High Cup Nick
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
High Cup Nick (R8x32) A 32 bar reel for three couples in a four couple longwise set. Murrough Landon, 2024.1-4 1st couple cross over giving left hands and cast off as 2nd couple set up.
5-8 All set on the sides. Then the corners dance as in set and link for three but stay facing the way they are going: 2nd couple end facing down in 3rd place and 3rd couple end facing up at the top.
Meanwhile 1st couple petronella turn to their right ending facing each other on the centre line, 1st man in 1st place, 1st woman in 3rd place.
9-12 1st couple each dance half a reel of three across, starting right shoulder to the person on their right. The corners end with loops so all face down and up to the other line of three.
13-16 All take hands to advance and retire up and down the set.
17-20 All repeat the set and link or petronella figure of bars 5-8. 1st couple end in 2nd place own side facing in. 3rd and 2nd couples end facing out in 1st and 3rd places respectively.
21-24 1st couple each dance half a reel of three on the sides starting right shoulder to the person on their right. The corners end with loops and all face in.
25-32 All take hands briefly, advance to the centre, pull left shoulder back and cast into a chase anticlockwise once round to own sides. The final order is 2,1,3.
(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA January 2024)
Dance Notes
The figure of bars 5-8 and 17-20 comes from A Leisurely Stroll by Kaoru Oyama.(Dance notes by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA January 2024)
Dance Instruction Videos
High Cup Nick - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
High Cup Nick is the centre point of a dramatic U shaped glacial valley on the Pennine Way.Suggested tune: The New High Level (Robert Whinham).
Suitable recording: The Hard Drive (Marian Anderson and SDB: The Sunday Class: Dance Book 1).
(Dance information by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA January 2024)
High Cup Gill, also known as High Cup Nick or simply High Cup, is a nearly perfect U-shaped valley carved into the Pennine escarpment, located northeast of Appleby-in-Westmorland in Cumbria, within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in northern England.
The valley is believed to be of glacial origin, shaped by ice during successive ice ages. To its southeast lies Murton Fell, while Dufton Fell is situated to the north.
The Ordnance Survey officially names the valley High Cup Gill, but it is often referred to as High Cup Nick, a term that specifically denotes the point at its northeastern edge where the headwaters of Highcup Gill Beck flow from the flat terrain of High Cup Plain over the edge of High Cup Scar and into the valley.
The word "Gill," of Norse origin, means a narrow valley or ravine, while "Beck" refers to a stream; both terms are commonly used in the hills of northern England.
The classic view looking southwest from High Cup Nick across the valley toward the Vale of Eden is considered one of the most stunning natural features in northern England.
High Cup Nick
View Along The Glaciated Valley Of High Cup Gill To The Eden Valley
Published in High Cup Nick, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA.
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original High Cup Gill article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Graham Hogg under this Creative Commons Licence 2.0.
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