Light And Airy
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
LIGHT AND AIRY (J8x32) 3C (4C set) William Campbell (c. 1790) RSCDS Book 41- 8 1s set and cast to 3rd place (2s+3s step up 3-4); 1s set and cast back to top (2s+3s step down 7-8)
9-16 1s lead down the middle and back
17-24 1s+2s dance Allemande (1s end facing 1st corners)
25-32 1s turn 1st corners RH, partner LH, 2nd corner RH, partner LH to end in 2nd place own sides
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
Light and Airy
William Campbell RSCDS Book 4
Jig 8 x 32 bars 3 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Longwise Set
1-2 1s set;
3-4 1s cast to 3rd place;
5-6 1s set;
7-8 1s cast up to 1st place;
9-16 1s lead down and back, finishing facing up in allemande hold;
17-24 1s2s allemande, 1s finishing facing first corners;
25-32 1s turn corner, partner, corner, partner to finish 2s1s3s.
(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)
Dance Notes
3-4 2s3s take hands on the side and step up.
5-8 2s3s take hands on the side and step down.
13-15 1s lead up quickly to finish above 2s.
16-16 1s continue slowly to 1st position WHILE 2s step in and take allemande hold.
Keith Rose's Crib Diagram
Dance Instruction Videos
Light And Airy - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
The title of this dance almost certainly predates Campbell's publication, c. 1790. The tune called Light and Airy is known in traditional fiddle repertories and appears in several eighteenth- and nineteenth-century tune collections.One source states that the melody had already been printed in David Rutherford's Collection of Country Dances in 1756, well before Campbell's dance publication, and it later appeared in other musical collections and traditional repertoires in Scotland and Ireland.
Because eighteenth-century country dances were often named after the tune used for them, rather than the dance figure itself, it is quite possible that Campbell's dance was simply choreographed to an already well-known jig bearing that title. This was a normal practice of the period: dancing masters frequently devised new figures to existing melodies.
As for the phrase Light and Airy, historical evidence suggests it may not originally have been the title of a poem or song at all, but rather a descriptive expression used by dancing masters. Contemporary writing about dancing used phrases such as "light and airy" to describe the desired style of movement or carriage when dancing, meaning nimble, graceful, and buoyant. The wording therefore fits comfortably with eighteenth-century ballroom language.
Some tune catalogues also record the melody under alternate names. One such title is The Old Woman's Song, which appears attached to the same traditional tune in later collections, indicating that the melody circulated with more than one name in the folk tradition.
Light And Airy
Image copyright Rod Waddington from Kergunyah, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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