The Mill Burn
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
The Mill Burn A thirty-two bar Reel for two couples in a longwise set. Devised by John W Mitchell, Published in Whetherly Book 12.1- 4 First lady crosses down between second couple and casts up behind second man, dancing into the centre of the set to face second lady. Meanwhile first man crosses over and casts off behind second lady, dancing into the centre of the set to face second man. First and second couples are in a diamond formation, with first couple in the centre of the set.
5- 8 Half diagonal rights and lefts, the two ladies change places right hand, the two men likewise; then first man and second lady change places left hand as do their partners. Finish second couple on the sidelines, first couple in the middle of the set facing up and down.
9-16 Right hands across in a wheel and back with the left hand.
17-24 All dance half a petronella to finish with second couple back on own side, first couple still in the centre, lady at the top facing down and man facing up.
25-32 Reel of four, first couple pass left shoulder to start, then first man and second lady pass right as do their partners. At the end of the reel, first man and second lady are in first place, second man and first lady in second place. Second man steps up on the first two bars of the repeat.
Repeat from second place. Recommended time: The Mill Burn
(Dance crib reproduced from The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagram
Published in The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances Number 12, by John W Mitchell, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell. Instructions reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-ND 4.0).
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