St Andrews By The Northern Sea
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
St Andrews By The Northern Sea (S4x40) 4C set Lewis N Derrick 20231-8 The 1st and 2nd couples and the 3rd and 4th couples dance double figures of eight across the set, to begin the 1st couple cross down while the 2nd couple cast up and the 3rd couple cast down while the 4th couple cross up, all end in original places on sidelines
9-16 The 1st and 2nd couples and the 3rd and 4th couples dance a Rondel, to begin the 1st couple dance down under an arch made by the 2nd couple dancing up while the 4th couple dance up under an arch made by the 3rd couple dancing down (see note 1), on bars 7-8 the 1st and 4th couples use nearer hands to dance down and up into second and third places on own sidelines facing down and up
17-24 Beginning on the sidelines, the 1st and 4th couples dance rights and lefts, ending by retaining left hands in the centre facing up on own sides
25-32 The 1st and 4th couples dance an Allemande to end 2413 all on own sides
33-40 All couples dance eight hands round and back
Repeat three more times from new places each time
(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Lewis N Derrick 2024)
Dance Notes
1: The rondel danced by the 3rd and 4th couples is merely inverted, it is not reversed, so when crossing over on bars 4-5 the men make the arches in both cases.(Dance notes by the deviser, Lewis N Derrick)
Dance Information
This was devised by Lewis Derrick to commemorate Andrew Lang (1844-1912) the writer, journalist, critic, poet and folklorist. The title references Andrew Lang's poem "Almae Matres".Suggested tune: Highland Whisky.
Devised 2023, first published electronically 2024.
Copyright © 2023, 2024 Lewis N. Derrick.
(Dance information from The McGhie Scottish Country Dance Sheets #65, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Lewis N Derrick)
The title of this dance, St Andrews By The Northern Sea, comes from the first line of Almae Matres - Poem written by the Scottish poet Andrew Lang, first published in 1887.
St Andrews by the Northern Sea,
A haunted town it is to me!
Andrew Lang FBA (1844 – 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, folklorist, literary critic, and anthropologist. He is most renowned for his work as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang Lectures at the University of St Andrews are named in his honour.
Born in 1844 in Selkirk, Scottish Borders, Andrew was the eldest of eight children. His father, John Lang, was the town clerk of Selkirk, and his mother, Jane Plenderleath Sellar, was the daughter of Patrick Sellar. In 1875, Lang married Leonora Blanche Alleyne, who contributed to his Colour/Rainbow Fairy Books.
Lang was educated at Selkirk Grammar School, Loretto School, Edinburgh Academy, the University of St Andrews, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he excelled in classical studies. He gained recognition as a journalist, poet, critic, and historian, becoming a fellow of Merton College.
He was also a member of the Order of the White Rose, a Neo-Jacobite society. In 1906, Lang was elected Fellow of the British Academy. He was buried in St Andrews, where a monument in his honour can be visited.

St Andrews By The Northern Sea - 1846
This Photograph Is By The Pioneering Scottish Photographer, David Octavius Hill
Published in The McGhie Scottish Country Dance Sheets, Collection 7, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Lewis N Derrick.
This page contains both original content, which is copyrighted, and excerpts from Wikipedia and other sources using the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Text from this original Andrew Lang article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright (cropped) David Octavius Hill, Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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