Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Auld Robin Gray

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

AULD ROBIN GRAY (S8x32) 3C (4C set) Hugh Foss Dances to Song Tunes

1- 8 1s turn RH, cast 1 place, cross RH and turn 2H to face down (on opposite sides)
9-16 1s lead down, cross below 3s, cast to top own sides, 1s+2s ½ turn RH and circle 4H round to left ½ way
17-24 1s set advancing to 1st corner, turn corner 2H, set to 2nd corner and turn 2H to end 2nd place opposite sides
25-32 1s dance ½ reel of 3 on sides giving LSh to 1st corners, 3s and 2s cross RH while 1s turn RH and 3s+1s+2s circle 6H round to left ½ way

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


Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams


Dance Information

The title of this dance, Auld Robin Gray, comes from the Auld Robin Gray - Song written by the Scottish poet Lady Anne Lindsay in 1772.

The title comes from the name of its hero, a good old man who married a young girl whose lover is thought to be dead, but who turns up to claim her a month after their marriage.

He hadna been awa' a week but only twa,
When my father brak his arm, and the cow was stown awa;
My mother she fell sick,-and my Jamie at the sea-
And auld Robin Gray came a-courtin' me.

Auld Robin Gray Song - Information Video

book illustration of Auld Robin Gray
Auld Robin Gray, From The Book Of British Ballads (1842)


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Text from this original Auld Robin Gray article on Wikipedia.
Image from Hall, S. C. (Samuel Carter), 1800-1889, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons.

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