Menzies Rant
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
MENZIES RANT (Reel Duine Na Marachan) (R8x32) 2C (4C set) Castle Menzies RSCDS Book 71s start on opposite sides
1- 8 1M turns 2L RH 1½ times on side, 1L turns 2M LH 1¾ times on side (1s end BtoB in centre facing 2s)
9-16 2s+1s dance reel of 4 across
17-24 1M+2L set and ¾ turn RH while 1L+2M set and ¾ turn LH (1s end in 2nd place opposite sides), 1s turn 2H
25-32 2s+1s circle 4H round to left ½ way then ½ R&L
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams
Dance Instruction Videos
Menzies Rant - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
Menzies Rant is a Scottish Country Dance found in the Castle Menzies Register of Dances from 1749, and interpreted by the RSCDS, Book 7, 1931.(Dance information copyright, reproduced here with the kind permission of George Williams)
This reel, Menzies Rant (pronounced "ming-iss") is derived from that in The Menzies Manuscript (1749), from the Atholl Collection of the Sandeman Library, Perth. In the manuscript an alternative name for The Menzies Rant is Reel Don ne Marachan.
Castle Menzies in Scotland is the ancestral seat of the Clan Menzies and the Menzies Baronets. It is located a little to the west of the small village of Weem, near Aberfeldy (pronounced "ah-bur-fell-dee") in the Highlands of Perthshire.
Since the demise of the last of the line, the castle was taken over by the Menzies Clan Society who since 1971, have been engaged in its restoration.

Castle Menzies
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