Currie Mountain

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 8 1s cross RH and cast 1 place, dance ½ Fig of 8 round 2s
9-16 1s turn 3s with nearer hands (1s dancing between 3s) and turn 2s with other hand
17-24 1s+3s dance RH across, 1s+2s dance LH across
25-32 2s+1s+3s dance reels of 3 on sides (1s giving RSh to 3s to start)

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

Dance Notes

(Dance notes by the deviser, Mary Pugh, 1983)

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

Currie Mountain - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Instruction Videos

Dance Information

This bicentennial collection of reels, jigs, and strathspeys was created to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the province's founding in 1784. While you may never have heard of such a place as Currie Mountain, it looms over the city of Fredericton, in a manner of speaking, and originated as a volcano eons ago. Any likelihood of an imminent eruption? Hardly! In fact, if they were to think about any form of local catastrophe, the citizens of Fredericton would be far more likely in the short term to be inundated by flooding from the Saint John River (Yes! That Saint John River!) which flows through the city and actually runs quite close to the base of this mountain.

Truth be known, even though the volcanic origin of Currie Mountain and its environs goes back around 100 million years, there still exists visible evidence of what were once flowing lava beds which in turn have been responsible for the growth of any number of quite rare plants, found nowhere else in the area.

Here is another anomaly! Currie Mountain has a height of about 87 metres, and for those of us metrically challenged folks who are several decades away from school learning, 87 metres tops out at say, a little under 300 feet. But there again, as I am sure that you will agree, to give this non-alpine eminence the appellation Currie Hill does not have quite the same cachet.

Mentioning rare plants, could that mean plants like cumin or coriander? Well no, as tropical plants, they refer to curry (the food dish). Currie (the mountain) is named for one of the original owners who bequeathed this piece of property to the University of New Brunswick at least 50 years ago. But let's not forget that in itself, Currie is a well established Scots name, which stems from the Gaelic MacMhuirich, which perhaps gives this whole review a little extra panache.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Mary Pugh by phone recently in which she not only provided me with helpful information about Currie Mountain, but told me about her dancing opportunities in Boston, an SCD Branch that I believe has an equivalent annual event to our Tartan Ball, and attracts numerous Canadian dancers from the Maritime Provinces. It turns out that Mary had also had the opportunity to visit Toronto for a Tartan Ball some years ago.

In closing, I would like to thank not only Mary Pugh for her support of this submission, but also Connie Moore, who was my initial contact at RSCDS Fredericton and enabled me to reach Mary.

The Barry Pipes Canon 083- April, 2016.

(Dance information from set and link, RSCDS Toronto Newsletter - What's In A Name? The Barry Pipes Canon 2005-2018, reproduced here with kind permission. Copyright Barry Pipes. All rights reserved)

Currie Mountain - Information Video

Currie Mountain From Saint John River, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada