virtue, than the, even lawful, bustling, & straining after the world’s riches & honours.”
Sub rosa, Burns wrote two other versions of “Green Grow the Rashes”, neither of them fit to be sung in the drawing room. While quite different in mood from his earlier work, they are more in the spirit of the ancient song and, while not written as sheer pornography, they do reflect the earthy sexuality of the period. One, sent to his close companion, John Richmond, in 1786, begins:
In sober hours I am a priest;
A hero when I’m tipsey, O;
But I’m a king and ev’rything,
When wi’ a wanton Gipsey, O.
Of the chorus, only the line “Green grow the rashes, O” remains the same.
The second version, beginning “O wat ye ought o’ Fisher Meg”, all considerations of pornography versus art aside, is a jumble of crudities.
These two songs appeared in a private collection of bawdy Scots songs and poems, some written by Burns, that he circulated among his friends. In a letter that accompanied the collection, Burns wrote: “I send you a perusal of what I have got together. I could not conveniently spare them above five or six days, and five or six glances at them will probably suffice you.” This was written in December of 1793 to John M’Murdo of Drumlanrig, chamberlain to the Duke of Queensberry. In 1800, four years after the death of Burns, the manuscript collection was published as The Merry Muses of Caledonia. The 1827 edition additional coarse ditties attributed to Burns, but were not, mercifully, his work.
Name | Artist | Album | Media | Trk | Type | Time | Pace | Clip |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Green Grow the Rashes | Colin Dewar and his Scottish Dance Band | Book 12. | LP+ | 2 | S32 4 | 4:13 | 63.2 | |
Green Grow the Rashes | The Alastair Downie Band | Let's Go Scottish Country Dancing Vol 5 | CD | 8 | S32 4 | 3:54 | 58.5 | |
Green Grow the Rashes | The Alastair Downie Band | Scottish Dances | CD+ | 2 | S32 4 | 3:54 | 58.5 | |
Green Grow the Rashes | Bobby Brown and The Scottish Accent | Book 12. | CD | 2 | S32 8 | 8:30 | 63.8 | |
Green Grow the Rashes suitable for Loralee Hyde, Trip to Tunbridge | Marian Anderson and her Band | Robert Burns Dances | CD | 7 | S32 8 | 8:24 | 63.0 |
Green grow the Rashes 3/4L · S32
- 1–
- 1c+2c+3c Rsh Parallel Reels3 on own side
- 9–
- 1c set | turn BH, finish facing 2c ; with person opposite set and turn BH 1½ (2,1,3)
- 17–
- 1M+3c Circle3 L, break early and finish (2,1,3x) ; 1W+3c repeat R (to 2,1,3)
- 25–
- 1c set, dance to the top ; cast off, turn RH (2,1,3)
note: on [17–20], 1M may finish turning 3W BH ½, likewise for [21–24]
Green grow the Rashes 3/4L · S32
- 1-8
- 1s dance parallel RSh reels of 3 on own sides
- 9-16
- 1s set, turn 2H, 1s facing 2s on sides set & turn 2s with 2H 1.1/2 times
- 17-24
- 1M+3s circle 3H round to L end 3s on opp sides & 1M casts to 2nd pl, 1L+3s circle 3H round to right & end 3s own sides & 1L casts to 2nd pl
- 25-32
- 1s set dance up to top, cast to 2nd place & turn 2H
Watch on YouTube
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Added on: 2015-02-24 (Truus de Ceuster)
Quality: Demonstration quality
Watch on YouTube
(YouTube must be enabled in cookie preferences to embed videos.)(No short description.)
Added on: 2019-02-11 (Martina Mueller-Franz)
Quality: Demonstration quality
Watch on YouTube
(YouTube must be enabled in cookie preferences to embed videos.)1996 RSCDS teaching video
Added on: 2020-07-26 (Murrough Landon)
Quality: Demonstration quality
Name | Date | Owner | Last changed |
---|---|---|---|
RSCDS Book 12 | Ward Fleri | Oct. 12, 2021, 9:37 p.m. | |
SDSS Burns Celebration 26/01/24 | 2024-01-26 | Brenda Hole | Jan. 25, 2024, 8:11 a.m. |
Burns Night 2019 Northern Virginia | 2019-01-23 | Ellie Briscoe | Jan. 10, 2024, 10:26 p.m. |
RSCDS Toronto: January Monthly Dance, 11 Jan 2020 | 2020-01-11 | Leo Roytman | Dec. 9, 2019, 5:39 a.m. |
2018-07 TCW taught | antoine rousseau | Aug. 8, 2018, 3:13 p.m. | |
Glasgow University Spring Ball 2023 | 2023-03-04 | Anna Sollazzo | Feb. 19, 2023, 7:28 p.m. |
Headington Burns Programme | 2019-01-24 | Sandra McLevy | Jan. 11, 2019, 7:56 p.m. |
GUSCDC Spring Ball 2023 | 2023-03-04 | Chloe Brotherton | Feb. 23, 2023, 6:45 p.m. |
Burns Dances | 2024-04-13 | Sylvia Jansen | April 23, 2024, 10:49 a.m. |
Vancouver Lady Aberdeen Tea Dance | 1942-02-28 | Andy Peterson | Jan. 6, 2024, 7:38 p.m. |
RSCDS Toronto: 57th Annual Tartan Ball | 2020-02-15 | Leo Roytman | Dec. 8, 2019, 1:21 a.m. |
November Course 2016 KKN - Dances taught by Antoine | 2016-11-17 | Martina Mueller-Franz | Nov. 21, 2016, 3:56 p.m. |
2016-11-16 Kukucksnest November course list of dances | 2016-11-20 | antoine rousseau | Nov. 20, 2016, 12:48 p.m. |
Potters Pairs Weekend 2017 - Advanced Class | 2017-05-06 | Cord Walter | April 15, 2018, 11:18 p.m. |
2020 KW Burns Supper in Memory of Catherine Prentice | 2020-01-25 | Kathryn Lecocq | Oct. 8, 2019, 1:44 a.m. |
CGB Easter Workshop (Kuckucksnest) 2018 | 2018-03-30 | Anselm Lingnau | Aug. 6, 2018, 9:57 p.m. |
BSCD Dances Taught 2019-2020 | Jamie McDougall | Sept. 4, 2019, 12:58 a.m. |