The Piper And The Penguin
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
THE PIPER AND THE PENGUIN (R88) Sq.Set Roy Goldring Scotia Suite1- 8 Ladies dance RSh round their corners, dance RH across ending in centre
9-16 Ladies dance LSh round their partners, dance LH across and back to places
17-24 Men dance RSh round their partners, dance RH across ending in centre
25-32 Men dance LSh round corners, dance LH across and back to places
33-40 1s and 3s turn partners RH 1¼ times, Men followed by partners dance out between side couples and back to places (1M through 4s and 3M through 2s)
41-48 1s+3s dance R&L
49-56 2s and 4s turn partners RH 1¼ times, Men followed by partners dance out between side couples and back to places (2M through 1s and 4M through 3s)
57-64 2s+4s dance R&L
65-72 Ladies dance in turning right about to dance out, cast clockwise to opposite Lady's place
73-80 Men dance in turning left about to dance out, cast anticlockwise to opposite places
81-88 All turn partners RH 1¼ times into prom hold, Promenade anticlockwise ½ way round to original places
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
The Piper and the Penguin
Roy Goldring Scotia Suite
Strathspey 88 bars 4 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Square Set
1-4 Ls dance clockwise around first corner to place;
5-8 Ls right hands across;
9-12 Ls dance anticlockwise around partner to place;
13-16 Ls left hands across;
17-20 Mn dance clockwise around partner to place;
21-24 Mn right hands across;
25-28 Mn dance anticlockwise around first corner to place;
29-32 Mn left hands across;
33-36 1s 3s turn 1¼ by the right;
37-40 1s 3s, Mn leading, chase out between side couples clockwise to places;
41-48 1s3s rights and lefts;
49-64 2s 4s repeat bars 32-48;
65-72 Ls advance, pull right shoulder back, cast and chase clockwise halfway;
73-80 Mn advance, pull left shoulder back, cast and chase anticlockwise halfway;
81-84 all turn 1¼ by the right, finishing in promenade hold, facing anticlockwise;
85-88 all promenade anticlockwise to original places.
(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams
Dance Instruction Videos
The Piper And The Penguin - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
Devised (probably in the 1990s) by Roy Goldring from Yorkshire. The title refers to a bizarre Scottish adventure.William Bruce (see Lady Catherine Bruce's Reel) led the first Scottish Antarctic expedition in 1902-4, aboard the good ship Scotia (pronounced "skoh-sha"). On 7 March 1904, when in the Weddell Sea, they ran into a blizzard and were trapped by pack-ice. While they were stuck there, the crew passed the time investigating the effect of music on penguins! A bagpiper lashed a penguin to his leg then played different styles of music to see if they affected the penguin differently! Apparently not: presumably the unfortunate bird thought all these sounds equally excruciating... History doesn't relate if it was then eaten for dinner!
On 12 March, a crack opened up in the ice, and the Scotia and her crew were able to escape. Why Goldring chose this story for his title, I don't know. Nor do I detect in the figures he chose for the dance any references to the predicaments of either the Scotia or the long-suffering penguin!
(Dance information by Sir Christopher MacRae, KCMG)
Gilbert Kerr, Bagpiper, With Penguin
Photographed By William Speirs Bruce During The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, 1902-04
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Image copyright Liamcrouse1.
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