The Twisted Tree

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

THE TWISTED TREE (S5x32) 5C Set Robert and Margaret Senior Oakham Collection

1- 8 1s and 3s set and cast (2s/4s step down/up); 1L+2s, 1M+4s+3L and 3M+5s dance RH across. End 1s in middle facing down, 3s facing up (1M+3L facing)
9-16 1s+3s dance reel of 4 up/down (1M+3L pass RSh to start). End in same positions but 1L facing up, 3M facing down
17-20 1L+2s, 1M+4s+3L and 3M+5s dance RH across (as bars 5-8)
21-24 1s+3s turn partner ¾ LH into 2nd/4th place own side (2 bars) and all 5 couples set. 21435
25-32 1s+4s also 3s+5s dance Espagnole, ending 4s turn RH, 1s LH, 5s RH, 3s LH. 24153

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

The Twisted Tree A 5x32 bar Strathspey for five couples in a longwise set, by Robert and Margaret Senior.

1-8 1st and 3rd couple set and cast. 2nd and 4th couple step up. 1st lady with 2nd couple, 1st man with 4th couple and 3rd lady, and 3rd man with 5th couple, dance right hands across. 2nd, 4th and 5th couple end on the sides and 1st and 3rd couple end up/down the middle of the dance with 1st man and 3rd lady facing each other.
9-16 1st and 3rd couple dance a reel of 4 up/down the dance, 1st man passing 3rd lady right shoulder to start. End in the same positions as at the start of the reel with 1st man and 3rd lady again facing each other, but 1st lady and 3rd man facing their nearest end.
17-20 1st lady with 2nd couple, 1st man with 4th couple and 3rd lady, and 3rd man with 5th couple, dance right hands across. (i.e. repeat bars 5 to 8). 2nd, 4th, and 5th couple end back on the sides. 1st and 3rd couple look for their partners on their left.
21-24 1st and 3rd couple turn their partners ¾ left hand into 2nd or 4th place own sides (two bar turn). All set. 21435
25-32 1st couple with 4th couple and 3rd couple with 5th couple dance the Espagnole to end 24153.

Repeat from new places.

(Dance crib compiled by the devisers, Robert and Margaret Senior, February 2023)

Dance Notes

In this double Espangnole on bars 5 to 8, dancers meet shoulder to shoulder, not just within each Espangnole, but also between the two Espagnoles.

(Dance notes by the devisers, Robert and Margaret Senior, February 2023)

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

The Twisted Tree - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Information

The Twisted Tree referred to in the title is the tree at Woolsthorpe Manor under which Isaac Newton sat when an apple falling from the tree caused him to conceive the idea of Universal Gravity. The tree was blown down in 1820, but the fallen trunk re-rooted itself. It still flourishes, but is somewhat twisted.

Music: A nice flowing 5x32 Strathspey.
Suggested recording: "Duddingston Loch", Jim Lindsay, Recorded Highlights Volume 1.

The devisers would like to thank members of Oakham Scottish Country Dance Club, Rutland, for helping to develop and test this dance.

(Dance information by the devisers, Robert and Margaret Senior, February 2023)

Woolsthorpe Manor in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, is the birthplace and was the family home of Sir Isaac Newton. He was born there on 25 December 1642 (old calendar). At that time, it was a yeoman's farmstead, principally rearing sheep.

Newton returned here in 1666 when Cambridge University closed due to the plague, and here, he performed many of his most famous experiments, most notably his work on light and optics. This is also said to be the site where Newton, observing an apple fall from a tree, was inspired to formulate his law of universal gravitation.

Now in the hands of the National Trust and open to the public all year round, it is presented as a typical seventeenth century yeoman's farmhouse, or as near to that as possible, taking into account modern living, health and safety requirements and structural changes that have been made to the house since Newton's time.

Isaac Newton recounted to his contemporary William Stukeley how an apple tree in the orchard inspired him to work on his law of universal gravitation. Dendrochronology confirms one of the trees in the orchard to be over 400 years old, having regrown from roots surviving from a tree which blew down in 1820.

It is attended by gardeners, secured with a fence, and cared for by National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty.

Woolsthorpe Manor And The Twisted Apple Tree, Malus pumila 'Flower Of Kent', Cooking Apple

Published in The Oakham Collection, Robert Margaret Senior, reproduced here with the kind permission of the devisers, Robert and Margaret Senior, 2023.
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Woolsthorpe Manor article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Bs0u10e01, Creative Commons Licence 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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