The Haymakers

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 8 1L+4M turn RH and back to place, 1M+4L turn RH and back to place
9-16 Repeat with LH turns
17-24 Repeat with 2 hand turns
25-32 Repeat with DoSiDo
33-40 Repeat with a bow and courtesy
41-48 1s cast to bottom on own sides followed by 2s+3s+4s, form an arch and 2s+3s+4s dance under to new places

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

Keith Rose's Crib Diagram

The Haymakers - Full Size And Key To Symbols

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(Dance information copyright, reproduced here with the kind permission of George Williams)

Over the following decades the tune remained popular, and in the mid-18th century a new dance version associated with it was published in the second volume of a collection of country dances.

In Scotland the same dance came to be known as The Haymakers. The version used by practitioners of Scottish country dancing treats The Haymakers as a long-ways set for multiple couples, following the general form of social country dances rather than a small "minor-set". This reflects the broader development of Scottish country dancing during the 18th and 19th centuries, which combined older English long-ways country dance forms with Scottish musical style and dance technique.

Historically, Sir Roger de Coverley/The Haymakers acquired a reputation as a "finishing dance" - that is, a dance often used as the final dance of a ball or assembly. Its simplicity and social, inclusive nature made it well suited for concluding a social evening, and that use helped ensure its popularity. Over time the tune and dance spread, influencing derived forms such as the American Virginia Reel.

The Haymakers
"The Hay Harvest" Pieter Brueghel The Elder (1526/1530-1569), Oil On Panel, c. 1565

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