Tulloch Gorm

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

TULLOCH GORM (S8x32) 3C (4C set) William Campbell RSCDS Book 8

1- 8 1s cross down (1 step) to dance parallel reels of 3 on opposite sides (RSh to 2s) and cross back to own sides on bar 8
9-16 1s dance parallel reels of 3 on own sides (RSh to 2s)
17-24 1s lead down the middle and back to top
25-32 1s+2s dance Allemande

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

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

Tulloch Gorm - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Information

Note that there is a (Highland) Lady's Step Dance of the same name, devised by Ron Wallace.

The title of this dance is a partial anglicization of the Gaelic, "Tulach gorm", which means Blue Hillock; it is the name of a farm by the River Spey near Boat of Garten. It should be pronounced as "Tool~ch gor~m" in English with stress on the first syllable of both words and the following conventions:
  "oo" is as in "noon";
  "~" represents the very short, indeterminate, vowel sound;
  "ch" is as in "loch"; and
  "o" is as in "not".
See Gaelic Dance Names for more information on Gaelic spelling and pronunciation.

Tullochgorum is the more common anglicization as in the Tullochgorum - Song written by the Scottish poet, songwriter, minister and historian the Rev. John Skinner in 1776.

O Tullochgorum's my delight,
It gars us a' in ane unite,
And ony sumph that keeps a spite,
  In conscience I abhor him;
For blithe and cheery we'll be a',
  Blythe and cheery, blythe and cheery,
  Blythe and cheery we'll be a',
  And make a happy quorum;
For blythe and cheery we'll be a',
As lang as we hae breath to draw,
And dance, till we be like to fa',
  The Reel o Tullochgorum.

The words to the song were written to the Strathspey tune, Tullochgorum, which is said to have been derived from an older Scottish song tune, printed in Craig's Collection in 1730.

Regarding the spelling of Blithe and Blythe, it is noteworthy that I and Y were interchangeable into Middle English, but after that orthographic rules were put into place, and Y was only used in certain cases.

Tullochgorum Song - Information Video

Tullochgorum, From Inglis Collection Of Printed Music, Composite Music Volume, Page 49, c. 1842

Dance Instruction Videos

Tulloch Gorm - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

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