Francis Peacock

Last updated

Francis Peacock
Born 1723
Died 26 June 1807(1807-06-26) (aged 83–84)
Aberdeen, Scotland
Occupation dance instructor, musician
Notable workSketches Relative to the History and Theory, but More Especially to the Practice of Dancing

Francis Peacock (1723 – 26 June 1807) was a Scottish dance teacher and musician. He is considered the "Father of Scottish country dancing." [1]

Scotland Country in Europe, part of the United Kingdom

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Sharing a border with England to the southeast, Scotland is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, by the North Sea to the northeast and by the Irish Sea to the south. In addition to the mainland, situated on the northern third of the island of Great Britain, Scotland has over 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

Scottish country dance

Scottish country dance (SCD) is the distinctively Scottish form of country dance, itself a form of social dance involving groups of couples of dancers tracing progressive patterns. A dance consists of a sequence of figures. These dances are set to musical forms which come from the Gaelic tradition of Highland Scotland, as do the steps used in performing the dances. Traditionally a figure corresponds to an eight bar phrase of music.

Contents

Biography

Peacock was possibly born in York. He studied dancing under the celebrated George Desnoyer, who was later the dancing master at the court of King George III. [2]

York Historic city in the north of England

York is a historic walled city in North Yorkshire, England. At the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss, it is the historic county town of the historic county of Yorkshire. York Minster and a variety of cultural and sporting activities make it a popular tourist destination.

George III of the United Kingdom King of Great Britain and Ireland

George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death in 1820. He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg ("Hanover") in the Holy Roman Empire before becoming King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, but unlike his two predecessors, he was born in Great Britain, spoke English as his first language, and never visited Hanover.

In 1742, citizens of Aberdeen appealed to the town council "that the town was at great loss for want of a right dancing master to educate their children." A few years later the town hired James Stuart of Montrose, Angus as the dancing master (an early term for dance teacher) but he was apparently found lacking; in 1746 the council advertised again for "a person of sober, discreet and moral character."

Aberdeen City and council area in Scotland

Aberdeen is a city in northeast Scotland. It is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 37th most populous built-up area, with an official population estimate of 196,670 for the city of Aberdeen and 228,800 for the local council area.

Montrose, Angus coastal resort town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland

Montrose is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. It is situated 38 miles north of Dundee between the mouths of the North and South Esk rivers. It is the northernmost coastal town in Angus and developed at a natural harbour that traded in skins, hides and cured salmon in medieval times.

John Dawney, dancing master of Edinburgh, recommended Francis Peacock, also living in Edinburgh. [3] On 14 February 1747, the town council appointed the 23-year-old Peacock as official and only dancing master of Aberdeen. [4] He was paid seven shillings sterling per student per month, together with some money to organise the music. [5]

Edinburgh Capital city in Scotland

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian, it is located in Lothian on the Firth of Forth's southern shore.

In Aberdeen, Peacock established the first school of dance as well as the Aberdeen Musical Society. The society was founded with the physician John Gregory, organist Andrew Tait, and music copyist David Young. For almost 60 years, Peacock acted as a director and occasional violinist for the society, with profits from private concerts going to charity. [2]

John Gregory (moralist) (1724-1773), Professor of medicine at Edinburgh

John Gregory, a.k.a. John Gregorie, was an eighteenth-century Scottish Enlightenment physician, medical writer and moralist.

Peacock's teaching career in Aberdeen lasted five decades. Many of his students included the Scottish nobility; Peacock firmly believed that dancing was a vital activity for young people to learn grace and manners. [6] He writes,

"I may here observe, that there cannot be a greater proof of the utility of Dancing, than its being so universally adopted, as a material circumstance in the education of the youth of both sexes, in every civilised country. Its tendency to form their manners, and to render them agreeable, as well in public as in private; the graceful and elegant ease which it gives to the generality of those who practice it with attention, are apparent to everyone of true discernment."

He is particularly known for his eight-volume treatise on dance, Sketches Relative to the History and Theory, but More Especially to the Practice of Dancing (1805). This was one of the early works on the history of dance. [4] It was dedicated to Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon. He used the traditional Gaelic names for the dances but also employed the classical French ballet terms as well. [7]

He also painted portrait miniatures and composed music, including an anthem played during the coronation of George III in 1761. He played the violin with the Aberdeen Musical Society, which he co-founded with David Young, Andrew Tait and John Gregory. [4] He published Fifty Favourite Airs for the Violin (1762).

Personal life

On 15 February 1748, Peacock married Ellen Forbes (died 1804) at St Nicholas's Church in Aberdeen. They had five children: Elizabeth, Jannet, John, George, and Thomas. [2]

Legacy

Peacock was also a philanthropist; the proceeds of his 1805 Sketches, amounting to £1,000, were donated to the Aberdeen Lunatic Asylum (now Royal Cornhill Hospital). [8] He also left a considerable sum of money to charity in his will. [9]

A commemorative plaque is located at his former dance school on Castle Street in Central Aberdeen. The street of Peacock's Close in eastern Aberdeen gets its name from him. [1]

Related Research Articles

Fraserburgh Town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Fraserburgh is a Parish town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Aberdeen, and 17 miles (27 km) north of Peterhead. It is the biggest shellfish port in Scotland and one of the largest in Europe, landing over 5,450 tonnes in 2016. Fraserburgh is also a major port for white and pelagic fish.

Baron Manners

Baron Manners, of Foston in the County of Lincoln, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1807 for the lawyer and politician Sir Thomas Manners-Sutton. He served as Solicitor-General from 1802 to 1805 and as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1807 to 1827. Manners-Sutton was the fifth son of Lord George Manners-Sutton, third son of John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland. His elder brother Charles Manners-Sutton was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1805 to 1828 and the father of Charles Manners-Sutton, 1st Viscount Canterbury, Speaker of the House of Commons from 1817 to 1834. The first Baron's great-grandson, the fourth Baron, assumed the surname of Manners only. As of 2010 the title is held by the latter's grandson, the sixth Baron, who succeeded his father in 2008. As a descendant of the third Duke of Rutland he is also in remainder to this peerage and its subsidiary titles.

David Alan Stevenson FRSE MIME FRSSA MICE was a lighthouse engineer who built twenty six lighthouses in and around Scotland.

William Grant (Master of the Rolls) British lawyer, Member of Parliament and Master of the Rolls

Sir William Grant was a British lawyer, Member of Parliament from 1790–1812 and Master of the Rolls from 1801–1817.

Thomas S. Tait British architect

Thomas Smith Tait (1882–1954) was a prominent Scottish modernist architect. He designed a number of buildings around the world in Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles, notably St. Andrew's House on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, and the pylons for Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Royal Cornhill Hospital Hospital in Scotland

Royal Cornhill Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Westburn Road, Aberdeen, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Grampian.

James Oswald (1710–1769) was a Scottish composer, arranger, cellist, and music publisher, who was appointed as Chamber Composer for King George III but also wrote and published many Scottish folk tunes.

Thomas Manners-Sutton, 1st Baron Manners British lawyer and politician who served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1807 to 1827

Thomas Manners-Sutton, 1st Baron Manners, was a British lawyer and politician who served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1807 to 1827.

Irish Music Collecting is an area of musicology concerned with preserving the large body of traditional Irish music.

James Gregory (physician) Scottish physician and classicist

James Gregory FRSE FRCPE was a Scottish physician and classicist.

John Parry (Bardd Alaw) Welsh harpist and composer

John Parry, commonly known by his bardic name Bardd Alaw, was a Welsh harpist and composer.

John Gunn (c.1765–c.1824) was a Scottish cellist, writer on music, and professor.

James Peller Malcolm (1767–1815) was an American-English topographer and engraver.

The Right Rev Dr James Walker DD FRSE was an Episcopalian bishop who served as the Bishop of Edinburgh (1830–1841) and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church (1837–1841).

Events from the year 1808 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1807 in Scotland.

Earl of Erroll (reel)

The Earl of Erroll is a Scottish highland dance sometimes danced today at Highland games around the world, as part of Scottish National dances repertoire. It is danced to two slow reels, Earl of Erroll and the 23rd Countess of Erroll.

Events from the year 1723 in Scotland.

References

  1. 1 2 "Commemorative Plaques Record Details". City of Aberdeen. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Alburger, Mary Anne. "Peacock, Francis (1723/4–1807)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press.
  3. ↑ Russell, Colin (2014). Who Made the Scottish Enlightenment?. p. 129.
  4. 1 2 3 McKee Stapleton, Anne (2014). Pointed Encounters: Dance in Post-Culloden Scottish Literature. Rodopi.
  5. ↑ "The dancing-master of Aberdeen". 2 January 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Francis Peacock". University of Aberdeen . Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  7. ↑ Elizabeth Aldrich; Sandra Noll Hammond; Armand Russell (2000). The Extraordinary Dance Book T B. 1826: An Anonymous Manuscript in Facsimile. Pendragon Press. p. 8.
  8. ↑ Johnson, James (1853). The Scots Musical Museum. W. Blackwood and Sons. p. 126.
  9. ↑ Baptie, David (1894). Musical Scotland. J. and R. Parlane. p. 148.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.