Lady Graham's Strathspey
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
Lady Graham's Strathspey A forty-eight bar Strathspey for three couples in a longwise set., devised by John W Mitchell, Published in Whetherly Book 8.1- 2 First couple cross below second couple, who step up.
3- 4 First lady casts off behind third man whilst first man casts up behind second lady.
5- 8 First lady dances out between second and third ladies, casts up behind second lady and dances in to meet her partner. At the same time first man dances out between second and third men, casts off behind third man and dances up to meet his partner; first couple take a promenade hold and face out between second and third men.
9-12 First couple dance a half a reel of three with their first corners (second man and third lady) and finish facing third man; they commence by passing right shoulder.
13-16 First couple pass third man by the right shoulder to dance a half reel of three with their second corners (third man and second lady), they finish facing out between second and third men on the ladies side.
17-24 First couple lead out between second and third men, first lady crossing in front of first man and casting up behind third man, whilst first man casts off behind second man, they dance in to meet and face out on the men's side of the set; they again lead out crossing, first man casting up and first lady casting off, then dance in to meet facing out on the ladies' side of the set. At the same time second and third couples dance rights and lefts all the way round, commencing by giving right hands to own partners.
25-28 First couple again take a promenade hold and dance a half a reel of three with their first corners, commencing by passing second man by the right shoulder; they finish facing third man (in first lady's position).
29-32 First couple dance a half a reel of three with their second corners, commencing by passing third man by the right shoulder; as they finish the reel, first couple separate, first lady facing up between second couple and first man down between third couple.
33-36 First couple dance anticlockwise round their first corners into second place on the opposite side of the set; first lady casting off behind second man whilst first man casts up behind third lady.
37-40 First couple turn one and a half times with the right hand to their own sides of the set.
41-48 All three couples dance six hands round in a circle to the left and back to the right. Repeat from second place. On bars 37-40 of the repeat, dancing couple cross to own side giving right hand in passing and cast off into third place, third couple stepping up, so that first couple are at the foot prior to the final circle. Recommended tune: Lady Graham's Strathspey Note The dance may also be performed in a three couple set for demonstrations, by crossing and casting on bars 37-40 as described for the repeat.
(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 8, 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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