The Firth Jig
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
The Firth Jig A forty-eight bar Jig for six couples in a cross formation. Couples number 1, 2, 3 and 4 form up in a conventional square set formation, each man with his partner on his right; the square being slightly larger than usual. Couples 5 & 6 take up positions in the centre of the square, couple number 5 with their backs to the top facing couple number 6. Devised by John W Mitchell, Published in Whetherly Book 9.1- 8 Fifth and sixth couples dance rights and lefts, giving right hand up and down the set to opposite to commence. They finish with their backs to their own partner facing the side couples.
9-16 Fifth couple dance a reel of four with second lady and fourth man, whilst sixth couple dance a reel of four with fourth lady and second man.
17-20 First man, second lady and fifth man dance right hands across in a wheel, second man, third lady and sixth lady do the same. Third man, fourth lady and sixth man do the same. Fourth man, first lady and fifth lady also do the same.
21-24 Fifth and sixth couples dance left hands across in a wheel to finish with fifth couple facing first couple and sixth couple facing third couple.
25-32 First and fifth men, sixth and third ladies dance reel of four, whilst first and fifth ladies, sixth and third men do the same.
33-40 Second couple dance a ladies' chain with sixth lady and fifth man, whilst fourth couple dance a ladies' chain with fifth lady and sixth man.
41-44 Third and sixth couple dance half rights and lefts, first and fifth couples do the same.
45-48 First and third couples dance half a ladies' chain to finish facing own partner. At the same time fifth and sixth couples set to own partner and change places giving right hand in passing.
Repeat from new places. The set has effectively rotated through ninety degrees hence the original second couple will be first couple for the repeat and fourth couple will be third couple, both in their original places. Sixth couple will have become second couple in the original third place and fifth couple will have become fourth couple in the original first place, whilst third and first couples have become fifth and sixth respectively. Positions at bar 1 (left diagram) and at the end of bar 48 (right diagram): On the second repeat sixth couple in the original third place will have become first couple. At the end of this repeat all dancers will be found to be back in the same relative positions that they originally occupied, but with second couples having their backs to the top of the room. It is suggested that three times through will be sufficient for this dance. However, purists who wish to terminate with all dancers back in the places they occupied on first joining the set may like to note that this can be achieved by performing the dance twelve times. Recommended tune: The Firth Jig.
(Dance crib reproduced from The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagram
Published in The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances Number 9, by John W Mitchell, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell. Instructions reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-ND 4.0).
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