How to doff your hat

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Nowadays we often talk about how ignorant people are about how do to fairly basic things. So I laughed when I saw guidance recently about how to doff your hat, in an exhibition about 17th century dance. I took a photo of the instructions – unfortunately I can’t find it now and I’m really cross about it! It came from the well-known book ‘The Dancing Master’ by John Playford, published in 1651. It was a book of country dances with accompanying music. It shows the steps and explains the moves of the dancers, and was designed for teachers. It was very popular and 18 editions were published between 1651 and 1728, and it is still used today for dances in historic films, for example, as well as for ceilidh dances. The section that amused me explains in precise detail how a gentleman should take off and replace his hat at the start of a dance. First raise his arm, with the elbow bent, until his upper arm is at shoulder height. Bring his hand round in front of his head, then with his thumb touching his forehead, take the brim of his hat between thumb and forefinger. Remove the hat, bow, straighten up and replace hat. So now you know. Sorry I can’t find the illustration. This is an image of the frontispiece of the book, which was hardback of course. All rights reserved. © Text copyright Fleur 2024.