The Cradle Song (Drewry)

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 8 1s+2s petronella into centre and set, ¾ turn partner RH and dance RH across ½ way (2s and 1s have changed places)
9-16 2L followed by 2M also 3M followed by 3L chase clock-wise ½ way to change places, 3s+1s+2s turn partners (1s LH and 3s and 2s RH)
17-24 3s+1s+2s turn partners (other hand), 1L+3M also 1M+2L (nearer hands joined facing out) turn clockwise to place 3M/2L into 3rd/1st positions (opposite sides) while 3L and 2M cross over to own sides, 1s set while 2s+3s chase (round 1s) clock-wise 1 place to end 213 (on own sides)
25-32 2s+1s+3s set, circle 6H round to left and spiral out to places

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

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

The Cradle Song (Drewry) - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Instruction Videos

Dance Information

The title of this dance, The Cradle Song, comes from The Cradle Song - Song written by James Scott Skinner in 1888.

John Drewry's instructions tell us this is a slow air- danced with slow strathspey steps- to the tune "The Cradle Song by James Scott Skinner (in Skinner's Logie Collection 1888). The air was originally a song with words by Alexander Hastings, from Huntly, Aberdeenshire.

Skinner's inspiration for the song was said to be the sight of a sick child in the arms of its mother, whom he stumbled upon in a hotel room in Forres, Scotland.

The Cradle Song - Information Video

"Baby (In Cradle)" Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), Oil On Canvas, c. 1917-1918

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