Money Musk

For the village, see Monymusk. For the baronial estate, see House of Monymusk.

"Money Musk" (/ˈmʌnɪ mʌsk/^[1]), alternatively spelled "Monymusk" or other variations, is a country dance first published in 1785. It was named after a 1776 strathspey by Daniel Dow which is played to accompany it, which itself was named after the House of Monymusk baronial estate. The dance features a central theme of reoriented lines, and is regarded as moderately difficult. It is still widely danced today, and is considered a traditional "chestnut".

Dance

There are multiple similar but not identical variations. The earliest recorded version, from 1785, is as follows^[2]:

Move	Bars
The first couple swing with right hand and then cast (dance out and along the outside of the set) off one place	4
The first couple turn swing left hand and then the lady cast up (toward the music) and man down (away from the music) to form lines of three across the set	4
Set (dance in place) in lines of three at the top and bottom, then the first couple three quarter two-hand turn into improper (first woman on the men's side, first man on the women's side) progressed (first couple is now in second place and second is in first) places	2
Set in lines of three at the sides, then the first couple two-hand turn into proper (progressed) places	2
All six join hands and circle left once around, and back again	4
The first couple lead out between the ladies and individually cast around into the centre, then half two hand turn to change places	4
The first couple lead out between the men and individually cast into the centre, then three-quarter two hand turn into places	4
Formation: Triple minor, proper

The dance is done in triple minor, proper (the figures are done within subsets of three couples, with all men (or people dancing the men's role) beginning on the left and women (or people dancing the women's role) on the right when facing the music).^[3]

Variations

Many variations of the dance exist, including contra and Scottish country dance versions.^{[4][5]: 46–47}

History

The House of Monymusk in Aberdeenshire, Scotland

The dance was first published in 1786.^[5]: 46 The name derives from the House of Monymusk, a baronial estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.^[6][7] The estate's name came from the Gaelic moine mus(g)ach, meaning "nasty, filthy bog".^[5]: 45

After initial publication, it spread rapidly, including to North America by 1792.^[5]: 48 In the 19th century, the dance was done using a 32-bar sequence.^[5]: 41 Variations solidified into a common form by the middle of that century.^[5]: 48 Beginning at some point (possibly the 1870s, according to Ralph Page), it was gradually changed to a 24-bar sequence, requiring the figures to be danced more rapidly and the phrasing to change.^{[5]: 41, 49} Particularly, the forward and back was compressed from eight beats to four, which has led to disagreement about whether it should be a balance.^{[5]: 43–44}

The dance appeared in Henry Ford's Good Morning (1926).^[8][5]: 49 It was danced continuously throughout the 20th century, including in the second folk revival in the 1960s, and became regarded as a traditional "chestnut" dance.^[5]

In 2009, a "Bring Back Money Musk" campaign to revive the dance was begun by David Smukler and David Millstone.^[9] On March 14 of that year, it was danced quasi-simultaneously by more than 1300 dancers in 22 locations across four countries.^[10] It has seen more active use since.^[9][10]

Music

The sheet music for Money Musk in Thomas Jefferson's handwriting^[11]

The music for "Money Musk" is a 1776 tune of the same name by Scottish composer Daniel Dow,^[12][4] published in 1780 as "Sir Archibald Grant of Moniemusk's Reel".^[5]: 45 It was originally a strathspey, a type of dance tune in ⁴
₄ time slightly slower than a reel. The tune appeared frequently in nineteenth-century tunebooks.^[13] Over time, it spread to other parts of the British Isles and North America, adopting elements of local styles.^[5]: 44

In the 24-beat reel version of the tune used for the modern dance, the A and B parts are not repeated and a new C part is added.^[5]: 44 It is regarded as difficult to play.^[5]: 44 Unusually for contra dances, the tune and dance have become closely associated, and it is almost always danced to the traditional tune.^[5]: 44 It is traditional for dancers to shout the name of the dance when the music starts.

Reception

Both the tune and the dance have been well-received and have been enduringly popular.

Ralph Page described "Money Musk" as the most famous of all New England dances.^[14] In Cracking Chestnuts, David Smukler writes that the dance is "'crooked' (unusual in its metric or rhythmic structure), hypnotic, and manages successfully to remain both uncluttered and surprising".^[5]: 41 He notes that its central theme is reorientation, as it involves lines both along the sides of the set and facing up and down the dance hall.^[5]: 41 The dance is regarded as moderately difficult.^[15]

Smukler wrote of the tune that it "bristles with irrepressible excitement".^[5]: 44 It allegedly appeared on a dance card at Abraham Lincoln's inaugural ball.^[5]: 45 A version arranged by Nicholas Britell and performed by Tim Fain was used in the soundtrack for the 2013 biographical drama 12 Years a Slave.^[16][17]