Padre Mariana, who believed in its Spanish origin, says that its
invention was one of the disgraces of the nation, and other authors
attribute its invention directly to the devil.
invention was one of the disgraces of the nation, and other authors
attribute its invention directly to the devil.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
=4. 4. 164 Pimlico. = See note 3. 3. 170.
=4. 4. 164 daunce the Saraband. = The origin of the saraband is in
doubt, being variously attributed to Spain and to the Moors. It
is found in Europe at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and
its immoral character is constantly referred to. Grove (_Dict. of
Music_ 3. 226) quotes from chapter 12, 'Del baile y cantar llamado
Zarabanda,' of the _Tratado contra los Juegos Publicos_ ('Treatise
against Public Amusements') of Mariana (1536-1623): 'Entre las otras
invenciones ha salido estos anos un baile y cantar tan lacivo en las
palabras, tan feo en las meneos, que basta para pegar fuego aun a las
personas muy honestas' ('amongst other inventions there has appeared
during late years a dance and song, so lascivious in its words, so
ugly in its movements, that it is enough to inflame even very modest
people'). 'This reputation was not confined to Spain, for Marini in
his poem "L'Adone" (1623) says:
Chiama questo suo gioco empio e profano
Saravanda, e Ciaccona, il nuova Ispano.
Padre Mariana, who believed in its Spanish origin, says that its
invention was one of the disgraces of the nation, and other authors
attribute its invention directly to the devil. The dance was attacked
by Cervantes and Guevara, and defended by Lope de Vega, but it seems
to have been so bad that at the end of the reign of Philip II. it was
for a time suppressed. It was soon, however, revived in a purer form
and was introduced at the French court in 1588' (Grove 3. 226-7).
In England the saraband was soon transformed into an ordinary
country-dance. Two examples are to be found in the first edition of
Playford's _Dancing Master_, and Sir John Hawkins (_Hist. of the
Science and Practice of Music_, 1776) speaks of it several times.
'Within the memory of persons now living,' he says, a Saraband
danced by a Moor was constantly a part of the entertainment at a
puppet-show' (4. 388). In another place (2. 135), in speaking of the
use of castanets at a puppet-show, he says: 'That particular dance
called the Saraband is supposed to require as a thing of necessity,
the music, if it may be called so, of this artless instrument. '
In the _Staple of News_, _Wks. _ 5. 256, Jonson speaks of 'a light
air! the bawdy Saraband!
