The Flying Scotsman (Simplified, 3-Couple Version)
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
The Flying Scotsman (Simplified, 3-Couple Version)Hugh Thurston (adapted by Reuben Freemantle from the version in RSCDS Medal Tests for Young Dancers)
Jig 3 x 32 bars 3 Couple Repeat 3 Couple Set Longwise Set
1-8 1L followed by 2L3L cross, cast behind 1M, cross below 3M and dance up to places;
9-16 1M2M3M repeat bars 1-8 around Ls, all finishing in places;
17-20 1s take both hands and slip down the middle;
21-24 1s slip up to finish in 3rd place;
25-32 2s 3s 1s take both hands with partners and slip down the middle and back.
(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)
Dance Notes
For ceilidh dancers and for smaller children, this, like The Flying Scotsman (Simplified) for 4 couples, avoids the complication of the counter-intuitive, 3-couple repeat in 4-couple set format and the very quick weaving movement of the original in bars 1-16.When there would be any spare couple(s) after making up 4-couple sets, one or more of these 3-couple sets can be used to avoid having anyone sit out.
17-20 1s take large steps.
21-22 2s3s take hands on the sides and step up. However, there is no problem if this is omitted since 2s3s1s can easily slip up an extra place in bars 29-32 and so finish 2s3s1s with the set in its correct position.
21-24 1s take smaller steps to finish below 3s, especially so if 2s3s have not stepped up.
25-32 As in the 4-couple version, all take both hands with partners for the slip down and up though taking hands on the sides is an acceptable alternative.
Dance Instruction Videos
The Flying Scotsman (Simplified, 3-Couple Version) - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
Also see the original dance The Flying Scotsman (Original) by Hugh A Thurston, which includes a Keith Rose crib diagram.Also see the dance The Flying Scotsman (Simplified) by Hugh Thurston, adapted by RSCDS.
The Flying Scotsman is the major express passenger train service that has plied over the railway between London and Edinburgh since 1862 (though this name came into use only about ten years later) on a route now known as the East Coast Main Line.
Especially in the days before road and air transport became commonplace, this high-speed link between the capitals of England and Scotland has always needed an extremely long and heavy train in order to accommodate the passenger numbers and so the Flying Scotsman has required very powerful locomotives. Many different types, initially coal-fired steam-driven, then diesel-electric and now overhead-wire electric locomotives have been used to haul the Flying Scotsman. Some of the steam-driven locomotives were designed specifically for the route and so the name is often casually used just for some of these locomotives, rather than for the whole train.
The Flying Scotsman - Information Video
The Flying Scotsman - Music Video
The Famous 'Flying Scotsman' In Full Steam
Image selection by SCDD automotive consultant, A.C. Pearson.
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Flying Scotsman article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright jimd2007 licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Additional search terms: Ceilidh Dance.