In _Joan Saunderson or the Cushion Dance_ as described by Playford,[29] a cushion and a drinking-horn were brought in by two dancers to the sound of a fiddle. The cushion-bearer locked the door and pocketed the key, and danced round the room alone. Then he exchanged words with the fiddler as to the need of finding a maid and pressing her into the dance. The name Joan Saunderson being proposed, the cushion-bearer placed the cushion before the woman of his choice, and knelt upon it. She did the same, and drank from the horn. They kissed and danced together. The same ceremony was then gone through by the girl, who, when the name John Saunderson was proposed, approached the man of her choice bearing the cushion, the first dancer accompanying her. The ceremony was repeated again and again, alternately by man and woman, and as each dancer chose a partner, the number of those following the cushion-bearer increased. Finally the whole assembled company were drawn into the ring. [29] Playford, _The Dauncing Master_, 1686, p. 206. A scene in _Joan Saunderson_ is said to be represented in a Dutch engraving of the year 1624 (1876, p. 254). _Joan Saunderson_ is still danced in different parts of the country under the same or some similar name. In Derbyshire it is known as the _Cushion Dance_, and those who are drawn into the ring are addressed as John Sanders and Jane Sanders. In the Lowlands the dance is known as _Babbity Bowster_, bowster standing for bolster; in the north it is the _Whishin Dance_, whishin standing for cushion (1894, I, pp. 9, 87). The Cushion Dance was the last dance that was danced at a wedding,[30] and at Northampton it came at the conclusion of the May-Day festival (1876, p. 253). [30] Murray's Dictionary: _Cushion Dance_. In the Cotillon of the ballroom, the ring finally breaks up and the company dances in couples; the Cushion Dance leads up to the withdrawal of the married pair, and concludes with a romp. A later edition of _The Dauncing Master_ (1698, p. 7), perhaps with a view to forestalling this, adds a sequel to the dance, according to which the game, after it had been wound, was unwound, that is, each dancer in turn bade farewell to his partner, and after doing so left the room. The points of likeness between the Cotillon and the Cushion Dance are such as to favour the belief that they are connected. The free choice of partners, the presence of the cushion, the drawing in of the whole assembled company, and the fact that the dance terminates the ball, are peculiar to them both. The Cushion Dance being the older sport, preserves the association with weddings and with the May-Day festival, which at one time was the occasion for mating and marriage.