> I have often wondered whether "quicksteps" in Scotland are related > musically to polkas? They seem to have a similar structure, but > I don't know anything about the dance.
Quicksteps were originally just quick marches, almost always in 6/8, and the ancestor of what later became the 6/8 pipe march. But early in the 19th century you started to see more 2/4 quicksteps, and these were the ones taken over by the Irish to become polkas after the 1840s. But quicksteps were also used for dances in Scotland early in the 19th century - not sure what sort of dances these were, they don't seem to be current any more. The early 6/8 quicksteps were sometimes adapted from Irish, English or Scottish jigs and sometimes gave rise to them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack Campin * 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland tel 0131 660 4760 * fax 0870 055 4975 * http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ food intolerance data & recipes, freeware Mac logic fonts, and Scottish music Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
