The Lichted Ha' (Drewry)

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

THE LICHTED HA' (S4x32) 4C set John Drewry Summer Collection 7
3s and 4s start on opposite sides

1- 4 All set, 1s and 4s cross down/up while 2s and 3s cast to ends
5- 6 2L+1M and 4M+3L change places LH while 2M+1L and 4L+3M change places RH on sides. (1)23(4)
7- 8 1s and 4s cross down/up to position between 2nd and 3rd places - Men BtoB facing other Lady (4L on Men's side) while 2s and 3s dance up/down to ends
9-12 1M and 4M dance out passing Ladies RSh, face in and set while Ladies dance in and passing each other LSh petronella turn to face each other (1L facing up and 4L facing down) and set moving to right to face own partner
13-16 Repeat bars 9-12 with Men setting in centre and end facing other partner
17-24 Men turn other partner 2H 1¾ times onto sides (4s in 2nd place and 1s in 3rd place), 4s+1s dance 4H round to left
25-28 All set, turn partners 2H to end in centre (top 2 couples face down and bottom 2 couples face up)
29-32 4M+1L also 4L+1M dance out sides, cast to ends, 4M+2M also 3M+1M change places RH on sides while partners change places LH. 24(1)(3)

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

Dance Information

Also see the dance Lichted Ha' (Mitchell) by John W Mitchell.

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

This page uses content under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, along with original copyrighted content and excerpts from Wikipedia and other sources.
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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