Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

St Giles

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

ST GILES (J4x40) Sq.Set Sheldon and Swirles

1- 8 All advance and retire and turn partner LH into...
9-16 All dance double Ladies' Chain (Ladies dancing RH across in centre)
17-24 1s Promenade round in Allemande hold acknowledging each couple in turn
25-32 1st Lady changes place RH with corner, then 2nd Lady changes place RH with corner, then 3L and then 4L
33-40 All with new partner Promenade clockwise (Men on outside) once round

Repeat 4 times

(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)

Dance Information

Saint Giles, also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century.

Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly legendary. A town that bears his name grew up around the monastery he purportedly founded, which became a pilgrimage centre and a stop on the Way of Saint James. He is traditionally one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

The legend of Giles connects him to Caesarius of Arles, who died in 543. In 514, Caesarius sent a messenger, Messianus, to Pope Symmachus in the company of an abbot named Aegidius. It is possible that this abbot is the historical figure at the basis of the legend of Saint Giles.

There are two forged Papal bulls purporting to have been issued by Pope John VIII in 878. Sometimes taken as authentic, they record that the Visigothic king Wamba founded a monastery for Giles and that Pope Benedict II granted a charter to this foundation in 684-685.

In actuality, the monastery was not dedicated to Saint Giles before about 910. The tomb of Giles dates to the correct historical period, but the inscription is from the 10th century.

St Giles
The Miracle Of Saint Giles 3, Church St. Rupert In Weißpriach Lungau/Austria, Romanesque Frescos
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Text from this original Saint Giles article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Dorothea Witter-Rieder, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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