What Three Words

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 4 ///long.casting.second ///twos.step.upwards 1st couple dance in and touch hands for a long cast to 2nd place. 2nd couple step up on bars 3-4.
5- 8 ///dance.below.threes ///casting.round.threes 1st couple dance down between 3rd couple and cast up around them to end in 2nd place.
9-12 ///fish.hook.left 1st couple dance half a figure of eight (or "fish hook") to their left, right shoulder round their 2nd corner, to end in 2nd place on the opposite side.
13-16 ///left.hands.across ///face.first.corner 1st woman with 2nd couple, also 1st man with 3rd couple, dance left hands across. 1st couple end back to back on the diagonal, each facing their 1st corner.
17-22 ///hello.goodbye.setting 1st couple dance 6 bars of "Hello-Goodbye" setting with their 1st and 2nd corners and end facing each other up and down the set.
23-24 ///pass.left.shoulder 1st couple pass left shoulder to end facing their 1st corner again.
25-32 ///turns.corner.partner 1st couple turn their 1st corner right hand, their partner left hand, their 2nd corner right hand and then cross left hand to 2nd place.
33-36 ///advance.retire.cross 2nd, 1st and 3rd couples join hands on the sides and advance for one step, retire for one step and then cross over giving right hand to their partner. All face clockwise.
37-40 ///chase.half.clockwise 2nd, 1st and 3rd couples chase half way round clockwise to end facing their partner on their own sides in the order 3,1,2.
41-48 ///circle.round.back All circle six hands round to the left and back.

(Dance crib compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA May 2026)

Dance Notes

(Dance notes compiled by the deviser, Murrough Landon, CC BY-SA May 2026)

Dance Instruction Videos

Dance Information

The dance is dedicated to the memory of the deviser's dear friend Ted Vidler, who loved the what3words idea as well as cake, hugs and campaigning for gay rights.

During his life he worked as both an airline pilot and a physics teacher, and was also a yachtmaster instructor who enjoyed taking groups of young people on the Tall Ships Races and other adventures. His grave just touches ///lovely.overnight.sailor.

Recommended music: Suggested tune: The Farewell (William Marshall).
Suitable 3x48 recording: Crathes Castle (The Deirdre Adamson Quartet: Tarry a While).

(Dance information from notes supplied by the deviser, May 2026)

Devisers Notes
When I first had this crazy idea I imagined it would be impossible using real what3words addresses.
Especially as many useful words such as "reel", "right", "eight", and all words of less than four letters are not part of the what3words dictionary. At least not in English (there is "réel" in French but that is hard to combine with other English words). Words like "turns" or "casting" are only available in those forms.
However I was delighted to find that there were enough reasonably good or even perfect what3words phrases to create a viable 48 bar dance - though it is necessarily composed entirely of very standard figures. I was particularly pleased with ///hello.goodbye.setting!
Of course most of these what3words addresses are in empty countryside, deserts or the ocean! The urban exceptions are clustered around the East Coast of the USA: ///fish.hook.left is in Wilmington, Delaware; ///left.hands.across is in Washington DC; ///face.first.corner is in Newark, New Jersey. I was amused to find that there is actually a ///crazy.ideas.department - in the middle of the South China Sea!
This seems appropriate as most such crazy ideas are doomed to sink without trace.

Back to the top of this Scottish Country Dancing Instructions 'What Three Words' page