[Callers] Re: New Names for Ladies' Chains

I believe that the term "Arky" entered the square dance vocabulary circa 1950 from a variant of the "Texas Star" routine called "Arkansas Star". Here's a version of the calls (minus explanatory comments) as given in the June 1959 issue of _Sets In Order_: [A version, also appeared in _Square Dancing for Beginners_ by Bob Osgood and Jack Hoheisal (1949), but I can't lay hands on my copy right now.] Note that in the star promenade, two of the pairs are in the "normal" ("gents" on the left; "ladies" on the right) arrangement, and two are in a "(half-)sashayed" arrangement ("ladies" on the left; "gents" on the right). I believe it is from this usage that the term "Arky" was generalized to encompass all sorts of arrangements that involved a mix of "normal" and "sashayed" pairs, and also arrangements that included pairs with two nominal gents (or as we might now say, larks) together and/or two nominal ladies/robins together. I'm not deeply familiar with current MWSD terminology (so I'll accept correction from anyone who is), but I believe they would not technically consider the term "Arky" to include arrangement where _all_ the couples are "(half-) sashayed". Of course, contra and trad square dancers and callers don't necessarily feel obligated to use terminolgy borrowed from MWSD in the precise way that MWSD folk would use it. (And conversely, MWSDers might use some "traditional" terms in ways that "traditional" dancers would find surprising.) --Jim <snip>