Sidlaw Hills (Mitchell - Whetherly Book 12)
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
Sidlaw Hills A thirty-two bar Strathspey for four couples in a longwise set. On the second chord second and fourth couples cross to the opposite side of the set. Devised by John W Mitchell, Published in Whetherly Book 12.1- 2 First and fourth couples cross giving right hand.
3- 4 First couple cast off, second couple step up, fourth couple cast up and third couple step down.
5- 8 First couple dance a half figure of eight round second couple whilst fourth couple do the same round third couple.
9-16 Snowball chain, one step to each hand, first and fourth couples commence by giving right hands on the sides on bar 9, second and third couples joining in giving left hands on bar 10. It will help if they use bar 9 to make a small step to face up and down ready to commence with the left foot on bar 10.
17-20 First and fourth couples dance right hands across in a wheel to finish facing their nearest corners. First man with second man, first lady with second lady, fourth man with third man and fourth lady with third lady.
21-24 Hello-Goodbye setting: set to corners turning on the second step so that first and fourth men face across the set and their partners face up and down; set again to finish facing next corner. First lady with second man, fourth man with second lady, fourth lady with third man and first man with third lady.
25-28 Turn corners, first and fourth ladies turn second and third men with the left hand, whilst the first and fourth men turn third and second ladies with the right hand (out at the ends and in at the sides).
29-32 First and fourth couples dance half a ladies' chain, as the ladies cross right hand the men dance across the set to the opposite side to meet their partners and turn them with the left hand half way. Finish in the order 2, 4, 1, 3.
Repeat with new top couple. Recommended tune: Sidlaw Hills
(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 12, 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).