On Jun 1, 2013, at 9:55 AM, Jonathan Sivier quoted me (Jim Saxe) as asking:
Can any of you pinpoint who introduced term "Mad Robin" with it's current contra dance meaning, or when, or what dance they were describing?
and he replied
The name, and figure, almost certainly come from the English country dance Mad Robin (Playford 1687) as reconstructed by Cecil Sharp in 1922. ...
Yes, I know that. In fact, in the paragraph previous to the one Jonathan quoted, I wrote
... The term "Mad Robin" entered the contra dance lexicon (for an action that only vaguely resembles something from the English country dance "Mad Robin") much later [than 1982]--perhaps in the late 1990's.
Perhaps "only vaguely resembles" was an overstatement and I should have written something more like "(based on a not-quite identical action in the English country dance ...)". In any case, Jonathan's comment doesn't address my original question: Just when did the phrase "Mad Robin" become part of contemporary contra dance vocabulary, and who introduced it, and in connection with what dance? It didn't happen all that long ago, so it seems plausible that someone might have clear memories. --Jim
