Mrs Jimmy Shand's Strathspey
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
Mrs Jimmy Shand's Strathspey A thirty-two bar Strathspey for four couples in a longwise set. On the second chord third and fourth couples cross over to opposite side of the set, devised by John W Mitchell, published in Whetherly Book 6.1- 4 First man followed by his partner casts off behind second man. First man casts two places dancing in front of third lady to face up whilst first lady casts one place, dancing in front of second man to face up. Meanwhile, fourth man followed by his partner casts up behind third man. Fourth man casts two places dancing in front of second lady to face down whilst fourth lady casts one place, dancing in front of third man to face down.
5- 8 First lady followed by her partner dances up, crosses to own side and casts off behind second lady. First lady casts two places, dancing round in front of third man to face him whilst first man casts one place, dancing round in front of second lady to face her. Meanwhile, fourth lady followed by her partner crosses over to the foot of the men's side and casts up behind third lady. Fourth lady casts up two places, dancing round second man to face him whilst fourth man dances round in front of third lady to face her.
9-16 Second couple dance a reel of four across the set with first man and fourth lady, whilst third couple dance a reel across the set with first lady and fourth man.
17-20 First couple dance right hands across in a wheel with second lady and third man, whilst fourth couple dance right hands across in a wheel with second man and third lady.
21-22 First couple dance left hands across in a wheel half way with second lady and third man, whilst fourth couple dance left hands across in a wheel half way with second man and third lady.
23-24 First lady followed by first man, second lady and third man dances up the ladies' side and crosses to mens side. Meanwhile fourth lady followed by fourth man, third lady and second man dances down the men's side and crosses to own side. All in original order with first and third couples on opposite sides.
25-28 First lady followed by her partner casts off and crosses to own side, second couple step up on bars 27 & 28. Meanwhile fourth lady followed by her partner casts up and crosses to the men's side, third couple step down on bars 27 & 28.
29-30 First and fourth couples dance right hands across in a wheel half way.
31-32 All four couples join hands on the sides and set. Finish in the order 2, 4, 1, 3 with first and third couples on opposite sides.
Repeat with new top couple.
(Dance crib reproduced from The Whetherly Book of Scottish Country Dances, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagram
Dance Information
Recommended tune: Mrs Jimmy Shand's Strathspey.Published in The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances Number 6, 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).
Back to the top of this Scottish Country Dancing Instructions 'Mrs Jimmy Shand's Strathspey' page