Lassie Wi' The Yellow Coatie (Rutherford)
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
LASSIE WI' THE YELLOW COATIE (R8x32) 3C (4C set) David Rutherford RSCDS Book 81- 8 1s cast to 3rd place and cast back to top
9-16 1s cross RH, cast 1 place, cross LH cast to 3rd place lead up to end facing 1st corners
17-24 1s set and turn 1st corners, set and turn 2nd corners
25-32 1s dance out Man's side and dance Figs of 8 back to place (1L round 2s and 1M round 3s)
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagram
Dance Instruction Videos
Lassie Wi' The Yellow Coatie (Rutherford) - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
Also see the dance Lassie Wi' The Yellow Coatie (Border Book).This dance, Lassie Wi' The Yellow Coatie (Rutherford), was originally published by John Johnson in 1742 as "The Lassie in the Yellow Coatie" and interpreted by the RSCDS book 8 in 1932.
The RSCDS attributes this dance to David Rutherford, who did publish it, but Johnson did so earlier.
(Dance information copyright, reproduced here with the kind permission of George Williams)
The tune Lassie Wi' The Yellow Coatie appears in James Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion in about 1756 and was subsequently included in Robert Bremner's A Collection of Scots Reels or Country Dances in 1757.
This dance shares its title with the Lassie Wi' The Yellow Coatie - Song, written by James Duff, known as the "Methven Poet", and published in Perth in 1816.
The song is a courtship song in which a country lad asks the "lassie wi' the yellow coatie" to marry him, assuring her that although his farm and wealth are modest, he has plenty to provide for them and will give her his heart.
Lassie wi' the yellow coatie,
Will ye wad a muirland Jockie?
Lassie wi' the yellow coatie,
Will ye busk an' gang wi' me?
One explanation of the unusual title is that "the lassies with the yellow coaties" were women employed in the fishing industry, gutting, salting and packing the catch, with their yellow clothing identifying their occupation. This explanation has been associated with the song, although its historical basis has not been established.
The title itself is considerably older than James Duff's song: a dance called The Lassie in the Yellow Coatie was published by John Johnson in 1742. Whether the title originally referred to these fishing women, to a particular woman, or simply to a girl wearing a yellow coat, is unknown.
Lassie Wi' The Yellow Coatie Song - Information Video
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