The Shepherd's Wife
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
The Shepherd's Wife A thirty-two bar Jig for two couples in a longwise set, devised by John W Mitchell, published in Whetherly Book 7.1- 4 First and second couples join nearer hands on the sides and advance and retire.
5- 6 First and second couples cross over, the ladies passing under an arch made by the men, to finish facing out.
7- 8 Keeping hands, the second couple cast up into first place, while the first couple cast off into second place, passing under an arch made by the joined nearer hands.
9-16 Repeat bars 1-8: i.e. advance and retire; cross over (ladies going under an arch), then cast with second couple dancing under the arches.
17-18 First and second couples cross over giving right hand in passing.
19-24 First and second couples dance right hands across in a wheel one and a half times round to own side.
25-32 First and second couples dance rights and lefts.
Repeat from second place.
Recommended tune: The Shepherd's Wife
(Dance crib reproduced from The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagram
Published in The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances Number 7, by John W Mitchell, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell; instructions reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-ND 4.0).
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