Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Blue Sky, Yellow Sun

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

BLUE SKY, YELLOW SUN (S4x32) 4C set Murrough Landon, 2022
1s and 3s start on opposite sides. (1)2(3)4

1- 8 1s+2s and 3s+4s dance RH across and LH across back, 2M and 3M end facing in, 2L and 3L face out on sides
9-16 2s+3s dance reel of 4 across, 2M+3M start passing LSh as 2L and 3L loop to right. 2L+3L end dancing round each other ¾ LSh and take partner in prom hold, 2s facing up, 3s down
17-20 2s+1s dance ½ reel of 3 across (2s RSh to 1M in 1L's place) while 3s+4s dance similar (3s RSh to 4M)
21-24 2s+1L+4M dance ½ reel of 3 on Ladies' side (2s LSh to 4M) while 3s+1M+4s dance similar (3s LSh to 1M)
25-32 2s+3s dance ½ Men's Chain (Ladies cast down/up to start); 4s+2s also 3s+1s set advancing and circle 4H ½ round to left. (2)4(1)3

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


Blue Sky, Yellow Sun (4x32S) 32 bar strathspey for four couples in a longwise set, Murrough Landon, 2022.
1st and 3rd couples start on opposite sides.

1-8 1st and 2nd couples, also 3rd and 4th couples, dance right hands across and left hands back. 2nd and 3rd couples end with the two men facing each other in the centre and the women facing out on the sides.
9-16 2nd and 3rd couples dance a reel of four across the set. 2nd and 3rd men start by passing each other left shoulder as 2nd and 3rd women curve to their right.
On the last two bars the two women dance three quarters round each other left shoulder and up or down the centre as their partners curve up or down into the centre. Both couples end in promenade hold on the centre line, 2nd couple facing up in 2nd place, 3rd couple facing down in 3rd place.
17-20 2nd couple in promenade hold dance half a right shoulder reel of three across with 1st couple as 3rd couple dance similarly with 4th couple. 2nd couple end facing down, 3rd couple facing up on the sides.
21-24 2nd couple dance half a left shoulder reel of three on the women's side as 3rd couple dance half a left shoulder reel on the men's side. Both couples end on the sides and release hands.
25-28 2nd and 3rd couples dance half a Men's Chain with the women casting into their loop on the side.
29-32 4th with 2nd and 3rd with 1st couples join hands on the side and set advancing to the centre. They then each circle four hands half way round to the left. The final order is 2, 4, 1, 3 with 2nd and 1st couples on opposite sides.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon CC BY-SA April February 2022)


Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams


Dance Instruction Videos

Blue Sky, Yellow Sun - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

This dance was written the Saturday after the invasion of Ukraine. In London the weather was fine. I went out walking but kept thinking of those suffering far away. The combination of the yellow sun in a pale blue sky reminded me of the Ukrainian flag which gave me the title.

Later, Wouter Joubert kindly offered his tune "And when it rains..." which he has dedicated "in support of peace and to all those who are bullied by tyrants".

Recommended music: "And When It Rains" by Wouter Joubert, written "...in support of peace and to all those who are bullied by tyrants".

(Dance information by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA 2022)


The national flag of Ukraine consists of equally sized horizontal bands of blue and yellow. The blue represents the sky and the yellow represents fields of wheat, symbolizing the country's landscapes and prosperity.

The blue and yellow bicolor flag first appeared during the 1848 Spring of Nations in Lemberg (Lviv), the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria under the Austrian Empire. Subsequently, it was adopted as a state flag by several entities including the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic, the West Ukrainian People's Republic, and the Ukrainian State following the Russian Revolution.

In March 1939, Carpatho-Ukraine also adopted this flag. However, during Ukraine's Soviet era, the bicolor flag was prohibited and replaced by the flag of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. This Soviet flag featured a red background with a blue stripe on the bottom, adorned with a golden hammer and sickle, and a golden-bordered red star above.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the bicolor flag gradually re-emerged and was officially reinstated on 28 January 1992 by the Ukrainian parliament.

Since 2004, Ukraine has commemorated the Day of the National Flag on 23 August annually.

Ukrainian Flag
Ukrainian Flag


Published in Blue Sky, Yellow Sun, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA.
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Flag Of Ukraine article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Government of Ukraine, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Back to the top of this Scottish Country Dancing Instructions 'Blue Sky, Yellow Sun' page