Will Starr
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
Will Starr 32 bar Jig for 2 couples Rod Downey The Tuatara CollectionA two couple 32 bar jig.
1-6 First couple lead down the middle and up.
7-8 First couple cross above the second couple and cast into second place. Second couple step up on bars 7 and 8.
9-16 Second and first couples dance rights and lefts.
17-24 Second and first couples dance a ladies' chain.
25-28 All take hands on the sides and advance and retire.
29-32 First couple turn 1½ with the right hand.
Repeat having passed a couple.
(Dance crib compiled by the deviser Rod Downey, Johnsonville SCD Club Tutor)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams
Dance Instruction Videos
Will Starr - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction VideoDance Information
This jig, Will Starr, was devised on 15/4/2013.Clearly a teaching dance for ladies' chain. I followed this with "The Daisy Chain" from my Cane Toad Collection which has a ladies' chain in Strathspey time.
The presence of the rights and lefts gives time for the first couple to prepare for the ladies' chain.
The recommended music is any good jig, preferably played ABAB. I used "Fairly Shot O' Her," as recorded by the Scotsmen. Hence the recommended tune is either "Fairly Shot O' Her", or "Jacky's Return", both of which are traditional.
Will Starr ("King of the Scottish Accordion") was a famous Scottish accordionist from the middle of the 20th Century (1922-1976). The legend is that he had one speed ("faster"). Whilst he did not record many tracks for SCD, like Hector MacAndrew on the fiddle, he left a wealth of Scottish music. His record are available and definitely interesting to listen to.
(Dance information from The Tuatara Collection Of Scottish Country Dances, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Rod Downey.)
Will Starr was born in the mining village of Croy, in North Lanarkshire, Scotland (it was formerly in East Dunbartonshire) (27 April 1922 - 6 March 1976).
Will was a Scottish solo accordionist who at the age of two, attempted to play his first tune, "Poor Old Joe", on a melodeon belonging to his father. His family recognised the musical potential in young William and encouraged him to continue playing the melodeon. Later he progressed from the melodeon to the chromatic button accordion which he played for the remainder of his life.
On leaving school at fourteen, Will began working in the mines. When at the age of eighteen in World War II he became eligible for service in the armed forces, he was exempted as an already working miner.
Will recorded his first 78 record for Parlophone at the age of 18. The music was of his own composition and was named "Jacqueline" (which is almost always referred to erroneously as "The Jacqueline Waltz") after his then girlfriend.
Will Starr Performing - Information Video
Croy, Will Starr's Birthplace
Course Of The Antonine Wall At Croy Hill
Published in The Tuatara Collection, reproduced here with the kind permission of the deviser, Rod Downey.
Dance information licensed under this Creative Commons Licence 3.0.
Text from this original Will Starr article on Wikipedia.
Image copyright Chris Wimbush under this Creative Commons Licence 2.0.
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