A Happy Heart
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
A HAPPY HEART (J8x32) 3C (4C set) Stephen Brown Ribble Valley 30th Anniversary1- 8 1s+2s set and dance ½ RH across; 1s+2s set and dance ½ LH across back to place
9-16 1s lead down and back up finishing facing 1st corners (2s step up 11-12)
17-24 1s set to and turn 1st corner 2H, set to and turn 2nd corner 2H, 1s finish in 2nd place opposite side. 2(1)3
25-32 2s+1s+3s advance and retire; 1s turn 1½ RH. 213
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
Dance Instruction Videos
A Happy Heart - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
The title of this dance, A Happy Heart, comes from the Welsh hymn Calon Lân - Poem, written by the Welsh poet Daniel James, who used the bardic name Gwyrosydd."Calon Lân" means "A Pure Heart". The words were published in Daniel James's collection "Caniadau Gwyrosydd" in 1892. The familiar tune was composed by John Hughes (1872-1914), and the words and Hughes's tune first appeared together in 1899.
The dance title is taken directly from the third line of the opening verse, "Gofyn wyf am galon hapus", meaning "I ask for a happy heart".
Nid wy'n gofyn bywyd moethus,
Aur y byd na'i berlau mân:
Gofyn wyf am galon hapus,
Calon onest, calon lân.
Calon Lân - English Translation:
Nor the world's gold or precious pearls;
I ask for a happy heart,
An honest heart, a pure heart.
This page uses content under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, along with original copyrighted content and excerpts from Wikipedia and other sources.
Text from this original Calon_Lân article on Wikipedia.
The English translation above was prepared specifically for the Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary from the original public-domain Welsh text and is copyright Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary. It may not be reproduced without permission.
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