Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Nurse Dent

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

NURSE DENT (J8x32) 3C (4C set) Murrough Landon Woodhall Book 4

1- 8 1s+2s dance Chain Progression:
 1s+2s ¾ turn RH, 1M+2L turn LH 1½ times as partners chase clockwise ½ way, 2s turn RH to end in 1st place own side while 1s ½ turn RH to finish in centre facing up 1L followed by 1M
9-16 1L followed by 1M dances up, casts round 2L and dances across to 2nd place opposite side; 1s+3s dance LH across
17-24 1L followed by 1M dances up, casts round 2M and dances across to 2nd place own side; 1s+3s dance RH across
25-32 2s+1s+3s circle 6H round and back

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


Nurse Dent 32 bar jig for 3 couples in a 4 couple longwise set, Murrough Landon, 2022.

1- 8 1st and 2nd couples dance a chain progression, but at the end 1st couple only half turn right hand to end facing up in tandem, 1st woman above 1st man.
9-12 1st couple, with 1st woman leading, dance half a tandem figure of 8 around 2nd woman. 1st woman ends crossing to face out in 2nd place opposite side.
13-16 1st and 3rd couples dance left hands across. On the last bar 1st woman starts to dance up the centre.
17-20 1st couple, with 1st woman leading, dance half a tandem figure of 8 around 2nd man. 1st woman ends crossing to face out in 2nd place own side.
21-24 1st and 3rd couples dance right hands across ending on the sides.
25-32 2nd, 1st and 3rd couples circle 6 hands round to the left and back. The final order is 2,1,3.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA May 2022)


Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams


Dance Instruction Videos

Nurse Dent - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

This dance is for John Dent, a regular at Gay Gordons classes in London for many years and a participant at the Gay Gordons residential events at Laurieston Hall near Castle Douglas, Scotland. Those weeks usually included a cabaret night.

One year we had several medics who produced a short shadow show of an operation going horribly wrong. John stole the show with a comic psycho performance as knife wielding Nurse Dent - an unforgettable memory of those gatherings.

Recommended music:
Tune: The Brig (Traditional).
Recording: Closeburn Lassies (Ian Muir and The Craigellachie Band: Blackwater Collection).

(Dance information by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA May 2022)



Published in Nurse Dent, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA.

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