An Gearasdan
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
AN GEARASDAN (J8x32) 3C (4C set) John Drewry Summer Collection 11- 8 1s ½ turn RH moving down to 2nd place, set, cross LH, cast round 4th corner into middle to face 1st corner
9-16 1s dance RSh reels of 3 across (1L with 2s and 1M with 3s) and end facing 1st corners
17-24 1s dance ½ diagonal reel of 4 with 1st corners, pass RSh and dance ½ reel with 2nd corners to end in 2nd place on opposite side
25-32 1s dance down below 3s, cast up to 2nd place, 3s+1s+2s dance ½ Grand Chain (2s in 3rd place, cross to start)
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams
Dance Instruction Videos
An Gearasdan - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
"An Gearasdan" in Gaelic means "The Garrison"; it is also the Gaelic name for Fort William, the town at the head of Loch Linnhe, the long sea loch at the southwest end of the Great Glen. Fort William, the second largest settlement in the highlands of Scotland after the city of Inverness, was originally established by Oliver Cromwell as a garrison for the English occupying army."An Gearasdan" should be pronounced as "~n Ker~sst~n" in English with stress on the first syllable and with the following conventions:
"~" represents the very short, indeterminate, vowel sound; and
"ss" represents the sibilant form of "s" as in "less" rather than the "z" sound in English plurals.
See Gaelic Dance Names for more information on Gaelic spelling and pronunciation.
An Gearasdan - Fort William
Distant view from Cruim Leacainn, showing Fort William between the mountains and looking along Loch Linnhe toward the Sound of Mull with the Isle of Mull beyond
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Fort William Scotland article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Richard Webb under this Creative Commons Licence 2.0.
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