Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Three's A Crowd

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

Three's a Crowd
Maggie and Duncan Keppie Haliburton School Of Arts SCD Book 2: Let's dance
3x32 bar strathspey
3-couple dance in a triangular set

  1-4   1st THRO' SIDES: 1st couple, nearer hands joined dance between side couples (1st man goes between 2nd couple AS 1st woman goes between 3rd couple) and cast back ending in middle nearer hands joined between 2nd and 3rd couples;

  5-8   3-HAND WHEELS: 3-hands across, 1st man left hand with 2nd couple, and 1st woman right hand with 3rd couple;

  9-16 TANDEM REEL OF 3: start with 1st couple (1st woman in front of partner) passing 3rd couple (3rd man in front of partner) by the right shoulder, 2nd couple with 2nd woman in front of partner (partners switch lead at each end of the reel);

17-20 3-HAND WHEELS: 3-hands across, 1st man left hand with 2nd couple, and 1st woman right hand with 3rd couple;

21-24 1st THRO' AND CAST: 1st couple nearer hands joined dance between 2nd man and 3rd woman, divide and cast back to original places;

25-32 CIRCULAR REEL OF 3 AND PROGRESS: starting facing partner, dance a reel of three around the triangle in 6 bars (pass partner by the right shoulder and the next by the left shoulder and pull left shoulder back to reel back to original places with the women facing out and anticlockwise), then dance one place anticlockwise around the triangle followed by partners.

Repeat twice.

(Dance crib compiled by the devisers, Maggie and Duncan Keppie)


Three's A Crowd
Three's A Crowd


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