Inch Of Perth

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

INCH OF PERTH (S8x32) 3C (4C set) Alexander Bowman RSCDS Book 11

1- 8 1s+2s dance RH across and LH back to places
9-16 1s lead down to 3rd place, 3s+1s circle 4H round to left
17-24 1s set, cast up 1 place to face 1st corners, 1s set to 1st corners and then to 2nd corners
25-32 1s dance reels of 3 on sides giving RSh to 2nd corners and cross to places

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

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

Inch Of Perth - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Instruction Videos

Inch Of Perth - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

Inch? Well, that's not much of a piece of Perth real estate, is it? Even with a metric conversion to 2.54 cm, one is certainly no better off. If you owned an Inch of Perth, you could hardly use it to play ball or walk the dog, could you? So why bother devising an SCD Strathspey called Inch of Perth?

Of course, if you lived in Perth, and you had access to an Inch of Perth, you would be very happy to be able to punt a rugger ball or to walk not only a wee Chihuahua but even a gargantuan Irish Wolfhound. How could that be? As a resident of Perth, you would know that there is indeed a well-grassed Inch of Perth where all kinds of recreational activities are able to take place, but not in miniature. In fact, there are two Inches of Perth, a North Inch and a South Inch.

To unmask this conundrum, one needs to know that "Inch" is an anglicized form of the Gaelic word "Innis" or "Insch," meaning a level area or piece of dry land in a swamp. Nowadays, it is used in Perth to mean a "park"... where one can indeed play ball or walk a dog.

Any historical signiﬁcance? You bet! Within the area that is now the North Inch, history records that there was a pitched battle in 1396 between 30 Cameron clansmen and 30 assorted members of the Clan Chattan confederation, a potent brew of Mackintoshes, Davidsons, McPhersons, and others. After the battle, arranged by King Robert III to settle a dispute, there remained standing only eleven members of the Chattan contingent and one Cameron. A blood bath indeed!

And how about the South Inch? Yes, it involved Oliver Cromwell in the Civil War, but that is another story. To learn more about North Inch and the "Battle of the Clans." You might want to read Sir Walter Scott's The Fair Maid of Perth for more gory detail.

The Barry Pipes Canon 032- March, 2010.

Back to the top of this Scottish Country Dancing Instructions 'Inch Of Perth' page