Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

The Irish Rover

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

THE IRISH ROVER (R8x32) 3C (4C set) James B. Cosh 22 SCDs

1- 8 1s dance down below 3s and cast up to 2nd place own sides, 1L dances RH across with 2s while 1M dances RH across with 3s
9-16 1s dance ½ diagonal reel of 4 with 1st corners, ½ reel with 2nd corners and ½ turn LH in centre to face 1st corners
17-24 1s dance reels of 3 across giving LSh to 1st corners ending in 2nd place own sides. (3)1(2)
25-32 1s dance diagonal R&L (1M crossing down and 1L crossing up to start) 213

(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)


The Irish Rover
James B. Cosh 22 Scottish Country Dances (and 2 more)
Reel 8 x 32 bars 3 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Longwise Set

  1-2   Taking nearer hands, 1s lead down below 3s;

  3-4   1s cast up on own sides to 2nd place;

  5-8   2s1L 1M3s right hands across;

  9-12 1s half diagonal reel of 4 with first corners;

13-16 1s half diagonal reel of 4 with second corners, finishing by taking left hands;

17-24 1s turn about ¾ by the left into reels of 3 across, 1L with 2s, 1M with 3s, starting with left shoulder to first corner positions and finishing 1s in 2nd place on own sides, 3s at the top on opposite sides, 2s at the bottom on opposite sides;

25-28 3L1s2M half diagonal rights and lefts;

29-32 3M1s2L half diagonal rights and lefts, finishing 2s1s3s.

(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)

Dance Notes

12-13 In the original instructions, 1s pass left shoulders but the popular, right shoulder, form is quite commonly found (see Mairi's Wedding Reels for the deviser's view).

16-17 1s take left hands as they approach to finish the half diagonal reel of 4 and turn by the left appropriately to enter the reels of 3.

23-24 1s must hold back to finish their reels of 3 in 2nd place on own sides.


Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams


Dance Instruction Videos

The Irish Rover - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

This is one of the most popular Scottish country dances. It has been in the top twenty most frequent dances appearing on dance programmes, for decades.

The title of this dance, The Irish Rover, is also shared with the The Irish Rover - Song written by that most prolific author, "Anonymous", or maybe songwriter/arranger J. M. Crofts.

This is an Irish folk song about a magnificent, though improbable, sailing ship that reaches an unfortunate end.

On the fourth of July eighteen hundred and six
We set sail from the sweet cove of Cork
We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks
For the grand city hall in New York
'Twas a wonderful craft, she was rigged fore-and-aft
And oh, how the wild winds drove her.
She'd got several blasts, she'd twenty-seven masts
And we called her the Irish Rover.

This song describes a gigantic ship with "twenty-three masts" (versions by others claim twenty-seven), a colourful crew and varied types of cargo in enormous amounts. The verses grow successively more extravagant about the wonders of the great ship. The seven-year voyage culminates in a disastrous end, after the ship suffers a measles outbreak, killing all but the narrator and the captain's dog.

The ship then strikes a rock, turning "nine times around" and sinking. The captain's dog drowns in the incident, leaving the narrator as the only survivor, "the last of the Irish Rover," with no one else alive to contradict the tale.

The Irish Rover Song - Information Video

The Irish Rover - The Bounty in Bangor Bay
The "Bounty" in Bangor Bay, Northern Ireland


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Text from this original The Irish Rover article on Wikipedia.
Text from this original The Irish Rover article on Wikisource.
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