The Bonnie Woods O'Craigielea

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 8 First couple set, cast off into second place, second couple step up on bars 3 & 4. First couple lead up crossing over between second, couple and cast off into second place on the opposite side.
9-12 First and third couples face up and down, and dance back to back, second couple dance back to back at the same time.
13-16 Second couple turn one and a half times with the right hand to change places and finish facing up the set with right hand joined. First man and third lady turn similarly to finish facing out on the ladies' side, first lady and third man turn similarly to finish facing out on the men's side.
17-20 All lead out for two steps, turn and lead in to finish with second and third couples facing up and down on the sides and first couple facing across in third place.
21-24 Second and third couples dance back to back on the sides, first couple also dance back to back.
25-28 First couple turn one and a half times with the right hand to change places and finish facing down the set; second man and third lady turn similarly and finish facing out on the ladies' side; second lady and third man turn and finish facing out on the men's side.
29-32 All lead out for two bars, turn and dance in to finish with third couple facing across in first place and second and first couples facing up and down on the sides,
33-36 Third couple dance back to back, first and second couples dance back to back on the sides.
37-40 Third couple turn one and a half times with the right hand and finish facing up with right hands joined; first lady and second men do the same to finish facing out on the ladies' side; whilst first man and second lady do the same to finish facing out on the men's side.
41-44 All lead out for two bars turn and dance in to finish on the side lines; with third couple in first place on the opposite side, first couple in second place on own side and second couple in third place on the opposite side.
45-48 First couple turn with the left hand one and a half times to face first corner position.
49-52 First couple dance a half a reel of four with their first corners and finish facing their second corners.
53-56 First couple dance a half reel of four with their second corners and finish in second place on own side of the set.
57-64 Second, first and third couples dance six hands round in a circle to the left and back to the right.

Repeat from second place.

Note; To get to the bottom from third place original first couple should set and cast off on the first four bars of the next repeat.

(Dance crib reproduced from The Whetherly Book of Scottish Country Dances, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell)

Keith Rose's Crib Diagram

The Bonnie Woods O'Craigielea - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Information

Recommended tune: The Bonnie Woods O'Craigielea.

Published in The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances Number 4, by John W Mitchell, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell; instructions reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-ND 4.0).

Back to the top of this Scottish Country Dancing Instructions 'The Bonnie Woods O'Craigielea' page