Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Growing Fonder

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

Growing Fonder (S3x32) 32 bar strathspey for three couples in a longwise set, Devised By Murrough Landon (2022).

1-4 1st couple dance back to back.
5-8 1st man half turns 2nd man with the right hand then half turns 3rd man with the left hand. Meanwhile 1st woman starts dancing down beside her partner, then casts up around 2nd woman. The women are all in original places, the men are in the order 2,3,1.
9-12 1st couple, giving both hands, turn once round to face their own sides in 2nd place. Then 1st man casts off, left shoulder round 3rd man (who is in 2nd place) to end in 3rd place while 1st woman again casts up round 2nd woman to her original place.
13-24 All dance rights and lefts for three couples ending back in the same places. 2nd man and 3rd woman, in 1st corner positions, end with a moderately polite turn to face each other on the diagonal. 1st and 3rd men end facing down, 1st and 2nd women end facing up. 1st couple meet fleetingly to cross right in bars 17-18 and diagonally left in bars 23-24, but 2nd and 3rd couples do not meet their partner at all during this figure.
25-32 All dance an "Outer Tandem Bourrel" as follows:
 1-4: 2nd man and 3rd woman (in 1st corner places) set advancing towards each other, half turn with both hands and twirl away to face up and down.
 Meanwhile 1st and 2nd women, also 1st and 3rd men, dance in tandem anticlockwise half way round to finish beside each other on the centre line at the other end.
 5-6: 1st and 3rd men take nearer hands facing down and set to 3rd woman as 1st and 2nd women take nearer hands facing up and set to 2nd man.
 7-8: 1st man with 3rd couple, also 1st woman with 2nd couple, each circle three hands round three quarters to the left ending opposite their original partner in the order 3,1,2.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA August 2022)


Keith Rose's Crib Diagram


Dance Instruction Videos

Growing Fonder - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

Some recent research suggests the old adage that absence makes the heart grow fonder is indeed true.

In this dance all spend most of the time away from their partner before being reunited at the end.

Recommended music: Suggested tune: Manchester Caledonians (Jimmy Shand, Senior); suitable recording 3x32 Strathspeys (Robert Whitehead and the Danelaw SCD Band: Strictly Scottish Volume 2).

(Dance information by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA August 2022)


A research team studied the mobile phone records of over three million people to examine how the timing of communication affects the strength of personal relationships.

They found that longer gaps between phone calls were often followed by longer and more engaged conversations, suggesting that people respond to infrequent contact by investing more time and effort in the next interaction. This behaviour appears to be a natural way of maintaining social bonds when relationships are at risk of weakening through lack of contact.

The study focused on pairs of individuals who regularly called each other over a seven-month period. It was observed that the time between calls varied in a pattern that depended on the length of the previous call. Short calls were usually followed by another call fairly soon, whereas after longer calls, a longer pause often occurred before the next conversation. Importantly, when the time between calls grew longer than usual, the next call tended to last longer, indicating a form of social compensation. This effect was strongest in relationships where the individuals were of similar age, the same gender, and lived far apart.

The findings suggest that people intuitively adjust their behaviour to preserve valued relationships by compensating for reduced contact with longer or more meaningful communication. This adjustment can be measured and modelled, providing insight into how human social networks are maintained over time, even without regular physical proximity.

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder Marcus Stone, c. 1880
"Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder" Marcus Stone, c. 1880
One Of The Earliest Recorded Uses Of The Mobile Phone...


Published in Growing Fonder, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA.
Image from (cropped) Marcus Stone, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

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