Gie's A Hand O' Thine
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
Gie's a Hand O' ThineMaggie and Duncan Keppie Gaelic College SCD Book 8: The Handy Dozen
4x32 bar Reel
4-couple dance in 4-couple longways set
1-8 TURN AND WHEEL: All turn partner by the right hand, and then dance right hands across 1st with 2nd, and 3rd with 4th couple (2nd and 3rd couples end nearer hand joined facing "1st corners": 1st man and 4th woman respectively);
9-24 MAIRI'S WEDDING ½ HAND-IN-HAND REELS OF 4: 2nd and 3rd couples dance half Hand-in-Hand Reels of 4 around each corner in turn ("1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th corners") switching hands as they pass around behind each corner position (as in Mairi's Wedding except that centre couples pass right shoulders in the middle): "corners" dance half a reel of 4 each time (on bars 23-24, 2nd woman and 3rd man pass left shoulders all ending original places);
25-28 ENDS CHASE: 1st woman followed by partner casts down two places and dances into 3rd place on opposite side, AS 4th man followed by partner casts up two places and dances into 2nd place on opposite side (on bars 27-28, 2nd and 3rd couples step up and down respectively);
29-32 CROSS AND SET: 1st and 4th couples cross right hand with partner and set (order is 2nd, 4th, 1st, 3rd couple).
Repeat from new places.
(Dance crib compiled by the devisers, Maggie and Duncan Keppie)
Dance Information
The phrase "Gie's a hand o' thine" (meaning "Give me your hand") appears in Robert Burns's famous poem and song Auld Lang Syne Poem one of the most recognised works by Burns, traditionally sung at New Year to mark friendship and remembrance.In the final verse, Burns writes:
And gie's a hand o' thine;
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.
In modern English, this roughly means:
And give me your hand too;
And we'll share a good, hearty drink,
For times gone by.
Published in https://www.minicrib.org.uk/Publications/Keppie_John/GC08.pdf
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