The New York Fugue

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 8 1C dance down the middle and dance back (i.e. nearer hands), finishing facing out.
9-16 1C cast into a figure of eight through first and second places, finishing facing out.
2C dance down (3) and strongly up (3) and cast above first place and into second face finishing facing in and up.
17-24 1C and 2C dance a double figure of 8, 2C begin by crossing up. 1C finish facing out, 2C in and up.
3C dance down (1) and up (around 4, don't rush) they should be just behind 1C on bars 3 and 4, but in front of the crossing 2C. Beginning on bar 6, 3C cast from above top place to 3rd place to finish and finish facing in and down-ish.
25-32 1C, 2C, 3C dance mirror reels of 3 on the sides. 1C out and down, 2C in and up, and 3C dance in to meet and cast up into the reels.
4C casts (quickly) up on the outside of the set to finish facing in and down between 2C and 3C position (2 bars-in front of the 1C and 3C trailing them) crosses down to 4th place on opposite sides, casts back up to between 2C and 3C position and then crosses back to own sides. (Thus they link in between the reels.) 4C finish facing out as does 1C.
33-34 1C casts to second place ready to cross down, 2C steps up. 4C casts between second and third places slightly inside of the set on own sides.
35-36 1C crosses down to 3rd place, 4C cross down to 4th place on opposite sides, 3C step up to second place.
37-38 4C cast up to 3rd place. 1C dance down to 4th place on opposite sides.
39-40 1C and 4C cross to own sides in 4th and 3rd places respectively.
41-48 8 hands round and back.
Finishing order 2,3,4,1.

Repeat from new positions.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser Rod Downey, Johnsonville SCD Club Tutor)

Dance Information

I would suggest "Lochiel's awa' to France" by Niel Gow as the lead tune, but all recordings I know are 8 by 48.

So for recorded music I would use "The Nether Bow Has Vanished" (4 x 48 recording) by Bobby Crowe, or "Lucy of Lammermoor" by Peter White.

Since all of these are on vinyl, for a CD recording, perhaps "The Ellwyn Stathspey" by Ian Homes in the Highlander Series.

Revised after dancing 2/3/2020, with 4C casting on bar 25, a suggestion of Iain Matcham.
Personally, I would use Lochiel and edit the music. The music needs strong 2 bar phrases.

(Dance information from The Golden Bear Collection Of Scottish Country Dances, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Rod Downey)

In music it is a contrapuntal design in which a theme, called the subject, is introduced by one voice and then imitated by others at different pitch levels, producing a complex and interwoven texture. The usual outline begins with an exposition, where the subject is first heard, followed by sections that explore the theme through modulation and variation, before returning to the tonic key for resolution. This form became a hallmark of Baroque music, with Johann Sebastian Bach creating some of the most influential examples, though later composers such as Beethoven and Brahms also incorporated fugues into their works.

The name derives from the Latin 'fuga', meaning flight, a reference to the way musical lines seem to pursue one another. Earlier imitative styles such as the ricercare of the sixteenth century laid the groundwork for the fugue, which reached maturity in the seventeenth century. Unlike a canon, which requires exact repetition, the fugue allows greater flexibility, with the subject reappearing in different keys and often accompanied by a countersubject that complements the main theme. This makes the fugue one of the most demanding and precise forms of composition, valued for its intellectual rigour and structural clarity.

The term was also applied to dances of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which reflected the imitative qualities of the musical fugue. In these choreographies, dancers entered in sequence, repeating or varying movements introduced by others, creating a visual parallel to the musical form. Although such dances are rarely performed today, their existence highlights how the fugue was conceived not only as a musical technique but also as a broader artistic idea of imitation and pursuit across different disciplines.

Fugue - Information Video

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