8: The Wind Mille
for 8 only (in a square)
mms pages 11 and 12
Playford version: none
Music:
Part 1
Verse 1, Part A
1: Lead up [a double]
2: [Fall back a double]
Verse 1, Part B
1: Lead up [a double]
2: [Fall back a double]
Chorus 1, Part A
1: Man 1 and woman 3 change places [with a double]
2: Woman 1 and man 3 change places [with a double]
3-4: Couples 2 and 4 take right hands in the middle and run around [for two doubles]
5-6: Then take left hands in the middle and run around [for two doubles] back to place
Chorus 1, Part B
1: Man 3 and woman 1 change places [with a double]
2: Woman 3 and man 1 change places [with a double]
3-4: Couples 2 and 4 take right hands in the middle and run around [for two doubles]
5-6: Then take left hands in the middle and run around [for two doubles] back to place
Part 2
Verse 2, Part A
1-2: Side [left to line up right shoulders]
Verse 2, Part B
1-2: Side [right to line up left shoulders]
Chorus 2, Part A
1: Woman 1 and man 3 change places [with a double]
2: Man 1 and woman 3 change places [with a double]
3-4: Couples 2 and 4 take right hands in the middle and run around [for two doubles]
5-6: Then take left hands in the middle and run around [for two doubles] back to place
Chorus 2, Part B
1: Man 1 and woman 3 change places [with a double]
2: Woman 1 and man 3 change places [with a double]
3-4: Couples 2 and 4 take right hands in the middle and run around [for two doubles]
5-6: Then take left hands in the middle and run around [for two doubles] back to place
Part 3
As in the last three dances, "Doe the first part agayne"
Verse 3, Part A
1: Lead up [a double]
2: [Fall back a double]
Verse 3, Part B
1: Lead up [a double]
2: [Fall back a double]
Chorus 3, Part A
1: Man 1 and woman 3 change places [with a double]
2: Woman 1 and man 3 change places [with a double]
3-4: Couples 2 and 4 take right hands in the middle and run around [for two doubles]
5-6: Then take left hands in the middle and run around [for two doubles] back to place
Chorus 3, Part B
1: Man 3 and woman 1 change places [with a double]
2: Woman 3 and man 1 change places [with a double]
3-4: Couples 2 and 4 take right hands in the middle and run around [for two doubles]
5-6: Then take left hands in the middle and run around [for two doubles] back to place
Conclusions:
Interesting dance - doesn't really need to be a square, and in fact the terminology ("first man … chainge places with the last woman", etc) seems to indicate that it is a line dance, despite the figure drawn by the name.
There is a lack of symetry here, in that the side, or middle, couples always "windmill" while the head, or end, couples always switch, even if that switching happens in the reverse order in the middle part.
We get again, at the end, the regular curteous request of "and if you please, each doe his part" - are there times when dancers won't do their parts?
Music:
I'm not sure whether the chorus is 4 bars or 6 bars long - the instruction for the windmill figure has the middle couples "runne round", but how far could they get in just 4 counts?  Still, with nothing to compare against, no framework, it's all best guesses.