The Hurdle Race
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
The Hurdle Race A thirty-two bar Reel for four couples in a longwise set. Devised by John W Mitchell, Published in Whetherly Book 12.1- 8 Crossing reels of four: right shoulder reel on the ladies' side and left shoulder reel on the men's side; all cross up from second place to finish on opposite side, second couple on bar 1, fourth couple on bar 3, third couple on bar 5 and first couple on bar 7. First couple finish facing out.
9-10 First couple cast off, second couple stand still.
11-12 First couple turn with the right hand to face second couple.
13-24 The spurtle:
13-14 first man casts off behind second man on the ladies' side whilst first lady casts up behind second lady on the men's side; at the same time second couple cross passing by the left;
15-16 first couple turn with the right hand to face third couple, whilst second couple cast up into first place on own side;
17-20 repeat with third couple who finish in second place;
21-24 repeat with fourth couple who finish in third place, whilst first couple cross into fourth place on own side instead of turning.
25-32 Eight hands round to the left in a circle and back to the right.
Repeat with new top couple. Recommended tune: The Hurdle Race Note The above method of dancing the spurtle is a slightly different description to that normally given, but gives the phrasing required for this dance.
(Dance crib reproduced from The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagram
Published in The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances Number 12, by John W Mitchell, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell. Instructions reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-ND 4.0).
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