Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PETRONELLA, n. The name of a Scottish country dance, said to have been introduced in 1820 by Nathaniel Gow, the well-known Scottish fiddler, and still performed.Sc. 1920 Glasgow Herald (28 Dec.) 5:
The dances which our parents tripped — the petronellas, the valetas, the quadrilles, the Circassion circles.Sc. 1964 J. & T. Flett Trad. Dancing 262:
The dance Petronella seems to have enjoyed remarkable popularity throughout the last three-quarters of the nineteenth century, for it appears in every ballroom guide published in Scotland from 1823.