The Scholars' Bus

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

THE SCHOLAR'S BUS (J8x32) 3C (4C set) Deirdrie MacCuish Bark, 2013

1- 8 1s and 3s Petronella turn and set; 1s and 3s turn partner RH to end 1L and 3M facing clockwise, 1M and 3L facing anticlockwise
9-12 1M+3L turn LH 1½ while 1L+2s+3M chase anticlockwise ½ round, 1s and 3s face partner in line up/down, 2s end in 2nd place opposite sides
13-16 All set to partner, 3s and 1s turn partner RH ¾ while 2s turn RH ½ round, all 3 couples in centre facing up ready for...
17-22 3s+2s+1s dance Allemande, bar 22 1s and 2s face up, 3s face down
23-24 1s cast to 2nd place facing in while 2s dance up to top and face out while 3s cast to 3rd place facing out (3M pull back RSh, 3L LSh)
25-32 2s+1s+3s dance mirror reels of 3 on sides (1s in/down, 2s out/down, 3s out up to start). 213

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

The Scholars' Bus
Deirdre MacCuish Bark Toronto, December 2013
Jig 8 x 32 bars 3 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Longwise Set

1-4 1s 3s quarter petronella, finishing facing partners on the centre line;

5-8 1s 3s turn by the right and release hands, 1L 3M finishing facing clockwise, 1M3L taking left hands;

9-12 1L2M3M2L chase clockwise halfway WHILE 1M3L turn by the left 1½ times, all finishing facing partners;

13-16 all set to and turn partners by the right to finish 3s2s1s on the centre line, facing up;

17-22 3s2s1s dance bars 1-6 of allemande, finishing on the centre line, 1s 2s facing up, 3s down;

23-24 1s cast one place WHILE 2s dance up to 1st place WHILE 3M pull right shoulder back, 3L left and dance out to 3rd place, 1s 3s finishing facing out;

25-32 1s dance in and down into mirror reels of 3.

(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)

Dance Notes

24-30 In the 2^nd, 4^th and 6^th repeats, complete the reels of 3 in 6 bars, 3s finishing facing out.

31-32 In the 2^nd, 4^th and 6^th repeats, 3s cast up to 3^rd place of the full set WHILE 1s dance in and down to 4^th place.

Dance Instruction Videos

The Scholars' Bus - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

The recommended music is that for The Celebration Jig on the CD, SSCD09, 15 Social Dances, by Muriel Johnstone's Band.

In the mid 1950s, my sister and I attended Finsbay School on the Island of Harris for a short while, the same school that my father and his siblings had attended in the years after the Great War.

The Quidinish scholars who lived far from the school had to walk to the nearest roadhead, as there was no road down to their crofts, and from there they would catch a ride in a van to school.

The van passed my aunt's house and, as she was the school teacher, both she, my sister and I had a ride to school.

(Dance information by the deviser, Deirdre MacCuish Bark)

The Scholars Bus - Information Video

Finsbay (Fionnsabhagh)

Image copyright Anne Burgess under this Creative Commons Licence 2.0.

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