Various Local Dances
Dances were common throughout County Down through numerous generations. The type of venues varied in the extreme. At one end of the social spectrum the gentry and nobility were holding functions and balls in the "big houses", which included many of the European dance forms that may have in vogue at the time. Many of these dances were passed down to the commonality. At the other end of the social scale the common folk held a variety of dances, some regular and organised, most impromptu and held in cottages and farms.
The following dances are a small number of dances showing the variety both geographically and type of venue, which range from farms, barn lofts to school houses. Much of information has been passed down through several generations of fiddle players or dancers. Other sources are gleaned from local newspapers of the period.
Kearney Village School-House & Tara
Ned McCarry, who was raised at Craigarodden Upper, ran a dancing class in the School-house in Kearney Village where he lived in later life. He also played for dancing at Tara. Both Kearney and Tara are on the south-eastern tip of the Ards Peninsula.
Above;
Kearney Village
Left;
Millen Bay, photo taken from Tara. Kearney where Ned McCarry lived, is on the horizon in the centre. The deserted clachan of Craigarodden Upper, where Ned was raised, is in the hinterland to the left.
The Ballyclander Ball
​Surely one of the smallest (size-wise) regular dances in County Down must have been the “Ballyclander Ballroom”, as it was affectionately known locally. The “Ballroom” measured only 22 x 18 x 15 feet, and was reputed to have up to 30 people “bunged” in each Saturday night, and is thought to be Ballyclander Orange Hall. Ballyclander is a townland about a mile from Church Ballee, near Ardglass in Lecale.​​​
Above;
The Ballyclander Ballroom in the past.
Above;
The Ballyclander Ballroom in 2012.
​​​​​​​​ The dance was at its peak in the late 1800s, and like many of the dances it has been immortalised in local poetry. “The Ballyclander Ball”, by Alec Millar of Ballyclander, notes some of the popular dances as; “an Irish reel”, “the Ironmonger’s Jig”, and the “cake walk”.
The Ballyclander Ball by Alec Millar
-
Och, so many purty faces
I’m delighted for to see
Of wee childer, wives and sweethearts
That ornament Ballee
So, if yiz pay attenetion
An’ lissen wan an’ all,
I’ll sing to you a ditty
On the Ballyclander Ball.
Chorus;
There was Jack Dickson, from Australia
That chap of high renown,
And Professors Neill and Kelly
From the Scadden and the Town,
But the names of the nobility
I cannot not recall
That gathered on that famous night
To patronise the Ball.
​
2. ​When the big wigs all assembled
The tables they sat roun’;
Sure they supped their porter up like ducks
And with whiskey rinshed it down,
There waz sassages and fill-me-quick,
Fat puddins, pies, an’ all,
And potted harns and pigsfeet fresh
From Johnny Morgan’s stall.
Chorus;
There wuz the Thompsons from Ballyclander,
And the Stewarts just o’er the way;
Montgomery from Ballylig
And Caven from Brimstone Brae.
Och, such a grand assimbly
You cudn’t find at all
As came that night with all their might
To patronise the Ball.
3. When the supper it was over
The dancin’ did begin,
And their heads and feet went reelin’
For they had the whiskey in;
And such a bit of tum’lin’
Yez niver sa’, I’m sure,
There wuz bits of eyes and noses found
Nixt mornin’ on the flute.
Chorus;
There was John and Pat Fitzsimons,
And our ould friend Daniel Carr –
To find any better sportsman
A man would travel far.
Some big nights we’ve spent together
And upon their knees they’d crawl,
Out of their beds at midnight
To patronise the Ball.
4. I thought I niver wud survive,
For cud I move a peg
When Fitzsimons sang “Still his Whuskers Grew”
And “Maria’s Wooden Leg.”
Then Professor Neill got on the boards
And caused a loud whiroo
With “Pat Miles the Irish Poet”
And “Cock-a-doodle-do”.
Chorus;
There wuz Albert Conn, from Ardglass,
And Charlie Martin too;
Jack Lascelles from Downpatrick,
Three Jolly boys and true,
Now every man wuz dressed to death
The regular fal de dol,
‘Twas a pity we’d no ladies axed
To patronise the Ball.
​
​ 5. Then Daniel Carr an Irish reel
He dances both nate an’ trig,
While Professor Kelly he did fut
“The Ironmonger’s Jig”,
Jack Lascelles danced the cake-walk
And some cudn’t walk at all,
When they tried to stan’ without a hoult
It was tumble, rise and fall.
Chorus;
There wuz Millar from Ballygallum
And Douglas Napier
That gallant son of Erin
Who’s respected far an’ near,
With his artistic handicraft
He adorned our clubroom wall
With burnt-stick pictures ere he came
To patronise the Ball.
6. The speeches that thim big bugs made
Wuz illgant to hear,
But they hadn’t the eddycation
To converse with young Napier.
He spoke on emigration
To the lands across the say,
Ould Ireland’s wrongs, the rights of man
And the rents they has to pay.
Chorus:
There wuz McMechan for Ballybrannagh,
George Martin from Lismore,
Hugh Carson from Corbally,
We had them all before.
They’re the essence of good breedin’
And whatever might befall,
Their prescence we relied upon
To patronise the Ball.
The Clea Ball
In the late 1880s the Clea Ball was a dance regularly held at Moore’s of the Clea, in the half loft in the yard of Robert Moore’s farm on Clay Road a few miles north of Killyleagh. The Moore Family were regulars at the dance at the New Line Tennis Club.
Above;
The half loft to the rear Robert Moore's farm at the Clea, where the "Clea Ball" was held.
Above;
The derelict farmhouse of Robert Moore on the Clay Road, close to the Clea Lough.
This poem, recalled by Mrs Lindsay (Willie Lindsay’s mother) was written, in memory of the Clea Ball, in the late 1890’s.
​
A Few Lines in Memory of Clea Ball
Snoring Bab and Walloping Jean, and baby beetle was on the scene
And John the son did wink his best, to see that no one was oppressed
Hans Stephenson with two in hand, did make a speech but not on land
And old Jock Boyd with his game leg, Soapy Sammy minus Meg
The ladies they were rather scarce, and some of them a little fierce
The Miss McG’s they took the Ball, for style and appearance that was all
But Tailor Moore he did not go, he thought it better not just so
But Miss Delina she was there, quite a specimen that’s rare
Murland Henderson who deals in chaff, and buttermilk he made them laugh
J McConnell he did not like, to let the half crown out of sight
But on the night that May was wed, John was numbered with the fed
Two masons from the Board you know, the ones that built the byre O’
And D proposed to Miss McG, but oh how quick she ran away
Of carpenters there was just a few, Drunken Hayes and the sober Jew
The Dairyman’s wife with her grey head, counts loss and profit all night in bed
But husband Tom could not be matched, so all that night he was on watch
As for S Cochrane we cannot say much as he is considered a kind of lurch
The Misses Marshall they thought it best, not to meddle with that nest
As delph and china it went thither, it did not suit them altogether
They had fiddler Edmonds on the drum, to cause vibration and give room
He sighted long and took good aim, and then at last he got the range
As D. Moore with lamp in hand, did early come at the command
And later on came gentle Ann, with loving smiles she did him fawn
Young Cursing Moore from Lisnaw Brae, had got tight somewhere on that day
He was not pleasant to behold, just learned from father P I’m told
Old Mrs Connolly was there also, the lies as usual they did flow
And to these lines I draw a close, to the next month to see how goes.
Ardkeen School-House
The Ardkeen and Ards Grand Social Reunion was held in the Ardkeen School-House on Easter Monday night 1908. It commenced at 8.30 and lasted until 3 o'clock the following morning. Tea was served at 11.30. Many songs were sung, the main contributors being Mrs J H Dynes and Rev J Nolan P.P. The dance music was played by Francis Donnelly the fiddle player.
Clanvaraghan School-House
Clanvaraghan School had two classrooms which a dividing stud wall. This could be removed to provide more space. During the 1930/40s the school rooms were opened up for dancing. John Burns, who lived in close proximity played there with, on occasion, James and Gus McElroy.
Right;
The long disused Clanvaraghan National School was built in 1913. Photo in 2012.
McElroy's Hall, Drumnaquoile
McElroy's Hall was to the rear of McElroy's pub at Drumnaquoile. Wednesday night sessions as well as impromptu sessions were a regular occurrence for many years. The McElroy Céilí Band played there regularly - whilst members of the family regularly played in the sessions.
Greyabbey Village Hall, Greyabbey
In the early 1990s Philip Robinson and Will McAvoy started a weekly dancing class in Greyabbey Village Hall. Both Will and Philip were from Greyabbey (Will was raised on Mid-isle, an island in Strangford Lough, off Greyabbey connected to the peninsula at low water by a causeway). Will had regularly attended Mrs Jane Simmington’s house dances where Jackie Donnan played the music, so Jackie was approached to play the fiddle. The dances were taught initially by Mrs Jeannie Peake who brought her husband James and her sister Mrs Christina McBride along. Prior to the start of the class Jackie Donnan had assisted Mrs Peake and Mrs McBride in writing down the dances and refreshing any parts that they may have forgotten over the years.
left to right; Nigel Boullier, Jeannie Peak, Jim Cuthbertson, Lydia McMullen, Jackie Donnan, Margaret Davidson, James Peak, Tina McBride
Philip and Will’s intention was to keep the old local dances alive and they found a willing partner in Jackie Donnan. The old local dances were those defined as Country or Old-time Dancing including figure dances, square dances and round dances, as danced throughout the community in the 1800s, before being superseded in many areas in the 20th Century by céilí dancing, ballroom and sequence dancing.
The dance continued for 24 years, ending in 2016 due to a fall off in numbers.
Greyabbey Village Hall, 2006. American students visit the weekly dancing class
Back row - US student, Philip Robinson, Andy Brown, US student, John Bailie, Phyllis Goodall, US student, Hammy Lawther, Betty Schofield, Betty Woods, Margaret Gibson, John Davidson, Jim Cuthbertson
Middle row - Rachel McAvoy, US students
Front row - two US students, Nigel Boullier (fiddle), Jackie Donnan (fiddle), Bob Traite
Map showing Locations of;
(a) Crossroads Dancing & Outdoor Events
(b) Various Local Dances
