there is similarity with the Dance Hall act in Ireland. I dont know the precise history, but up until the 1920's or so people used to meet in houses and have set dances in the kitchen and those attending would pay a bit for the food and drink etc. Of course the church and government saw this as a loss of income and control. So the Dance Hall act was passed and all dances had to be held in a hall (of course the only halls were church halls) I think the result was less and less people danced and Irish set dancing declined in a big way, its only relatively recently that its made a comeback. Im not sure but that may be one of the reasons for the dances at the crossroads (as well as the fact that people would meet halfway between two towns). Petr.