The New Rigged Ship

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

THE NEW RIGGED SHIP (J8x48) 3C (4C set) RSCDS Book 9

1- 8 1s+2s circle 4H round and back
9-16 1s dance reels of 3 on own sides giving RSh to 2s
17-24 1s lead down the middle and back to top
25-32 1s cross RH, cast 1 place (3 bars), cross LH and cast to 3rd place (3 bars), begin to lead up (2 bars)
33-40 1s lead up to top and cast 1 place to face 1st corners. 1s set to 1st corner and to 2nd corner
41-48 1s dance reels of 3 on opposite sides giving RSh to 2nd corner and cross RH to own sides. 213

(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)

The New Rigged Ship
RSCDS Book 9
Jig 8 x 48 bars 3 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Longwise Set

1-8 1s2s 4 hands round and back;

9-16 1s2s3s reels of 3 on own sides, giving right shoulder to 2s to start;

17-24 1s lead down the middle and back to the top;

25-27 1s cross and cast;

28-30 1s cross by the left and cast to 3rd place;

31-36 1s lead up to the top and cast to face first corners;

37-38 1s set to first corners;

39-40 1s set to second corners;

41-46 1s reels of 3 on opposite sides, giving right shoulder to 2nd corners to start;

47-48 1s cross to own sides, finishing 2s1s3s.

(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)

Dance Notes

25-36 As is typical of many older dances, the allocation of time for the individual elements is somewhat arbitrary; this leads to the counter-intuitive detailed phrasing as follows. However, since this is a solo for the 1s, it's not critical so long as they finish correctly, facing first corners.

25-26 1s cross normally.

27-27 1s cast more quickly than normally.

28-29 1s cross at normal speed but with abnormal phrasing.

30-30 1s cast more quickly than normally.

31-32 1s lead up quickly (nearer hands joined is more helpful since this precedes casting on own sides) finishing in the centre, facing out towards original places.

33-36 1s cast slowly, finishing facing first corners.

35-36 In the original instructions, 2s step up here, probably recognising that 1s may be behind the music.

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

The New Rigged Ship Keith Rose's Diagram

The New Rigged Ship - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Instruction Videos

The New Rigged Ship - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

This dance, The New Rigged Ship, is a 48 bar jig which may be a little more of a challenge for those of us who have reached "a certain age". Thank goodness it is not a reel!

It comes from RSCDS Book 9 which goes back to 1934, when I was barely out of "nappies". That said, the whole idea of sailing ships always appealed to me as a young lad; hence this outline.

As a tune, The New Rigged Ship has been performed through time immemorial, probably going back to sometime in the 18th or 19th century when the glory of sail was in its heyday. References to new rigged ships have usually been related to the days when sailing ship owners frequently changed a ship's rigging for any number of reasons.

A full rigged ship, new or otherwise, referred to any sailing vessel with three masts, all of them square-rigged. I believe this is self-descriptive. Want to think about Spanish galleons or pirate ships? Then you will quickly understand what square-rigged means. The swashbuckling film actor Errol Flynn certainly would have known. Lesser sailing vessels had names like schooner, barque or brig, some of which had fore-and-aft rigging. Square? Fore-and-aft? Doesn't sound like anything to do with Scottish country dancing. Nor would it! Back then, Scotland wasn't really thought of as a maritime country.

Despite its name, there is probably no Scottish version of that well-known clipper ship Cutty Sark, with which we certainly can identify, as I wrote some months back. It was indeed a full rigged ship.

The Barry Pipes Canon 027- September, 2009.

The Full Rigged Ship, Cutty Sark In Full Sails, Photograph, Before 1916

Image copyright (cropped) Allan C. Green, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

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