And For The Young Ones

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

AND FOR THE YOUNG ONES (J4x32) Sq.Set Anne Dejean RSCDS Book 51

1- 8 All join hands in a circle and advance and retire twice
9-16 All turn partner RH, turn partner LH
17-24 All join 2H with partner and slip step towards centre (2 bars), clap x4, slip step back, clap x4
25-32 All dance DoSiDo with partner; Ladies dance clockwise, Men anticlockwise ¼ round, passing partner and 1 more dancer RSh (i.e. Ladies on outside, Men inside)

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

And For The Young Ones J4x32 Anne Dejean
32-bar jig for two couples in a square set
The two couples start facing each other in the first and third places of the pattern of a square set (second and fourth places are empty)

1 - 8 All, joining nearer hands, advance and retire twice.
9 - 16 Both couples turn partner with the right hand and then with the left hand.
9 - 16 Both couples, joining both hands with partner, slip towards the centre for 2 bars, clap four times, slip back to places for 2 bars, and clap four times.
25 - 28 All dance back to back with partner.
29 - 32 All dance one quarter of the way round the set, the women moving clockwise and the men moving anticlockwise, passing partner before meeting the former opposite dancer in a new place, which is either 2nd or 4th place of the square set (1st and 3rd places are now empty).

Repeat from these new places.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser Anne Dejean)

Dance Notes

In order to avoid having anyone sit out, this dance can readily be adapted for a triangular set or for any circular set with 5 or more couples.

17-18 Take quite small slip steps, especially in a triangular set.

29-32 Pass partner and one other approaching dancer; take care not to go too far, especially in a large circular set.

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

And For The Young Ones Keith Rose's Diagram

And For The Young Ones - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Instruction Videos

And For The Young Ones - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

This jig, And For The Young Ones, was devised in March 2016, with the very youngest dancers in mind.

It was published in the RSCDS Book 51 (Scottish Country Dances for Young and Less Experienced Dancers) as a dance for four couples in a square set, But it can also be danced by two couples only, since dancers never meet anybody else other than their own partner and the opposite person.

It works well, we've done it a few times at home.

(Dance information from The Stay At Home Book, published 2020, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Anne Dejean)

And For The Young Ones
"Children Dancing In A Ring" Hans Thoma (1839-1924), Oil On Canvas, c. 1872

Published in The Stay At Home Book, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Anne Dejean.
Image copyright Hans Thoma [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

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