New England Chestnuts

A group of New England contra dancers, the "New England Chestnuts," perform at the berth of the USS Constitution in Boston harbor. Among the dances in their program is "Hull's Victory," named for Isaac Hull, the commander of the Constitution in her victory over the British warship Guerriere in the opening months of the War of 1812. (This is the battle during which the ship earned the nickname "Old Ironsides.")
The caller is Walter Lenk. Musicians are "O'Connor's Mob": Debby Knight, piano; Jack O'Connor, mandolin and tenor banjo; Dave Langford, fiddle. Recorded October 18, 1986.
Dancers are:
• Men: Don Lubin, Doug Reiner, Ernie Spence, Jeff Stone, John Rowen, Phil Zimmerman, Richard Crew, Unknown Man 2 (white shoes)
• Women: Dianne Plantamura, Elgie Ginsburg, Katy Ford, Laurie Olshuff, Lynn Kimball, Naomi Luft, Renee Bucklin, Ruth Wagner, Michelle Benoit
0:10 museum sign
0:22 Lady Walpole's reel
2:55 Chestnuts medley - Petronella
3:57 Chestnuts medley - Chorus Jig
5:02 Chestnuts medley - Hull's Victory
6:02 Chestnuts medley - Lady of the Lake
7:45 Couple Dance - Road to the Isles
8:27 Contra - Aw Shucks (by Carol Kopp) into
10:02 Contra - Heel and Toe
11:51 Square - Just Because
18:15 Couple dance - Waltz
19:37 Contra - Dancing Sailors (by Ed Shaw)
22:46 Contra - Sacket's Harbor into
25:10 Contra - British Sorrow
26:42 Contra - Hull's Victory
29:53 Contra - Money Musk
32:16 Contra - Rory O'More
36:59 Square - Crooked Stovepipe
39:29 Square - Deer Park Lancers
42:46 Chestnuts Medley round 2
46:57 The Roberts - couple dance

[@davidmillstone5669]

Thanks, Mark, for helping fill out the cast of characters.

[@MarkWard-i3k]

The “Unknown man” with the white shoes is Peter Marston. He was the captain in the educational TV series “The Voyage of the Mimi”. His boat, the Mimi, was sometimes docked adjacent to Old Ironsides. David Bearg is another un-named dancer.