The Merry Dancers
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
THE MERRY DANCERS (J8x32) 3C (4C set) RSCDS Book 41- 8 1s turn RH and cast 1 place (2s step up), 1s turn LH and cast to 3rd place (3s step up)
9-16 2s+3s+1s circle 6H round to left for 6 bars (all end on sides) and 1s lead up to face 1st corners as 3s step down
17-24 1s set to 1st corners and turn 2H, set to 2nd corners and turn 2H, finishing between corners
25-32 1s dance reels of 3 on opposite sides giving LSh to 1st corners and cross back to 2nd places. 213
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagram
Dance Instruction Videos
The Merry Dancers - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
The Merry Dancers as published in RSCDS Book 4, the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society states only that the dance was found in a source dating from 1827. No earlier publication or named dancing master is firmly identified for the choreography.The title itself however was already a recognised Scottish expression in the early nineteenth century. In Scotland the phrase "the merry dancers", was a traditional name for the aurora borealis, the natural light display seen in northern skies.
The term appears in Scottish writing from at least the eighteenth century and was widely used in Scotland and northern Britain during the period when the dance was recorded.
Aurora Borealis Over Setter's Hill Estate, Baltasound, Unst, Shetland, Scotland
Image copyright (cropped) Mike Pennington under this Creative Commons Licence 2.0.
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