Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Eddies At St Eddies

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

Eddies At St Eddies 32-bar reel for four couples in a four-couple longwise set. Ian Robertson

1-2 1st couple set.
3-4 1st couple, giving right hands, turn once round while 2nd couple set.
5-8 1st couple with 2nd couple dance four hands round to the left, while on bars 56, 3rd couple set and on bars 7-8, 4th couple set.
9-12 1st woman followed by her partner casts two places and crosses to opposite side while 3rd man followed by his partner casts up one place and crosses to opposite side. 2nd man steps up on bars 9-10 while 2nd woman steps up on bars 11-12.
13-16 2nd man with 3rd woman, and 1st woman with 4th man, set and link.
17-22 All circle eight hands round to left.
23-24 Dancers in first and second places set facing diagonally down while dancers in third and fourth places set facing diagonally up.
25-32 2nd and 3rd women, giving right hands, cross over. 2nd woman and 2nd man, giving left hands, change places. 2nd woman and 3rd man, giving right hands, cross over. 2nd woman and 3rd woman, giving left hands, change places.
 At the same time, 4th man and 1st man, giving right hands, cross over. 4th man and 4th woman, giving left hands, change places. 4th man and 1st woman, giving right hands, cross over. 4th man and 1st man, giving left hands, change places.
 (i.e. mirror solo rights and lefts)

Repeat from new positions.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Ian Robertson)


Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams


Dance Instruction Videos

Eddies At St Eddies - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

This dance was devised by Ian Robertson and dedicated to Joan O'Callaghan, who shared morning teas.

The title of this dance suggested itself at the Australian Winter School in Canberra in 2014, at "Eddies", St Edmund's College, Manuka.

The dance recalls the blustery windy conditions at morning tea one day, and other notes from the deviser's first winter school, such as solo rights and lefts.

The dance could also be danced as a strathspey, or a medley, which teachers and dancers can decide how to present.

Bars 1- 8 represent the eddies setting in.
Bars 9-16 represent chaotic swirls.
Bars 17-24 represent the full brisk wind.
Bars 25-32 represent small gusts and participants returning home.

Suggested music: Perth meets Perth, Marian Anderson.

(Dance information by the deviser, Ian Robertson)


St Edmund's College, Canberra, is an independent Catholic primary and secondary boys' school in Griffith, Australian Capital Territory.

Established in 1954 by the Christian Brothers as St Edmund's War Memorial College, it was the first Catholic secondary boys' school in the ACT, created to meet regional demand for Catholic education. The college follows the tradition of Edmund Ignatius Rice and is led by Principal Joe Zavone.

St Edmund's War Memorial College, established in 1954 as Canberra's first Catholic secondary boys' school, has a distinguished history in rugby union. The college has won the Waratah Shield a record 14 times and was the defending champion in 2005, when ACT schools were excluded from the competition. With over 480 students registered for rugby, St Edmund's is renowned as one of Australia's leading rugby schools.



Published in Hunter Valley Dances Book 2, reproduced here with the kind permission of Allyn Douglass, Secretary RSCDS Hunter Valley Branch.
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Text from this original St Edmund's College, Canberra article on Wikipedia.

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