Sic A Ewie
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
Sic a EwieMaggie and Duncan Keppie Haliburton School Of Arts SCD Book 1: Tenth Anniversary Book
3/5x32 bar Reel
3 or 5 couple dance in longways set
1-8 SET, CAST AND ½ FIGURE OF 8: 1st couple set to each other, cast off one place (2nd couple stepping up), and dance a ½ figure of 8 round 2nd couple;
9-16 SET, CAST AND ½ FIGURE OF 8: 1st couple set to each other, cast off one place (3rd couple stepping up), and dance a ½ figure of 8 round 3rd couple;
17-24 SET TWICE AND BACK-TO-BACK: 2nd, 3rd, and 1st couples set twice, and dance back-to-back with partner;
25-32 CIRCLE AND BACK: 2nd, 3rd, and 1st couples circle to the left and back.
Repeat with new top couple.
(Dance crib compiled by the devisers, Maggie and Duncan Keppie)
Dance Notes
If performed in a 5-couple set, both 1st and 3rd couples are active with 3rd couple dancing as 1st couple in bars 1-16.Dance Information
The title of this dance, Sic a Ewie, comes from The Crooket Horned Ewie - Song written by John Skinner in c. 1780.Oh, the yowie wi' the crookit horn
A' that kenned her could hae sworn
That sic a yowie ne'er was born
Here aboot or far awa'
It is thought that the title, The Crooket Horned Ewie, refers to the whisky-still with the crooked, spiral or corkscrew shape of the condenser being compared to a ewe's (female sheep) horn.
The Crooket Horned Ewie Song - Information Video
Crooket Horned Ewie c. 1894
The Black-Faced Scotch (Heather Sheep) Have Very Large And Spirally Twisted Horns
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Ewie wi' the Crookit Horn article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Bennett, Frank P., ed [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons.
Back to the top of this Scottish Country Dancing Instructions 'Sic A Ewie' page