Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

The Darlington Dancer

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

THE DARLINGTON DANCER (M-(S2x40+R2x40) 4C set John Brenchley, March 2020
3s and 4s start on opposite sides

Strathspey
1- 8 1s and 4s dance in, touch hands and cast to 2nd/3rd place (2s and 3s step down/up bars 3-4); 1s and 4s dance ½ Fig of 8 round end couples. 2(1)4(3)
9-16 1s+4s dance LH across, face up/down on sides; all dance ½ RSh reels of 4 on sides. End facing down/up on sides. (3)4(1)2
17-24 3s+4s also 1s+2s turn 1¼ RH on sides into 2 lines of 4 across; all dance ½ RSh reels across
25-32 3s+4s also 1s+2s turn 1¼ RH to sides, 1s facing 4s; 1s+4s change places LH on sides, face partners and all 4 couples set
33-40 All ½ turn partner 2H, pull back RSh and dance out to sides; 3s+1s+4s+2s circle 8H ½ round to left. (2)(4)13

Repeat once as Strathspey then twice as Reel (RH turn 33-34)

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


The Darlington Dancer (M-(S2x40+R2x40)) 4C Set John Brenchley
3rd and 4th couples start the dance on the opposite side.

1 - 4 1st couple dance towards each other, briefly join nearer hands facing up and cast off one place. Similarly, 4th couple cast up one place.
2nd couple step up and 3rd couple step down on bars 3-4.
5 - 8 1st couple dance a half figure of eight round 2nd couple while 4th couple dance a half figure of eight round 3rd couple.
9 - 12 1st and 4th couples dance left hands across once round. 1st couple finish facing up and 4th couple facing down.
13 - 16 2nd, 1st, 4th and 3rd couples dance half reels of four on the sides, passing by the right to begin.
17 - 20 1st woman and 2rd man, 2nd woman and 1st man, 3rd woman and 4th man, 4th woman and 3rd man, giving right hands, turn once and a quarter to finish facing this person in lines of four across the dance.
21 - 24 1st and 2nd couples, also 3rd and 4th couples, dance half reels of four across the dance, passing by the right to begin.
25 - 28 1st woman and 2nd man, 2nd woman and 1st man, 3rd woman and 4th man, 4th woman and 3rd man, giving right hands, turn once and a quarter to finish on the sidelines, with 1st couple facing up and 4th couples facing down.
29 - 30 1st woman and 4th man, also 1st man and 4th woman, giving left hands, change places. All finish facing partner.
31 - 32 3rd, 1st, 4th and 2nd couples, set.
33 - 36 3rd, 1st, 4th and 2nd couples, giving both hands to partner, turn halfway to finish in the middle of the set facing each other and, pulling right shoulder back, dance out, 3rd and 1st couples to opposite sides and 4th and 2nd couples to own sides.
37 - 40 All dance eight hands halfway round to the left.
Finish in the order 2,4,1,3 with 2nd and 4th couples on opposite sides.

Repeat once in strathspey time.

Repeat twice more in reel time but using right hand for the turns in bars 33-34.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, John Brenchley, March 2020)


Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams


Dance Instruction Videos

The Darlington Dancer - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

This medley, The Darlington Dancer, A medley of 2 x 40 bar strathspey and 2 x 40 bar reel for four couples in a four-couple longwise set, was devised by John Brenchley in March 2020 for Pat Stevenson, to celebrate a significant birthday.

Although Pat has lived in Western Australia for many years, she was originally from Darlington in the north east of the UK, hence the title.

Suggested music: Stepping Hill, The Vallin Suite 4 CD, recorded by Colin Dewar and his Scottish Dance Band.

(Dance information by the deviser, John Brenchley, 2020)


Darlington is a large market town in County Durham, in North East England. With a population of 105,564 (2011), the town lies on the River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees. The town is administered as part of the Borough of Darlington.

The town owes much of its development to the influence of local Quaker families in the Georgian and Victorian era, who provided much of the finance and vision in creating the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the world's first steam locomotive powered, permanent passenger railway. The town is often colloquially referred to as 'Darlo'.

Darlington, South park scene with footbridge
Darlington - County Durham - South Park Scene
A footbridge over the River Skerne leads towards the white painted clock tower in South Park


This page contains both original content, which is copyrighted, and excerpts from Wikipedia and other sources using the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Text from this original Darlington - County Durham article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright (cropped) Gordon Hatton under this Creative Commons Licence 2.0.

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