The Marklands

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 8 1s and 4s set, cast in 1 place while 2s and 3s step up/down to ends, 1s+4s circle 4H round to left
9-16 All dance Grand Chain (2s and 3s cross RH to start)
17-24 1s+4s set, cast to ends while 2s and 3s step up/ down to original places. 1s+2s also 3s+4s circle 4H round to the left
25-32 1s cast to 4th place while 2s+3s+4s step up on bars 27-28 and all turn partners RH

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

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

The Marklands - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Instruction Videos

Dance Information

There was some local variation in the equivalences, for example, in some places eight ouncelands were equal to one markland, but in others, such as Islay, a markland was twelve ouncelands. The markland derived its name from the old coin the Merk Scots (cognate with German mark), which was the annual rent paid on it, and so it was calculated by this, rather than its actual area.

Originally a Scots mark or merk was 13s 4d (160 pence), but the Scottish coinage depreciated against the English, and by the 18th century a Scots merk was worth only 13 ⅓d sterling - one-twelfth of its original value. Although such coins were abolished by the Acts of Union 1707, some stayed in circulation for decades, and the names themselves remained in common use for centuries.

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