St Andrew's Square

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

ST ANDREW'S SQUARE (M-(R32+S32+J32)) Sq.Set John Drewry Croydon and District Book 1

Reel
1- 8 Ladies dance RH across, Men dance LH across back to places
9-16 All pass partners LSh Men into centre LH across while Ladies take RH of next Man (St Andrew's Cross), all set, ½ turn 'new' partners and dance back to places passing own partner RSh
17-24 All pass partners RSh Ladies into RH across while Men take LH of next Lady, all set, ¾ turn 'new' partner and turn own partner RH into promenade hold facing anticlockwise
25-32 All Promenade round anticlockwise

Strathspey
1- 8 All set to partners and holding RH Men set again as Ladies dance under Men's arm, 1s+3s dance LH across ending in promenade hold facing anticlockwise
9-12 1s+3s promenade ½ way while 2s+4s dance RH across to end in promenade hold facing clockwise
13-16 1s+3s set to partners and holding RH Men set again as Ladies dance under Men's arm while 2s+4s promenade clockwise ½ way
17-20 1s+3s promenade anticlockwise ½ way and end facing in while 2s+4s dance RH across ending in promenade hold facing clockwise
21-24 1s+3s in promenade hold advance and retire while 2s+4s promenade clockwise ½ way
25-32 1s+4s also 3s+2s promenade round each other RSh, 1s+2s also 3s+4s promenade round each other LSh

Jig
1- 8 Ladies dance Figs of 8 round partner and corner (pass LSh round partner)
9-16 Men dance Figs of 8 round partner (pass RSh round partner) and all turn corners LH to face them holding RH
17-24 All set to corners and Men set again while Ladies turn under Men's arms, all advance and retire
25-32 All circle 8H round and back

(WEECRIB)

If you are the deviser of this dance, or the current copyright holder, and would like your crib or instructions included here, please do contact us.

Dance Notes

The above instructions were formerly a MiniCrib compiled by Charles Upton from the Croydon publication and from John Drewry's original leaflet. Because of doubts expressed about the instructions, the MiniCrib Team has withdrawn the crib; any issues with this crib should be pursued with us, not with the MiniCrib Team.

The point at issue is in bars 13-16 of the Strathspey which, as written, would be difficult to perform since 1s+3s would obstruct the promenading 2s+4s and would finish with an awkward transition. Some correspondents claim that the deviser modified his original instructions so that 1s+3s should repeat their movements of bars 5-8 rather than of bars 1-4, i.e.,

13-16 1s+3s dance LH across ending in promenade hold facing anticlockwise while 2s+4s promenade clockwise ½ way.

Others favour replacing the instructions for bars 13-16 with those for bars 21-24, as is shown in Charlie Inglis's videos, i.e.,

13-16 1s+3s in promenade hold advance and retire while 2s+4s promenade clockwise ½ way.

It is unlikely that documentary evidence of John Drewry's actual intentions will ever be forthcoming; in the meantime, either of these alternatives to the published instructions works well.

Dance Instruction Videos

St Andrew's Square - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

St Andrew Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland located at the east end of George Street.

The gardens, part of the collection of New Town Gardens, are owned by a number of private owners, managed by Essential Edinburgh and opened to the public in 2008.

The construction of St Andrew Square began in 1772, as the first part of the New Town, designed by James Craig. Within six years of its completion St Andrew Square became one of the most desirable and most fashionable residential areas in the city.

As the 19th century came to a close, St Andrew Square evolved into the commercial centre of the city. Most of the square used to be made up of major offices of banks and insurance companies, making it one of the major financial centres in Scotland.

St Andrew Square, Edinburgh

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