Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Both Ends Of The Rainbow

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

Both Ends Of The Rainbow 48 bar reels for 4 couples, in a longwise set Rod Downey The Piwakawaka Collection

1-8 Giving left shoulder to third man, first lady followed by first man closely, dance a tandem reel of three with second and third men. Second man dances up and out to begin. At the end first lady crosses at the top of the set and first couple finish in original places.
While, Giving left shoulder to second lady, 4th man closely followed by his partner dances a reel with the second lady and third man. Third man begins the reel by dancing out and down. 4th man dances across the foot of the set to finish.
9-16 1C with 2C, 3C with 4C dances 4 hands across and back. 1M and 4L should not dance all the way out to the sidelines, but anticipate the following movement by remaining towards the center.
17-24 1M followed by 1L dances a reel of three with 2L and 3L, beginning by giving right shoulder to 3L; and similarly 4L followed by 4M dance a reel of three with 2M and 3M giving left shoulder to 2M to begin. As above, 1M dances across the top and 4W across the foot at the end to finish with 1C joining nearer hands facing 2L and 4C similarly facing 3M.
25-32 1C and 4C mirror Cadgers in the Canongate setting: 1C set to 2L, moving to face down, set facing down, set to 2M and then retire to own sides with pad de Basque. Similarly 4C to 3M, up, and 3L, then retire.
33-34 Taking hands on the side, all set.
35-36 1C with 2C; 3C with 4C dance 4 hands across half way.
37-38 All set taking hands.
39-40 All cross back to own sides, again giving RH.
41-48 1C and 4C dance an Espagnole. At the end of the Espagnole, 1W and 4M should remember to face out and their partners face in, to anticipate the entry to the reel. Finishing order 2,4,1,3.

Repeat from new positions

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser Rod Downey, Johnsonville SCD Club Tutor)


Dance Information

This reel was first devised 24/11/2021. Modified 15/1/2022 after feedback from Catherine Livsay and her group as to which last 8 bars they preferred.

The idea for the tandem reels comes from Iain Boyd's dance "At The End of the Rainbow", although Iain's dance had 1C reeling with the 2M and 3M, then later 2W and 3W, with hands across in the middle.

Recommended music is "Cadgers in the Canongate" the lead tune for the dance with the same name (but not the customary lead tune).

I am not aware of any 4 by 48 recordings of this, so I suggest using "John McNeil's Reel" which is the customary tune. There are at least two 4 time through recordings, one by Adam Rennie and one by Bobby Macleod.

(Dance information from The Piwakawaka Collection Of Scottish Country Dances, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Rod Downey)



Published in The Piwakawaka Collection, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Rod Downey.

Back to the top of this Scottish Country Dancing Instructions 'Both Ends Of The Rainbow' page