Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

The Chuckwagon Reel

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

THE CHUCKWAGON REEL (R88) Sq.Set Bob Anderson St Martiun Collection

1- 8 1s+3s turn partner RH and chase clockwise ½ way
9-16 1s+3s dance ½ R&L and turn other partner RH once round to face side couples
17-24 1s+3s dance ¾ Fig of 8 round side couples and dance back to original places
25-48 2s+4s repeat bars 9-24
49-56 1s+3s turn partners LH 1½ times, 1L+3L dance clockwise as 1M+3M dance anticlockwise to meet other partner and dance in between side couples to meet own partner in prom hold (Lady on Man's right)
57-64 1s dance ½ reel of 3 across with 2L+4M (RSh to 2L) while 3s dance ½ reel of 3 with 2M+4L (RSh to 4L), 1s and 3s pass RSh to change reels and dance ½ reel of 3 with other persons ending in original places
65-80 2s+4s repeat bars 49-64
81-88 8H round and back ending dancing into centre

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


Dance Information

A chuckwagon is a type of field kitchen covered wagon historically used for the storage and transportation of food and cooking equipment on the prairies of the United States and Canada.

The name chuckwagon has come to be used throughout the English speaking world to describe any form of mobile food seller, lunch wagon or food truck, as found, for example, at festivals, in car/lorry parks and industrial estates.

The original wagons formed part of a wagon train of settlers or fed traveling workers such as cowboys or loggers.

While some form of mobile kitchens had existed for generations, the invention of the chuckwagon is attributed to Charles Goodnight, a Texas rancher known as the "father of the Texas Panhandle," who introduced the concept in 1866. After the American Civil War, the beef market in Texas expanded. Some cattlemen herded cattle in parts of the country that did not have railroads which would mean they needed to be fed on the road for months at a time. Goodnight modified the Studebaker wagon, a durable army-surplus wagon, to suit the needs of cowboys driving cattle from Texas to sell in New Mexico. He added a "chuck box" to the back of the wagon with drawers and shelves for storage space and a hinged lid to provide a flat working surface. A water barrel was also attached to the wagon and canvas was hung underneath to carry firewood. A wagon box was used to store cooking supplies and cowboys' personal items.

Chuckwagon food typically included easy-to-preserve items like beans and salted meats, coffee, and sourdough biscuits. Food would also be gathered en route. There was no fresh fruit, vegetables, or eggs available and meat was not fresh unless an animal was injured during the run and therefore had to be killed. The meat they ate was greasy cloth-wrapped bacon, salt pork, and beef, usually dried, salted or smoked. On cattle drives, it was common for the "cookie" who ran the wagon to be second in authority only to the "trailboss." The cookie would often act as cook, barber, dentist, and banker.

The term "chuck wagon" comes from "chuck", a slang term for food, and not from the nickname for "Charles".

Old Style Chuckwagon
Original Style Chuckwagon

New Style Chuckwagon
New Style Chuckwagon


Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Chuckwagon article on Wikipedia.
Upper Image copyright Larry D. Moore under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Lower Image copyright GeorgeLouis at English Wikipedia Creative Commons Licence 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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