Scottish Country Dances by Peter Foster

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Last modified 24 February 2020

Here are some of my Scottish Country dances. Feel free to try them out. Comments are welcome - email pfoster@pcug.org.au.

The figures are described according to their bar counts, which is the usual notation for Scottish Country dances.

A very straighforward 3 couple dance

The double triangles is doubled. Everyone is setting for 14 bars, so it may feel eternal

This is a 3 couple dance in a 4 couple set. However, one person in the inactive couple acts as a ghost, that is, they are also involved in the dance. When the top 3 coiples are dancing, the ghost is the bottom man. When the bottom 3 couples are dancing, the ghost is the top woman.

This dance (and gimmick) was inspired by The Old Spedling Castle's Ghost's Dance by Jim Rae.

Actions for the 3 couple dance

Actions for the ghost

In 9-16, the hands across must be properly phrased (of course they should be anyway, but in this dance it is required). For example, after 2 bars both the hands across should be halfway round, allowing the ghost to switch.

In 17-24, the reel must not be rushed. After the first half reel the working couple need to be side by side in the middle of the set, facing the womens line. This way the ghost can easily switch from following one person to the other person

The dance is intended for multiple sets so that every set is adjacent to at least one other set. This allows bars 9-12 to be modified so that 1st woman and 3rd man dance right hands across with 1st man and 3rd woman from the adjacent set (and thereafter return to continue dancing in their own sets). This right hands across with dancers from the adjacent set represents "Hands Across the Sea".

In 17-24, the 2s and 3s are essentially just doing a set and change, set and change, although having the 1s involved tends to obscure that fact. As for the hand to use, it is pretty straightforward: the 2s are at the ends of the line of 4, so they have a spare hand. That spare hand is the one they use for the cross up/down with the 3s.

The first half is from Ciamar a Tha (How Are You) by Roy Goldring. In that dance, the setting and crossing was not in a musical 8 bar phrase. This minor flaw was probably why the composer never published the dance. It was published posthumously, and this alternative second half fixes that flaw.

The transition between inside and outside in bars 16/17 is what makes or breaks the dance. To make it work, the dancers need to keep a a lookout for the person they did the left hand turn with. In the transition, they need to pass this person by the right shoulder (more or less sliding past face to face).

Original version (Jan 1990)

This version, with a mixture of men and women in the stars, allows everyone to experience the transition both ways (inside to outside and outside to inside). It also finishes with the principal figure, rather than finishing with a solo. However, having separate men's and women's stars makes the dance easier to teach and easier to do. It also looks better as a display dance.

Finish in the order 3142

This dance was first performed at David Wanless' birthday party in October 1990. During the walk through, people kept turning around after each figure, which made the flow of the dance a bit difficult. David named the dance when I kept screaming to the dancers "Don't turn around! Whatever you do, don't turn around!".

Dance a square and finish by progressing (with partner) into a new square. You will keep your partner, but dance in squares all over the hall.

To set it up have each square join hands in a ring, then line up the squares in rows and columns. Make sure they're straight, with no gaps. The minimum requirement is 4 squares, arranged in a 2x2 grid. It is preferable to avoid having a row with only one square. For example, if there are ten squares then arrange them in rows of 3+3+2+2 rather than 3+3+3+1. Spare couples can also be accommodated: they just stand around the edge somewhere and join in at bars 23-24

Note that each time through the dance, couples will change their number, their square, or both. Should not be confusing at all.

This is how the progression works:

• Couple 1 chooses a side couple and then become a side couple
• A side couple stays a side couple, progressing along that row of squares (and back again) until they are selected
• When selected, they become a number 1 couple in the next row down. They then select a couple and again become a side couple
• This continues until they reach the bottom row. When a side couple in the bottom row is selected, they become couple 3 in that square
• Couple 3 remain a couple 3, progressing up one row at a time, until they reach the top row. They then become couple 1 in that square

So couples meander down and across the room, until they reach the bottom. Then they quickly progress up the room again

The Australian Ladies is a great dance, but I've never been all that happy with the first half: it's a bit "choppy" and it doesn't flow very well into the Australian Ladies figure (particularly for the first woman). So I've come up with a different first half, to fix these problems (at least, they are problems in my mind).

This dance was originally called "The Sheilas" (sheila is Australian slang for a young woman, although the term is generally only used by young men).

This is a rather unusual dance where people find themselves on the "wrong" side. This is supposed to happen, so don't panic

After doing the dance once, all 6 people finish on the other side. The same working couple does it again, from second place (as usual). Yes, some people will be on the “wrong” side, but don't panic, that is supposed to happen. After doing it the second time, drop to the bottom as usual as the new couple starts. Note that, if you are an inactive couple and you think you are on the wrong side, do NOT correct this! After 8 times through, everyone will finish on their correct side.

After doing the dance for the second time, don't forget to drop to the bottom. This needs to be done efficiently, as the bottom "man" is needed for the start of the dance.

The sheepskin reel is done by the 3 people who are on the mens side. Due to the swapping sides feature, this can be any mix of men and women. It works out that everyone does the sheepskin reel 3 times, once from each position (leading it, the middle person, the last person)

Sheepskin Reel The three "men" weave among the 3 "women" like an extended figure 8 (I'll use men and women for ease of description, although it is done with any mix of men and women). Man 1 leads men 2 and 3 up and around behind the first woman, in front of the second, behind and around the third woman. Except when the trailing man (man 3) reaches the middle woman he goes all the way around her and leads the men back the other way. When the new trailing man (man 2) reaches the middle woman he now goes around her and leads the men down again. This time, after going behind the 3rd woman, he leads the men up on the mens side, finishing in order 231

In 17-24, the diagonal changes are actually easy, as the only person you ever cross with is your partner. So just look for your partner and that is the appropriate diagonal.

The sheepskin reel is from The Viking's Sheepskin by Rod Downey. The sheepskin reel figure itself is adapted from the sheepskin hey from the English Country Dance Picking Of Sticks (a sheepskin reel is two thirds of a sheepskin hey)