An Tri Daraich
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
An Tri Daraich 128S+128R bar Medley for 4 Couples Rod Downey The Cane Toad CollectionA four couple medley - 128 bars of strathspey + 128 bars of reel.
Third and fourth couples begin on opposite sides.
STRATHSPEY
1-2 First couple, with nearer hands joined, dance down the middle
while
fourth couple, with nearer hands joined, dance up the middle. First and fourth couples finish facing partner - first man and fourth woman and first woman and fourth man with nearer hands joined.
Second couple move up and third couple move down.
3-4 First and fourth couples set.
5-8 First and fourth couples dance four hands round to the left. At the end of bar 7 all release hands and on bar 8 all turn right about on the spot to finish back to back in the middle with nearer hands joined with partner first couple facing second man and fourth couple facing third man.
9-14 First and fourth couples dance 'hello and goodbye' setting 'in tandem' with second and third couples.
9-10 First couple, with nearer hands joined, set to second man
while
fourth couple, with nearer hands joined, set to third man.
On bar 10, first couple release hands and dance out to the men's side while fourth couple release hands and dance out to the women's side.
11-12 First and fourth couples, with nearer hands joined with partner, set to each other across the set. On bar 12, first couple release hands and dance in to face third woman while fourth couple release hands and dance in to face second woman. First and fourth couples finish back to back in the middle.
13-14 First couple, with nearer hands joined, set to third woman
while
fourth couple, with nearer hands joined, set to second woman. On bar 14, first couple release hands and dance down to finish between third couple facing up while fourth couple release hands and dance up to finish between second couple facing down.
15-16 Fourth couple, with nearer hands joined, dance down the middle, release hands and turn right about to finish facing up
while
first couple, with nearer hands joined, dance up the middle, release hands and turn right about to finish facing down.
Fourth and first couples finish back to back in the middle. On bar 16, second couple dance into the middle on the left foot to finish facing down while third couple dance into the middle on the left foot to finish facing
up.
17-24 Second, fourth, first and third couples dance reels of four up and down the set passing by right shoulders at the ends of the reels to begin.
25-28 Fourth woman passes second woman by right shoulders while fourth man passes second man by right shoulders then fourth couple, fourth woman followed by her partner, dance a chase, clockwise, a quarter of the way round the outside of the set
while
first woman passes third woman by right shoulders while first man passes third man by right shoulders then first couple, first woman followed by her partner, dance a chase, clockwise, a quarter of the way round the outside of the set.
All are now on the sides of a square set in the order - second couple, fourth couple, third couple and first couple - numbered clockwise from the top.
29-32 All turn partner with right hands one and a half times to finish with the men facing in and the women facing out.
33-48 All dance a 'Schiehallion' reel.
49-52 All turn partner with right hands one and a half times. First and fourth couples finish facing clockwise.
53-56 First couple, first woman followed by her partner, dance a chase, clockwise, a quarter of the way round the outside of the set and dance into the middle - first woman passing second woman by right shoulders and first man passing second man by right shoulders
while
fourth couple, fourth woman followed by her partner, dance a chase, clockwise, a quarter of the way round the outside of the set and dance into the middle - fourth woman passing third woman by right shoulders and fourth man passing third man by right shoulders.
57-60 First and fourth couples dance left hands across once round.
61-62 First man and fourth woman and first woman and fourth man change places on the side-lines with left hands. First and fourth women dance a courtesy turn into places.
63-64 Fourth and first couples cross over passing partner by left shoulders.
All finish in two lines of four up and down the dance in the order - second couple, fourth couple, first couple and third couple.
65-128 Second and third couples repeat bars 1-64.
All finish in two lines of four up and down the dance in the order - fourth couple, third couple, second couple and first couple.
REEL
1-2 Fourth and first couples set advancing to partner.
3-4 Fourth and first couples turn partner with both hands and pas de basque once round to finish with fourth couple facing up and first couple facing down - both couples with nearer hands joined with partner. Third couple move up and second couple move down.
5-8 Fourth couple cast down round third couple to finish facing third man
while
first couple cast up round second couple to finish facing second man.
9-52 Repeat bars 9-52 of the strathspey figure except that first and fourth couples advance towards each other with pas de basque during bars 15-16.
53-56 First and fourth couples dance right hands across three-quarters round.
All finish in two lines of four up and down the dance in the order - third couple, first couple, fourth couple and second couple.
57-64 Third, first, fourth and second couples dance eight hands round and back.
65-128 Third and second couples repeat bars 1-64.
All finish in two lines of four up and down the dance in the order - first couple, second couple, third couple and fourth couple.
(Dance crib compiled by the deviser Rod Downey, Johnsonville SCD Club Tutor)
Dance Information
This medley, An Tri Daraich, was devised as a demonstration dance during May 1999 for Philippa Pointon, David Naulls and Alastair Pain to celebrate their respective 40th, 50th and 60th birthdays.The title means "The Three Oaks".
I cannot find suitable recorded music.
Recommended tunes;
Strathspey
"The Banks Of Spey" composed by William Marshall and played ABAB ("Glasgow Assembly and other Scottish Country Dances", page 9) "Green Grow The Rashes" (or "Foote's Vagaries" ) played ABAB ("Niel Gow's Repository", Part 1)
Reel
"The Shetland Fiddler" - described as traditional - played AABB ("Glasgow Assembly and other Scottish Country Dances" page 9) "The Sally Gardens" described as traditional played AABB ("The Fiddler's Fakebook", compiled by David Brody, page 246)
(Dance information from The Cane Toad Collection Of Scottish Country Dances, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Rod Downey)
An Tri Daraich - The Three Oaks
Published in The Cane Toad Collection, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Rod Downey.
Image copyright Ceri Thomas under this Creative Commons Licence 2.0.
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