![Gray 12 Frank Oatland's Waltz & The RL Spencer](https://eatmt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/gray-12-frank-oatlands-waltz-the-rl-spencer.jpg)
Frank Oatland’s Waltz: The dance given with this tune is a conventional longways duple minor, not the couple dance that might be expected by the title. The waltz as a couple dance was still bit of a novelty at this date and regarded by some with suspicion, as it provided a courting couple with plenty of close physical contact. Frank Oatland was the name of a country rustic in Thomas Morton’s play “A Cure for the Heartache†(1797) and it may be that the title of this dance & tune is meant to imply a conservative approach to a new fashion. Plays of the period often featured dances and many of these tunes have made their way into the present folk scene – Morton also wrote the play “Speed the Ploughâ€.
![Frank Oatland's Waltz in F](https://eatmt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/frank-oatlands-waltz-in-f.jpg)
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