RSCDS Book 1 No. 1 Petronella

RSCDS Book1

 No. 1 Petronella

Origins of the name:
From Maxi Crib: "Written variously as 'Petronelle' 'Paternally' 'Paternella', the name's origin is unknown."

 Date of Publication:
Described in "The Ballroom, 1827."

 Origins/Composer:
Introduced by Nathaniel Gow at his Annual Ball in Edinburgh, 1820.

 Stories:
Petronella was the younger sister of Eleanor of 
Aquitaine, (who gets a lot of bad press in books and plays written by 
English-speaking persons.  Well, a woman who managed to marry a King of 
France, a King of England, and have two English kings for sons    
probably created a lot of envy among the few nobles paying the 
historians.)  

Back to Petronella.  The two sisters grew up with a grandfather who was 
called the troubador poet even though he was a noble who owned more of 
France than the King of France. Why wouldn't a tune have been named after 
one of the girls?  

They lived at the time of the crusades and had relatives (husbands, 
uncles, sons, etc) leading armies in nearly all of the crusades.  
(Eleanor went on one herself.)

Priscilla Burrage
Vermont USA


From the Strathspey Server

The note at the bottom of Book 1, No. 1 says "Introduced by Nathaniel Gow at his annual ball in Edinburgh, 1820."

The tune is an old Scottish measure probably originating in the early 19th century."

Picture:











Note:
"Accordingly (the R.S.C.D.S.) devised a pousette which used the two hand hold, but which preserved the rotation of the modern figure and preserved the man's left footed start (in all ballroom dancing the man and the woman must, of course, start on opposite feet). A variant of this in which the man does not start on the left foot is given as an alternative to the R.S.C.D.S. version in Anderson and Duthie's Complete Guide, and I must confess that I much prefer it."
Scotland Dances", by H. A. Thurston, Page 126

 Instructions:

PETRONELLA (R8x32) 2C (4C set) RSCDS Book 1
1-16 1s dance full petronella back to places
17-24 1s lead down the middle and back again
25-32 1s+2s dance Poussette
(MINICRIB, Dance Crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)

Video:

https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/video/petronella.html

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