Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Fraoch-Badain

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

FRAOCH-BADAIN (S3x32) 3C set Andrew Hodgson

1- 8 1s+3s dance double Fig of 8 (1s cross down, 3s cast up to start)
9-16 1s+2s+3s set, cross RH, set, cross back RH
17-24 1s+2s+3s dance set and rotate for 3 couples. 321
25-32 2s+1s dance the Tourbillon:
 25-28 2s and 1s ½ turn partners 2H, 1M and 2L lead partners by nearer hand 1 place clockwise to end 2s on Ladies' side and 1s Men's side, 1s set to 2s
 29-32 2s and 1s ½ turn partners 2H and lead partners on 1 place clockwise and 1s+2s cross RH to own sides. 312

(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)


Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams


Dance Instruction Videos

Fraoch-Badain - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

"Fraoch-Badain" is the Gaelic name for the "Bell heather" whose botanical name is "Erica cinerea"; it should be pronounced as "Froeuch-Bahtin" in English with stress on the first syllable of both words and the following conventions:
  "oeu" is as in "coeur" (in French);
  "ch" is as in "loch"; and
  "ah" is as in "shah".
See Gaelic Dance Names for more information on Gaelic spelling and pronunciation.

Erica cinerea (bell heather, or heather-bell) is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to western and central Europe.

The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 5 for most nectar production (nectar per unit cover per year) in a UK plants survey conducted by the AgriLand project which is supported by the UK Insect Pollinators Initiative.

It is a low, spreading shrub growing to 15-60 cm (5.9-23.6 in) tall, with fine needle-like leaves 4-8 mm (0.16-0.31 in) long arranged in whorls of three. The flowers are bell-shaped, purple (rarely white), 4-7 mm (0.16-0.28 in) long, produced in mid- to late summer. The flowers are dry, similar in texture to the strawflower.

Fraoch-Badain, Bell Heather
Fraoch-Badain - Bell Heather


Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Erica Cinerea - Bell Heather article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Peigimccann Creative Commons Licence 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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