The Lost Legion

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1-4 1C cross right hand and cast off one place, 2C step up on 3 and 4. Similarly 4C cross right hand and cast up one place, 3C step down on 3 and 4.
5-8 2C and 1C dances 4 hands across, finishing with 1L facing 2M, and 1M immediately behind her.
4C and 3C similarly 4 hands across finishing with 4M facing 3L, and 4L immediately behind 4M.
9-16 1C, 4C dance "corners pass and turn in (lead change) tandem". To wit:
 9-12 While 2M and 3L turn right hand and return to places, 1C dance out to first man's place, with lead change, so that 1M is in front of 1L on bars 11 and 12. Similarly for 4C so that now the 4L is leading.
 1C and 4C will pass collective right shoulder to dance into the bars 13-16, finishing 1M (with 1L behind) facing 3M who is in 4th place, and similarly 4C finishing facing first lady's place.
 13-16 Repeat this with 2L and 4M, again lead changing. Finish with 1C above 4C, 1C facing up and 4C down, again passing collective right shoulder.
17-20 1L dances around 2L in top place passing her by the left; similarly 1M around 2M; 4M around 3M and 4W around 3W all by the left. Don't finish on the sidelines but finish 4L dancing up outside the women's sideline 1L inside (and 1M 4M similarly) just past each other the ready for...
21-22 1L and 4L, 1M and 4M turn about 1¼ giving left hands, into 3rd and 2nd positions, respectively.
23-24 All take hands on the sidelines and set.
25-32 2C and 4C; 1C and 3C dance all round poussettes.
Finishing order 2,4,1,3

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser Rod Downey, Johnsonville SCD Club Tutor)

Dance Information

Xiaowen Yu contacted me and told me that they had danced the next dance "My Golden Bear" as a strathspey with a New York group, and it worked well. This got me thinking, and The Lost Legion is the result.

The corners pass and turn in tandem movement is from My Golden Bear.

Charlotte Williams suggested I write a dance called The Lost Legion, which, according to at least one legend, Legio IX Hispana marched into second century Scotland (from York) and were never seen again.

Suggested music is "The Scottish Snap" by J. Murdoch Henderson and an excellent recording is Strathspey (track 3) of "On Track" by the Sound Company.

A reasonable alternative is "Miss Macpherson of Scone" as recorded by James Coutts and his band, or if you are lucky enough to have it, "Green Grow the Rashes" as recorded by Alasdair Downie (or even James Cameron if you like the Coronet).

(Dance information from The Golden Bear Collection Of Scottish Country Dances, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Rod Downey)

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