The Fingle-Fangle

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

The Fingle-Fangle (J5x32) 5D set Lewis N Derrick 1988
This is a longwise dance for five single dancers in any gender combination.

1-2 The 1st and 3rd dancers join hands on the sideline and set to the 2nd dancer
3-4 The 1st dancer casts off one place while the 2nd and 3rd dancers step up to first and second places respectively
5-6 The 1st and 5th dancers join hands on the sideline and set to the 4th dancer
7-8 The 1st dancer casts off one place while the 4th and 5th dancers step up to third and fourth places respectively, the 1st dancer ends in fifth place on the women's side
9-16 The 2nd, 4th and 1st dancers dance a reel of three on the men's sideline, to begin the 2nd and 4th dancers pass left shoulders while the 1st dancer crosses the set to pass 2nd dancer right shoulder, ending 241 on the men's sideline
17-20 The 4th, 5th and 1st dancers dance right hands across
21-24 The 2nd, 3rd and 4th dancers dance left hands across
25-28 The 3rd and 5th dancers (on the women's side) and the 2nd, 4th and 1st dancers (on the men's side) join hands on the sidelines and advance and retire
29-30 All cross over, the 3rd dancer passing under an arch made by the 2nd and 4th dancers the 5th dancer under an arch formed by the 4th and 1st dancers, all end facing out
31-32 All set turning by the right to end facing in, 241 on the women's side, 35 on the men's side

Repeat four more times with a new top dancer on each repetition

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

Dance Notes

At the beginning and end of each repetition there are three dancers on the women's side of the set (first, third and fifth places) and two dancers on the men's side (second and fourth places) spaced, but not too widely, as if they each had a partner opposite them.
5
4
3
2
1
(Top)

On each repetition the 1st dancer ends in fifth place while everyone else zig-zags up the dance one place, 5 becomes 4, 4 becomes 3, 3 becomes 2 and 2 becomes 1.

By bar 16 the W set has reversed with dancers 2, 4 and 1 on the men's side and dancers 3 and 5 on the women's side.
1
5
4
3
2
(Top)

(Dance notes by the deviser, Lewis N Derrick)

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

The Fingle-Fangle - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Information

The 17th-century expression 'a fingle-fangle' means a fanciful trifle (something of no importance)!

Suggested tune: The Cock o' the North.

Devised 1988, first published electronically 2020.

(Dance information from The Quinary Suite Of Scottish Country Dances, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Lewis N Derrick)

Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Fingle-Fangle article on Wiktionary.

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