How it started

Once upon a time, there was a Monday night contra dance in the center of Amherst.  Its history is another story, but one of its salient features was a sit-in band–cheerful, friendly, engaging, fun, and a fine way for musicians to play out.  Then it was decreed by the new organizers that there would be no more sitting in, so what were the musicians to do?  Sit home and sulk?  Of course not.  So began the Monday night session, not in Amherst, but a few miles north in the village of Montague Center.

See David’s comment under the DAK tab for a more detailed version and a few conversational gambits.

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6 October 2025

No written record; incomplete list from faulty memory.

Slide from Dingle
Farewell to Whiskey
Belle Blanche
The Wren
Wiinderslide
William Blake's Dead
March of St. Timothy
Sarah's Jig
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29 September 2025

Maison de Glace (D)
Galen's Arrival (G)
The Volunteer (G)
The Wren (em)
Farewell to Whiskey (G)
Slide from Dingle (am)
Mairi's Wedding (G)
Highland Laddie (G)
Cliffs of Moher (am)
Far from Home (G)
Swinging on a Gate (G)
William Blake's Dead
Sarah's Jig (D)
Silver Spear (D)
Le Petit Train du Bois (D)
March of St. Timothy (G)
Twin Sisters (D)
Old French (D)
Father Kelly's (G)
Belle Blanche (D)
Haapavesi (D)
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15 September 2025

Coffee (am)
Red Prairie Dawn (A)
Bouchard's (D)
On the Danforth (A)
Calliope House (E)
Galway Bells (em)
Round the Horn (G)
Todd Hill (A)
The Wren (em)
Teardrop Waltz (D)
Julia Delaney (dm)
Dancing Bear (em)
Indian Point (em)
Evit Gabriel (em)
Reel du Goglu (D)
Golden Ticket (G)
Maison de Glace (D)
Reel de Montreal (G/D)
Fleur de Mandragore (A)
Crested Hen (bm)
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1 September 2025

Jamie Allen (G)
Lay Dee at Dee (D)
Sailor's Wife (dm)
Out on the Ocean (G)
Highland Laddie (G)
Mairi's Wedding (G)
Indian Point (em)
Farewell to Whiskey (G)
Doctor Risk (G)
Jacky Tar (em) / Chief O'Neill's Favorite
Elk River Blues
Gravel Walk (am)
Homage á Edmund Parizeau (A)
The Hen (D)
Haapavesi (D)
Belle Blanche (D)
Winderslide (D)
Through the Gates (D)
Hewlett (D)
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18 August 2025

Cordial Jig (D)
Scotty O'Neil (D)
Sarah's Jig (D)
Weedwalker (D)
The Wren (em)
Tracy's Turn (A)
Farewell to Whiskey (G)
Julia Delaney (dm)
Star Above the Garter (G)
Mairi's Wedding (G)
Trip to Durrow (D)
Winderslide (D)
Shirley's Reel (D)
Hughie Shorty's (G0
Chestnut Shuffle
Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine (D)
Banks & Braes of Bonnie Doon (A) / Meeting of the Waters (A)
Hut on Staffin Island (D)
Stamey Creek (A)
Utpick (G)
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4 August 2025

Smash the Windows (D)
Reel de Montreal (G/D)
La Belle Gaspésie (A)
Farewell to Whiskey (G)
Hewlett (D)
Flying Home to Shelley (G)
Salvation (A)
Lucky Trapper (G)
Through the Gates (D)
MacArthur Road (E)
Barrowburn (D)
Silver Spear (D)
Shirley's (A)
Spootiskerry (G)
Rainy Night in Montague (D modal)/The Gale
Montague Reel (D)
Porthole of the Kelp (dm)
Pressley Manor (D)
Planxty Fanny Power (G)


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21 July 2025

Sarah's Jig (G)
Todd Hill (A)
Leaning Linden (G)
Flying Home to Shelley (G)
Galen's Arrival (G)
Old Grey Cat (em)
Smash the Windows
Joys of Québec (A)
Josefins Dopvals (G)
Flickorna Swensson (G)
Coleman's March (D)
Jamie Allen (G)
Belle Blanch (D)
Dancing Bear (em) / Wizard's Walk
Chestnut Shuffle (D)
Elk River Blues (G)
Midnight on the Water (D)
Westphalia Waltz (G)
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7 July 2025

Plenty Fanny Power (G)
Carol and Cindy (G)
Korolenko (G)
Booth Shot Lincoln (A)
Pete's March (D)
Dry and Dusty (D)
Flowers of Edinburgh (G)
Chestnut Shuffle (D)
Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon / Meeting of the Waters (A)
Garfield's March (G)
Burchard's (D)
Scotch Hornpipe (D)
Green Apple Quickstep (G)
Corie (D)
Together (A)
Chief O'Neil's Favorite (D)
Springfield (D)
Shepherd's Wife (D)
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30 June 2025

Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine (D)
Mason's Apron (A)
Portland Fancy, aka Sugar Jig (G)
Polka Galane (?) (D)
Springfield (D)
Garfield's March
Father Kelly's (G)
3-part polka (D) (John Brosnan's?)
Some jig in D
Green Mountain Petronella
Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part (G)
Independence Trail (G)
Galen's Arrival (G)
Winnebago
Weedwalker (D)
Swinging on a Gate (G)
The Riddle (am/D)
Henry King's Reel
??? (am)
White Cockerel (A)
Halfway Pond (G)
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16 June 2025

The Volunteer (G)
1814 (G)
The Hen (D)
Teardrop Waltz (D)
Scotch Hornpipe (D)
Drowsy Maggie (em)
Le Reel du Mois de Juillet (?) (em)
Morrison's Jig (em)
Cooley's (em)
Rock the Cradle, Joe (D)
Reconciliation (A)
Stool of Repentance (A)
Master of the Dance (D)
Carraroe (D)
Pressley Manor (D)

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