Issue 1497: Another suggestion for the source of the dance name

Object

The Machine without Horses (Dance)

Submitter

Murrough Landon (murrough)

Assigned to

—

Priority

Normal

Disposition

Fixed

Description

Walter M. Ligon submitted the following as a crib comment. I thought it was interesting and have made it an issue for tracking and in case others want to comment. It seems reasonable to to me and matches the date of the dance (1772) very well so I will add it to the extra info.

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The extra info on this dance is from Emmerson. Also a contemporary eye witness account is available from the reliable source cite below (excerpt from The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell):

There was a pretty large circle this evening. Dr. Johnson was in very good humour, lively, and ready to talk upon all subjects. Mr. Fergusson, the self-taught philosopher, told him of a new invented machine which went without horses: a man who sat in it turned a handle, which worked a spring that drove it forward. “Then, Sir, (said Johnson,) what is gained is, the man has his choice whether he will move himself alone, or himself and the machine too.” The date mentioned two pages before this excerpt is Thursday, 19 October of 1769.

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