The Reel Of The 51st Division
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
THE REEL OF THE 51ST DIVISION (R8x32) 3C (4C set) Jimmy Atkinson and Peter Oliver RSCDS Book 131- 8 1s set and cast below 3s, lead up to face 1st corners
9-16 1s set and turn 1st corners RH to balance in diagonal line, set and 1s turn LH to face 2nd corners
17-24 1s set and turn 2nd corners RH to Balance-in-Line, set and 1s turn LH to 2nd place own sides
25-32 2s+1s+3s circle 6H round and back
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
The Reel of the 51st Division
J.E.M. Atkinson RSCDS Book 13
Reel 8 x 32 bars 3 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Longwise Set
1-2 1s set;
3-8 1s cast two places, meet, take left hands and lead up to face first corners;
9-12 1s set and turn first corners by the right, finishing 2M1L1M3L in line on the first corners' diagonal;
13-14 2M1L1M3L balance;
15-16 1s turn by the left;
17-20 1s set and turn second corners by the right, finishing 3M1L1M2L in line on the second corners' diagonal;
21-22 3M1L1M2L balance;
23-24 1s cross by the left to own sides in 2nd place;
25-32 2s1s3s 6 hands round and back.
(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)
Dance Notes
7-8 Although the original instructions imply right hands for the lead up, left hands make a more comfortable transition to the next figure.
Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams
Dance Instruction Videos
The Reel Of The 51st Division - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
Also see the derivative dance The Reel Of The 51st Division (3-Couple Version) by J.E.M. Atkinson (and others), adapted by Reuben Freemantle.Also see the derivative dance The Reel Of The 51st Division (Alternative 3-Couple Version) by J.E.M. Atkinson (and others), adapted by Reuben Freemantle.
Also see the derivative dance The Reel Of The 51st Division (5-Couple Version) by J.E.M. Atkinson (and others), adapted by Reuben Freemantle.
One of the most popular Scottish country dances of all time, the Reel of the 51st Highland Division is a modern Scottish country dance written while in a "Prisoners Of War" camp in the winter of 1940 during the Second World War, by Lieutenant J.E.M. "Jimmy" Atkinson of the 7th Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Lt. Peter Oliver (4th Seaforth Highlanders) and Lt. Col. Tom Harris Hunter (51st Division Logistics Group RASC).
Captured, together with the vast majority of the British 51st (Highland) Division while defending the retreat from Dunkirk in 1940, Atkinson spent the rest of the war as a POW in Germany. His idea of a reel with a St Andrew's Cross in its key formation was intended to symbolise Scotland, and the Highland Division, in adversity.
Atkinson's letter home with instructions for the dance was intercepted by the German security service, the Abwehr, who spent the rest of the war trying to break the code! However, another version of the dance reached Scotland where it was published while Atkinson was still a POW and became instantly popular.
Also known as the Laufen Reel after Laufen Castle near Salzburg, the 51st Country Dance, the Reel of the 51st Highland Division and St Valery's Reel, it is often danced in a set composed entirely of men.
The 51st Highland Division was the first contemporary Scottish Country Dance to be published by the R.S.C.D.S.
The tune "The Drunken Piper" is a favourite highland reel composed by Alex McLeod.
For a more detailed history of the dance, see BBC story of The Reel Of The 51st Division.
For more information on the 51st Division, see The 51st Division - Information Video.
The following photograph shows the 51st Highland Division in less adverse circumstances after D-Day.
Infantry Of 51st Highland Division, Udenhout, Netherlands, 1944
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Reel Of The 51st Highlanders article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Mapham J (Sgt), No 5 Army Film And Photographic Unit, via Wikimedia Commons.
Additional search terms: Fifty First, Regiment.
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