My Heather Hills
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
MY HEATHER HILLS (J3x48) 3 C set Derek Haynes Carnforth Collection 23 couple set: Start with 1M+3M changing places (1M to 3rd place and 3M to 1st place) Chord: Bow/curtsey to opposite person
1- 8 1s turn RH 1½ times (2s step up/down to vacant corners) and dance RSh round 2nd corners to 2nd place opposite side
9-16 1s dance diagonal R&L with Man going down and Lady up each time (polite turns)
17-24 1s repeat bars 9-16 and 1s end by turning in to face 1st corners
25-32 1s dance 'Hello Goodbye' setting and end facing 2nd corners
33-40 1s dance full diagonal reel of 4 with 2nd corners and end by passing LSh to face 2nd corners again
41-48 1s dance reel of 3 (on opposite sides) giving RSh to 2nd corner, 1s cross to own side (M up to top and L down to bottom) as 3s cast into 2nd place (2L 3L 1L : 1M 3M 2M)
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
My Heather Hills
Derek Haynes Carnforth Collection 2
Jig 3 x 48 bars 3 Couple Repeat 3 Couple Set Longwise Set
On the second chord, 1M cast to 3rd place WHILE 3M lead up to 1st place.
1-4 1s turn by the right 1½ times;
5-8 1s cast to 2nd place (opposite sides) WHILE 2L move up and 2M move down;
9-16 diagonal rights and lefts (1L always going diagonally up and 1M diagonally down);
17-24 repeat bars 9-16, finishing facing first corner positions;
25-32 1s hello-goodbye setting, starting with first corner position (3s) finishing facing 2nd corner positions;
33-40 1s with 2s (in second corner positions) diagonal reel of 4;
41-46 1s reels of 3 on opposite sides, starting with right shoulder to second corner positions;
47-48 3s cast (L up, M down) to 2nd place WHILE 1L cross down to 3rd place WHILE 1M cross up to 1st place.
(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)
Dance Notes
5-8 1s must take their time otherwise a long wait for bar 9.
9-24 diagonal rights and lefts (1L always working at the top and 1M always at the bottom).
41- Second corners (2s) flow straight from reel of 4 into reel of 3 with 1s following.
-46 2s stop on reaching second corners' positions again.
47-48 3s continue reeling to 2nd place.
Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams
Dance Instruction Videos
My Heather Hills - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
Also see the dance Land Of The Heather Hills by Barry Priddey.The title of this dance, My Heather Hills, is shared with the My Heather Hills - Song written by John Ballantine, found in The History Of Scottish Song By Rev. J. Douglas Borthwick, published by Murray & Co., Stationers' Hall, 387 Notre Dame Street in 1874.
Chorus
Then hurrah, hurrah, for the heather hills,
Where the bonnie thistle waves to the sweet blue bells,
And the wild mountain floods heave their crests to the clouds,
Syne foam down the steeps o' my heather hills.
My Heather Hills, The History Of Scottish Song, c.1874
Image copyright (cropped), public domain https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/The_history_of_Scottish_song_%28microform%29_%28IA_cihm_00184%29.pdf, Creative Commons Licence 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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