The Punning Clan
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
The Punning Clan 32 bar jig for five couples in a longwise set, Murrough Landon, 2022.2nd and 4th couples start on opposite sides.
1-4 1st, 3rd and 5th couples turn one and a quarter right hand to end facing their partner on the centre line.
Meanwhile 2nd and 4th couples, giving right hands, cross over to own sides, then set turning to face clockwise, men up, women down.
5-16 All dance a Weasel reel of six ending in the same places (after 12 bars).
Those at the ends of the centre line dance half a reel of six, then, passing right shoulder, leave the reel, dance out to own side, men dance up and women down their own side, turn in to the centre line and rejoin the reel, passing right shoulder.
The others follow the same pattern joining or leaving the reel 2 bars apart.
17-18 1st, 3rd and 5th couples turn three quarters right hand to own sides.
Meanwhile 2nd and 4th couples cross over right hands to opposite sides.
19-20 All set facing their partner (in original places).
21-24 1st with 2nd couple also 3rd with 4th couple dance half right hands across.
Then 1st with 4th couple and 3rd with 5th couple dance half left hands across.
Couples should stay in the centre between the two half hands across figures.
The order now is 2,4,1,5,3. The 4th and 5th couples, who are on opposite sides, end with the men facing up and the women facing down.
25-32 4th and 5th couples dance a Fig of 8 around the dancers on each side of them, starting inwards and right shoulder around the person to their right.
(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA May 2022)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams
Dance Instruction Videos
The Punning Clan - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
The name "Weasel reel" was apparently inspired by a line from the 1980s BBC TV series Blackadder: "I have a plan so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel".Such "Cunning Plans" usually suffered mishaps so it seemed appropriate to use a "Spoonerised" version as the title of a dance, with an extended Weasel reel.
Recommended music: The Nineteenth Hole (Ian Munro) and/or Ian MacKintosh of Pine House (Lindsay Ross). Ideally played AABB so the whole Weasel Reel is in part A.
Suitable recording: Jigs 5x32 (Ian Robertson And Rob Alderton: Double Take).
(Dance information by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA May 2022)
Published in The Punning Clan, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA.
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