Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson's Strathspey

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson's Strathspey
Lewis N Derrick 1989
Strathspey 8 x 32 bars 3 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Longwise Set

  1-4   1s cross by the right and cast;

  5-8   1s cross up into half figures of 8 across, finishing by passing left shoulder to face first corner;

  9-12 1s turn first corner twice with both hands, releasing left hand but retaining right hand in an arch with the corner and taking left hand with partner to finish 2M1L1M3L on the first corners' diagonal, all facing anticlockwise, WHILE second corners turn both hands twice to finish on the second corners' diagonal facing clockwise;

13-16 1s, each with first corner, turn halfway by the left WHILE second corners chase clockwise halfway under the arches, finishing with 1s, first corners and second corners having exchanged places, 1M 1L facing first corner (person), second corners facing each other;

17-24 all repeat bars 9-16 from new positions, corners finishing in original corner places, 1s as at bar 8 but facing second corners;

25-32 1s dance reel of 4 with second corners, finishing in 2nd place on own sides.

(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)

Dance Notes

  3-4   2s step up.

    -12 Second corners finish on the diagonal about 1/3 in from the corner place.

13-16 1s must take quite short steps, second corners larger and first corners a great deal larger since they are travelling on semi-circular paths of markedly different diameters.


Elizabeth Garrett Anderson's Strathspey (S8x32) 3C (4C set) Lewis N Derrick 1989

1-4 The 1st couple cross over giving right hands and cast off one place on opposite sides, the 2nd couple step up on bars 3-4
5-8 The 1st couple dance half a figure of eight around the 2nd couple to second place on own sides, dancing in passing left shoulders to face first corners
9-12 The 1st couple turn their first corners twice round with both hands, opening out with nearer hands joined to face anticlockwise on the first-corner diagonal, while the 2nd woman and 3rd man dance in to the centre between the other couples and turn one another twice round with both hands before dancing out to own sidelines again to face clockwise
13-16 Joining left hands in the centre, the 1st couple make arches with their corners and dance anticlockwise halfway round to change places while the 2nd woman and 3rd man, passing under the arches, dance clockwise halfway round to change places
17-20 Now in third-corner positions on opposite sides, but still on the first-corner diagonal, the 1st couple turn their first corners twice round with both hands, opening out with nearer hands joined to face anticlockwise again while the 3rd man and 2nd woman on opposite sides dance in to the centre between the other couples and turn one another twice round with both hands before dancing out to opposite sidelines again to face clockwise
21-24 Joining left hands in the centre, the 1st couple make arches with their corners and dance anticlockwise halfway round back to the corners' original places while the 3rd man and 2nd woman, passing under the arches, dance clockwise halfway round back to their original places on own sides
25-32 The 1st couple, still in the centre on opposite sides, dance a diagonal reel of four with 2nd woman and 3rd man, passing their own second corners right shoulder to begin and ending on own sidelines in second place

Repeat having passed a couple

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Lewis N Derrick 2020)


Dance Information

This dance was devised by Lewis Derrick to commemorate Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917), physician and suffragist, the first woman to qualify as a physician and surgeon, and become the first female mayor in Britain.

Suggested tune: The Inmans of Glenallan (Muriel Johnstone).

Devised 1989, first published electronically 2020.

Copyright 1989, 2020 Lewis N. Derrick.

(Dance information from The McGhie Scottish Country Dance Sheets #30, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Lewis N Derrick)


Published in The McGhie Scottish Country Dance Sheets, Collection 3, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Lewis N Derrick.

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