The Winsome Reel
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
The Winsome ReelReuben Freemantle www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com
Medley (S32 + R32) bars 1 Dancer Repeat 1 Dancer Set Square Set
The solitary dancer starts at the midpoint of first place in a square set; ghosts are similarly in 2nd, 3rd and 4th places. The set size should be such that, with the ghosts replaced by dancers, all could just take hands in a circle without moving inwards.
Strathspey:
1-16 all dance full petronella, finishing in original places, facing in;
17-32 all dance the full onesome reel:
17-18 1D dance to 3G's place WHILE 3G dance to 1D's place WHILE 2G4G exchange places similarly, all passing by the left in the centre and all finishing facing out;
19-20 all cast clockwise one place;
21-32 repeat bars 17-20 three times from new places, all finishing in original places.
Reel:
33-64 As bars 1-32 of the strathspey.
(MAXICRIB. Scottish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)
Dance Notes
When performed by a single dancer, it may be helpful to place markers (which must not interfere with dancing) in the ghosts' starting places.The dance can also be performed with 2, 3 or 4 dancers, replacing the ghosts in the order 3 2 4.
17-18 Do not take hands in the centre.
When dancing with 3 ghosts, follow a path which would not impede them; an obstacle which does interfere with dancing (such as a standard lamp with small base, no shade and the cord wound around the pole or a fairly small pot plant or a peg driven into grass) at the centre point of the set may provide a useful discipline.
(Dance notes by the deviser, Reuben Freemantle)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams
Dance Information
This medley, The Winsome Reel, was devised to provide some variety for the solitary dancer during the Covid-19 lockdown in UK; it is so-named because it is intended to meet the same need as the Onesome Reel.(Dance information by the deviser, Reuben Freemantle, 2020)
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