Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

River Foss Reel

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

RIVER FOSS REEL 32 bar reel Allan Highet

1 - 8 1st, 2nd and 3rd couples set and cross over giving right hand, 1st, 2nd and 3rd couples set and cross back giving right hand
9 - 12 1st couple giving right hand cross over and cast off one place, 2nd couple step up on 3 and 4
13 - 16 1st couple dance half a figure of eight round the 2nd couple to finish in second place on own side
17 - 24 1st couple turn first corner with the right hand, pass by the right, turn second corner with the right hand and pass partner by the right to finish in second place, own side (corners dance for two steps)
25 - 32 2nd, 1st and 3rd couples dance six hands round and back

Repeat having passed a couple

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Allan Highet, 2023)

Dance Information

River Foss Reel is one of a collection of dances written by members of RSCDS York and North Humberside Branch to mark the fortieth anniversary of the formation of the branch.

The collection is titled Forty and Counting (which is also the title of one of the dances).

The River Foss flows past my home village of Earswick and joins the River Ouse in the centre of York.

Suggested tune: Dirk Kommer's Reel.

(Dance information by the deviser, Allan Highet, 2023)

The River Foss is in North Yorkshire, England. A tributary of the River Ouse, it rises in the Foss Crooks Woods near Oulston Reservoir close to the village of Yearsley and runs south through the Vale of York to the Ouse in the centre of York.

The name most likely comes from the Latin word Fossa, meaning ditch. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The York district was settled by Norwegian and Danish people, so parts of the place names could be old Norse.

Referring to the etymological dictionary "Etymologisk ordbog", The old Norse word Fos (waterfall) means impetuous. The River Foss was dammed, and even though the elevation to the River Ouse is small, a waterfall was formed. This may have led to the name Fos which later became Foss.

River Foss, Earswick
The River Foss At Earswick Village, York
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Text from this original River Foss article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Allan Highet, all rights reserved, reproduced here with kind permission, 2023.

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