Archie's Clootie Dumpling

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

ARCHIE'S CLOOTIE DUMPLING (R64) Sq.Set Archie Marr West Lothian 70th Book

1- 8 All circle 8H round to left, pivot and chase back to places
9-16 1L and 3L followed by partners pass RSh and dance to opposite Man's place and curve round left to opposite places and turn partner LH while 2L and 4L turn partner LH and followed by partners pass RSh and dance to opposite Man's place and curve round left to opposite places
17-24 All repeat bars 9-16
25-32 All Ladies advance setting into centre, circle 4H round to left and retire (pas-de-basque)
33-40 1M+3L also 1L+3M ½ turn RH, twirl and dance out to opposite places, 2M+4L also 2L+4M ½ turn RH, twirl and dance out to opposite places
41-48 All repeat bars 33-48 back to places
49-56 All Men advance setting into centre, circle 4H round to right and retire (pas-de-basque)
57-64 All circle 8H round and back

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

Dance Information

A clootie (also cloutie), diminutive of Scots cloot, is a strip or piece of cloth, a rag or item of clothing. It can also refer to fabric used in the patching of clothes or the making of proddy rugs (a.k.a. "clootie mats").

A traditional dessert pudding called clootie dumpling is made with flour, breadcrumbs, dried fruit (sultanas and currants), suet, sugar and spice with some milk to bind it, and sometimes golden syrup.

Ingredients are mixed well into a dough, then wrapped up in a floured cloth, placed in a large pan of boiling water and simmered for a couple of hours before being lifted out and dried before the fire or in an oven.

Recipes vary from region to region e.g. in North Fife and Dundee it is not common to use breadcrumbs but the use of treacle is common.

"Clootie dumpling" has also been used as a nickname for the logo of the Scottish National Party.

The figures in this dance represent the making of a clootie dumpling.

1- 8 The big bowl in which to mix the ingredients
9-24 Stirring the dumpling mix
25-32 Tying the cloth (the "cloot") that the mix is cooked in
33-40 The boiling water that cooks the clootie dumpling
41-56 Untying the cloth
57-64 The clootie dumpling is ready to be served

Here is another recipe for Clootie Pudding

Clootie Dumpling

Published in Archie's Clootie Dumpling, (which includes 1 useful diagram), by Archie Marr, published in the West Lothian 70 Book (for dances devised by members of West Lothian branch to celebrate their 70th Anniversary in 2006).
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Clootie article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Matt Riggott from Reykjavik, Iceland (Clootie dumpling Uploaded by Diádoco) Creative Commons Licence 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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