The Cromach
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
The CromachMaggie and Duncan Keppie Haliburton School Of Arts SCD Book 7
Strathspey or Reel n x 40 bars 2 Threesome Repeat 2 Threesome Set Progressive Round the Room Set
The middle dancers of the lines of 3 start back-to-back facing their own two partners.
1-8 REEL OF 4 WITH 2ND CORNERS: centre dancers dance a reel of 4 with 2nd corners (on bar 8, centres pass each other by the right shoulder instead of left shoulder and end facing 1st corners);
9-16 REEL OF 4 WITH 1ST CORNERS: centre dancers dance a reel of 4 with 1st corners (on bar 15-16, centres pass each other by the right shoulder instead of left shoulder and end between partners facing opposite line of 3);
17-24 ENDS SET AND PETRONELLA TWICE: end dancers set on the diagonal and petronella to next corner on the right, and REPEAT (ends finish in diagonally opposite places);
25-32 CENTRES SET AND PETRONELLA TWICE: centre dancers set and petronella into centre, set and petronella to opposite place and join hands with partners;
33-40 SET, ROTATE OVER/UNDER ARCH AND SET: set, make an arch on the left side and rotate halfway around with the right hand person dancing anticlockwise through the arch followed by centre dancer AS left hand person dances clockwise (end facing next line of 3), and set (centre dancers set advancing into the centre ending back-to-back facing 2nd corners).
Repeat with next line of 3.
(Dance crib compiled by the devisers, Maggie and Duncan Keppie)
Dance Notes
As with all dances having this format, the number of repeats is not fixed.The three partners are not specifically men or women.
(Dance notes by Reuben Freemantle)
Dance Information
The devisers translate "Cromach" as "Clutch" in Gaelic but the word does not appear in Dwelly's or MacLennan's dictionaries; these authorities do have "Cromag" which means "a hook" or any similar small bent object and "Cromadh" which means "a roof" or "bending". "Cromag" is pronounced as "Krom~k" and "Cromadh" as "Krom~" in English with stress on the first syllable and where "~" represents the very short, indeterminate, vowel sound; "Cromach" would be pronounced as "Krom~ch" where "ch" is as in "loch".See Gaelic Dance Names for more information on Gaelic spelling and pronunciation.
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