Here the
_Brawl_, and _Canary_, the first in alphabetical order, are coupled
together.
_L.L.L._ III, i, 9.
_Moth._ Master, will you win your love with a _French
brawl_?
_Arm._ How meanest thou? _brawling in French_?
_Moth._ No, my complete master; but to _jig off a tune_ at
the tongue's end, _canary to it_ with your feet, ... _sigh a
note_, and _sing a note_.'
Two other examples of dancing to one's own singing are, _Mids._ V, ii,
25 and _Wiv._ V, v, 93.
The _Brawl_ was written in quick four-in-a-bar time. There are several
well-known tunes to it. [See Note on Arbeau's 'Orchesographie.' 1588.]
The derivation of the name is from the French, _bransle_, a totter,
swing, shake, etc., or perhaps from Old French _Brandeler_, to wag,
shake, swing. Skeat thinks the original dance may have been a _sword_
dance, and with this he connects the word Brandish.[20] It was danced,
sometimes in a ring, holding hands, and sometimes 'at length.'
[Footnote 20: This hardly seems a necessary theory. See the Note on
'Orchesographie,' where the 'swinging' movement is fully accounted
for.]
The _Canary_ (or Canaries) was in 6/8 time, and was a lively dance.
[Stainer and Barrett's Dict. gives one by Delaborde in 4/4 time.]
There are many examples by Lully and other Frenchmen of the 17th
century. One of Lully's, in Lajarte's 'Airs a Danser,' dates 1666.
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