Braveheart (Laidlaw)

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

BRAVEHEART (William Wallace) (R32) Circle Ruary Laidlaw Clapyerhands
Circle Dance, Man has Lady on his right

1- 8 All clap 2 bars (1-2-3-4) All advance and retire, All clap 2 bars (1-2-3-4)
9-16 Repeat bars 1-8 but stamp foot instead of clap
17-24 All turn partner RH (4 bars) turn partner LH (4 bars) All face anticlockwise nearer hands joined
25-32 All promenade round and form circle again

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

Braveheart (Or William Wallace)
A 4 x 32 bar Reel, for any number of couples all standing in a circle side by side with partners all facing the centre. 1s with 2s on their right.

1 - 8 All clap their hands 1, 2, 3 and 4, for the first two bars.
All skip forwards 4 steps for the next two bars.
All skip backwards 4 steps to original places for the next two bars.
All clap hands 1, 2, 3 and 4 for the last two bars.
9-16 Repeat the sequence, but with stamping one foot instead of clapping.
17-24 All couples face their partners shake right hands and turn their partner round on the spot for 8 skips.
They then change to left hands shake and turn their partner back to original place for 8 more skips.
At the end of this figure they should all face anticlockwise i.e. to the teacher's right, in a circle holding inside hands with their partner.
25-32 All couples promenade round the circle for 12 skips "and then face in" on 13, 14, 15 and 16 - ready to start again.

Repeat three more times.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Ruary Laidlaw)

Dance Notes

Co-ordinate the end of the left hand turns so that each couple is in position to begin the promenade.

(Dance notes by the deviser, Ruary Laidlaw)

Dance Instruction Videos

Braveheart (Laidlaw) - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

Also see the dance Braveheart (Drewry) by John Drewry.

Bars 1 to 16 shows the Scots pleasure at Wallace's challenge to Edward I
Bars 17 to 24 shows the soldiers getting ready to march with their "brothers in arms".
Bars 25 to 32 shows the army marching off to battle.

The four dances in the Clapyerhands 'n Stampyerfeet collection are designed for school children with no prior dance experience. The steps involve simple walking or plain skipping, and the formations are intuitive. Each dance is accompanied by music on a CD, arranged and performed by "Peter Elmes and His Band."

Braveheart is a 1995 epic war film directed, co-produced, and starring Mel Gibson, who portrays William Wallace, a late-13th-century Scottish warrior.

The film's title is taken from the name of William Wallace's famous broadsword, and the movie's final shot is of that sword on the field at Bannockburn.

The film is fictionally based on the life of Wallace leading the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England.

The story is inspired by Blind Harry's epic poem The Wallace - Poem and was adapted for the screen by Randall Wallace.

The Wallace Sword is an antique two-handed sword purported to have belonged to William Wallace (1270-1305), a Scottish knight who led a resistance to the English occupation of Scotland during the Wars of Scottish Independence. It is said to have been used by William Wallace at the Battle of Stirling in 1297 and the Battle of Falkirk (1298).

The blade of the sword measures 4 feet 4 inches (132 cm) in length and including the hilt is 5 feet 4 inches (163 cm). The breadth of the blade varies from 2.25 inches (5.7 cm) at the guard to 0.75 inches (1.9 cm) before the point. The sword weighs 5.95 pounds (2.70 kg).

Braveheart - Information Video

The Wallace Sword, Wallace Monument, Stirling - An Antique Claymore Purported To Have Belonged To William Wallace.

Published in Braveheart (Laidlaw), reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Ruary Laidlaw.
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Braveheart article on Wikipedia.
Text from this original The Wallace Sword article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Glenn J. Mason from Edinburgh, Scotland Creative Commons Licence 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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