Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

The Wild Goose Chase

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

THE WILD GOOSE CHASE (J4x32) 4C set John Drewry Brodie Book

1- 8 1L followed by 1M dances Fig of 8 on Ladies' side (in front of 2L, out round 3L, in and out behind 2L) ending in centre (opposite sides) facing 4s, while 4s dance similarly on Men's side ending facing 1s
9-16 1s+4s set facing each other while 2s join 1s as 3s join 4s to form lines across, all set and dance RH across with opposite 2 dancers
17-24 All dance full reels of 4 across dance, 1s and 4s end in centre holding RH facing opposite sides (as Wild Geese) 2s and 3s end in 1st/4th places
25-32 1s+4s Balance-in-Line in centre of dance, ¾ turn partner RH, 1s and 4s lead up to top, 1s cast to 3rd place and 4s cast to 2nd place. 2413

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


The Wild Goose Chase
John Drewry Brodie Book
Jig 4 x 32 bars 4 Couple Repeat 4 Couple Set Longwise Set

  1-8   1L followed by 1M figures of 8 on Ls' side (left shoulder to 2L) WHILE 4M followed by 4L figures of 8 on Men's side (left shoulder to 3M), finishing (on wrong sides) with 1s at top facing down, 4s at foot facing up;

  9-10 1s4s set WHILE 2s dance up and face down (2M1L1M2L in line) WHILE 3s dance down and face up (3M4L4M3L in line);

11-12 all set;

13-16 2M1L4L3M right hands across (on Men's side) WHILE 1M2L3L4M right hands across (on Ls' side) finishing in lines across again;

17-24 2M1L1M2L 3M4L4M3L reels of 4 across, 1s and 4s do not pass by the left at the end but meet taking right hands, finishing 1M1L4M4L in line up and down the set, all facing wrong sides;

25-26 1s4s balance in line;

27-28 1s 4s turn by right ¾;

29-32 1s followed by 4s lead up and cast (finishing 2s4s1s3s).

(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)

Dance Notes

  1-8   1s 4s must finish in partners' places.

16-17 Flow from hands across on the side into reels of 4 across.

23-24 1s and 4s do not pass by the left at the end of the reels.


Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams


Dance Instruction Videos

The Wild Goose Chase - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video
Wild Goose, Image
Wild Barnacle Goose


Image copyright Ludovic Péron licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

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