Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Cadgers In The Canongate

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

CADGERS IN THE CANONGATE (R8x48) 3C (4C set) Walsh RSCDS Book 9

1- 8 1s dance reels of 3 on opposite sides (1M crosses to give RSh to 2L and 1L crosses down giving LSh to 3M)
9-16 1s dance reels of 3 on own sides (1L crosses to give RSh to 2L and 1M crosses down giving LSh to 3M)
17-24 1s set to 2L, set facing down, set to 2M and back to places
25-32 1s+2s set and dance RH across ½ way, set and dance LH back to places
33-40 1s cross RH, cast 1 place and turn LH 1½ times to own sides
41-48 2s+1s dance R&L

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


Cadgers in the Canongate
Walsh RSCDS Book 9
Reel 8 x 48 bars 3 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Longwise Set

  1-8   1M cross into reel of 3 on Ls' side (giving right shoulder to 2L to start) WHILE 1L cross down into reel of 3 on Mn's side (giving left shoulder to 3M to start), all finishing in original places, 1L 2M 3L facing out;

  9-16 1s (giving right shoulder to 2s) parallel reels of 3 on own sides, finishing in the centre facing 2L, 1L on 1M's left, nearer hands joined;

17-18 1s set to 2L, finishing facing down;

19-20 1s set, finishing facing 2M;

21-24 1s set to 2M;

21-24 1s set retiring to original places;

25-26 1s2s set;

27-28 1s2s right hands across halfway;

29-30 2s1s set;

31-32 2s1s left hands across halfway;

33-36 1s cross by the right and cast;

37-40 1s turn by the left 1½ times;

41-48 2s1s rights and lefts.

(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)

Dance Notes

The RSCDS sanctions alternative versions of this dance: in one, as in the MiniCrib, 1s finish in partner's place at the end of bar 8; in the other, as in the MaxiCrib, 1s finish in own places. The following notes refer to the second version, only.

  1-8   Phrasing these reels is quite difficult; 1M 1L have much more ground to cover than in normal parallel reels.

  1-2   As in mirror reels, 1L must move quite quickly to 2M's place but 1M exceptionally so in order to reach 2L's place; 2L must help him by starting slowly and initially inwards.

  3-6   2s 1s 3s cover normally in this parallel part of the reels (but no hands, of course).

  7-8   1L must move quickly to complete the reel and cross to own place WHILE 1M must cross quickly to 2M's place and cast up to his original place.

  9-16 Normal parallel reels on own sides with covering (no hands) but a slightly awkward finish for 1L to reach the centre and face 2L.


Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams


Dance Instruction Videos

Cadgers in the Canongate - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

Cadgers in the Canongate is a Scottish Country Dance published by Walsh in 1760 and interpreted by the RSCDS in Book 9, published 1934.

Walsh spelled "Canongate" as "Conongate".

(Dance information copyright, reproduced here with the kind permission of George Williams)


A cadger was a hired carrier of goods.

The Canongate is the most celebrated of Edinburgh's historic streets in a district of Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland.

The name is inherited from the burgh of the Canongate founded by David I of Scotland c. 1143. It was bought by the adjacent city of Edinburgh in 1636 but it remained a semi-autonomous burgh under its own administration of bailies chosen by Edinburgh magistrates, until its formal incorporation into the city in 1856.

The burgh gained its name from the route that the canons of Holyrood Abbey took to Edinburgh - the canons' way or the canons' gait, from the Scots word gait meaning "way".

As well as Queensberry House, now incorporated in the new Scottish Parliament Building complex, the Canongate contains other historic buildings including Huntly House (now the Museum of Edinburgh), the Canongate Tolbooth (now housing the People's Story Museum) and the Canongate Kirk, opened in 1691 replacing Holyrood Abbey as the parish church of the Canongate.

The Canongate forms part of the Royal Mile. The streets which make up the Royal Mile are (west to east) Castlehill, the Lawnmarket, the High Street, the Canongate and Abbey Strand.

Canongate - Information Video

The Canongate Tolbooth, Edinburgh
The Canongate Tolbooth, Edinburgh


Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original The Canongate article on Wikipedia.
Text from this original Royal Mile article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Kim Traynor under this Creative Commons Licence 2.0.

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