In English - as opposed to Irish or Scottish - country dancing, the word "reel" came to mean two different things, a lively tune in 4/4 (reel time) or the dance figure also known as a straight hey (as in reel of three). Hardly surprising when you consider how ECD absorbed dance moves, traditions and terminology from different sources over the course of time. Also, some tunes can be quite flexible as regards speed, with a fast reel being slowed down to a polka for example. The sleeve notes on Oyster Band's 20 Golden Tie-Slackeners mention "A border march and a Northumbrian reel, played here as schottisches (1-2-3-hop) and applied furthermore to a straight hopstep dance (Oh yes you can!)"

Anyway, I checked my dance database for dances titled [Whatever] Reel, and found:
- None in Dancing Master (Playford & Co.),
- Six from the 1700s,
- 150, mainly American contras, from 20th-century sources.
Of the C18 ones, half had Scottish-sounding titles, and five had tunes in reel time, the exception being Wright's "Border Reel" c.1740, in 6/8.

Make of it what you will.