The Lichted Ha' (Mitchell)
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
THE LICHTED HA' (S8x40) 3C (4C set) John W Mitchell Whetherly Book 61- 8 1s lead down and back to top
9-16 1s cross RH, cast to 2nd place, cross LH, cast below 3s and lead up to 2nd place
17-24 1s (prom hold) dance ½ reel of 3 with 2L+3L (LSh to 2L to start) and dance ½ reel of 3 with 2M+3M (LSh to 3M to start), 1s end in 2nd places
25-32 3s+1s+2s dance the Knot and 1s end facing 1st corners
33-40 1s turn 1st corners RH, partner LH, 2nd corner RH and partner LH to 2nd places
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
The Lichted Ha' A forty bar Strathspey for three couples in a longwise set, devised by John W Mitchell, published in Whetherly Book 6.
1- 8 First couple lead down the middle and up to place.
9-16 First couple cross over giving right hand and cast off into second place (second couple stepping up on bars 3 & 4) cross over giving left hand and cast off behind third couple, then lead up to second place taking a promenade hold.
17-20 First couple in a promenade hold dance a half a reel of three with second and third lady passing second lady by the left shoulder to commence.
21-24 First couple, still in a promenade hold dance a half a reel of three with second and third man passing third man by the left shoulder to commence. First couple separate to finish in second place on own side.
25-32 Third, first and second couples dance a knot. First couple finish facing first corners.
33-40 First couple turn their first corners by the right hand, partner with the left hand, second corners with the right hand and cross back to own side giving left hand to partner.
Repeat from second place. Recommended tune: The Lichted Ha'
(Dance crib reproduced from The Whetherly Book of Scottish Country Dances, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagram
Dance Information
Also see the dance Lichted Ha' (Drewry) by John Drewry.The title of this dance, The Lichted Ha', comes from the second verse of Mary Morison - Song written by Robert Burns in around 1784.
Yestreen, when to the trembling string
The dance gaed thro, the lichted ha',
To thee my fancy took its wing,
I sat, but neither heard nor saw:
Tho' this was fair, and that was braw,
And yon the toast of a' the town,
I sigh'd and said amang them a',
"Ye are na Mary Morison".
In the line "The dance gaed through the lichted ha" (often - "lighted ha") from Mary Morison by Robert Burns, "lichted ha" means illuminated hall. "Ha" is Scots for hall, referring to a large room or gathering place, often in a house or public building. "lichted" or "Lighted" means lit up, likely by candles or lamps in Burns' time.
So, the line describes a lively dance taking place in a brightly lit hall.
Mary Morison Song - Information Video
Mary Morison, From Glen Collection Of Printed Music, Minstrelsy Of Scotland, Page 164, c. 1895
Published in The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances Number 6, 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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Text from this original Mary Morison article on Wikipedia.
Text from this original Mary Morison article on Wikisource.
Image from National Library Of Scotland, licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0.
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