The Tangle O' The Isles

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 8 1s+2s+3s+4s dance RSh reels of 4 on sides
9-16 1s+2s (also 3s+4s) dance Non-Progressive Tourbillon:
 9-10 1s+2s set
 11-12 1s+2s ½ turn 2H. Bar 12: 1M drops LH to dance to 2L's place while 1L dances to original place and 2L drops LH to dance in 1M's place while 2M dances to original place
 13-16 Similar to bars 9-12 but turning person opposite 2H and moving on
17-24 1s+2s also 3s+4s dance Poussette
25-28 1s+2s also 3s+4s dance Progressive set and link for 2 couples:
 25-26 All set on sides
 27-28 set and link as normal except 1s and 4s link 2 places as 2s and 3s link to adjacent place
29-32 All turn partner RH. 2413

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

Dance Information

The Road To The Isles, Chorus:

The notes for this dance state, "To be danced with 'a braggart in your step'", a phrase also taken from the chorus of The Road to the Isles.

This dance was inspired by a study of seaweed ecology conducted many years ago in the tidal currents of the Loch Obe gorge on Barra's east coast. Throughout the dance, the movement never stops, reflecting the constant swirling of seaweed fronds as they are carried by the tide and waves.

The first eight bars depict the fronds shifting back and forth with the ebb and flow of the tide. In bars nine to sixteen, they are swept away and drawn back again by the motion of the waves. From bars seventeen to twenty-four, they spin in a whirlpool, with smaller eddies forming at the edges. In the final section, from bars twenty-five to thirty-two, they are caught in turbulence, drifting into new positions where they remain, awaiting the next turn of the tide.

The Road to the Isles poem is part of the Kennedy-Fraser collection and was included in the 1917 book Songs of the Hebrides, with lyrics by the Celtic poet Kenneth MacLeod. The poem is introduced with the dedication "Written for the lads in France during the Great War", and notes in the book suggest that MacLeod was the author.

Marjory Kennedy-Fraser gathered traditional melodies from the Western Isles of Scotland during the summer of 1917. The tune linked to The Road to the Isles was originally played on the chanter by Malcolm Johnson of Barra and was composed by Pipe Major John McLellan of Dunoon under the title The Bens of Jura. Kenneth MacLeod later wrote lyrics to accompany an arrangement of this melody for voice and harp or piano by Patuffa Kennedy-Fraser.

The tune became known as a March Of The British Army and was reportedly played by Bill Millin, the personal piper of Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, during the Normandy Landings on D-Day. It was also used in a Commando raid during Operation Roast in 1945 and played at the start of construction on Toronto's first subway line in 1949.

The lyrics describe a journey through the Western Highlands and Hebrides, beginning with the Cuillin Hills on the Isle of Skye and continuing through locations such as Tummel, Loch Rannoch, Lochaber, Shiel, Ailort, Morar, the Skerries near Skye, and finally the Lews, near Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. The song evokes the call of these landscapes, drawing the traveller westward.

The Road To The Isles - 1955 Scottish Highlands Travelogue - Information Video

The Road To The Isles Song - Information Video

Entrance To Loch Obe Gorge, Isle Of Barra, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

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