Wm. Birse Esq.
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
Wm. Birse Esq. A forty-eight bar Jig for three couples in a longwise set., devised by John W Mitchell, Published in Whetherly Book 8.1- 8 First man dances a figure of eight round third couple, passing third lady by the left to commence, and finishes in second place on own side. Meanwhile, first lady dances a figure of eight round second couple, passing second man by the right shoulder to commence, and finishes in first place on own side; second man steps up on bars 7 & 8. Note that the first man must pass in front of first lady to start.
9-16 First man dances a figure of eight round second couple, passing second lady by the right to commence. Meanwhile first lady passes third man by the right shoulder to dance a figure of eight round third couple: second lady steps up on bars fifteen and sixteen. First couple finish back to back in the centre of the set, lady facing up and man facing down.
17-22 First lady with second couple and first man with third couple, dance three hands round in a circle to the left one and a half times round; second and third couples finish on the opposite sides.
23-24 First couple cross giving right hand to finish back to back, first man facing up and first lady facing down.
25-30 First man with second couple and first lady with third couple dance three hands round to the right in a circle one and a half times round; second and third couples finish on own sides.
31-32 First couple change places giving left hand to face first corner.
33-40 First man dances a reel of three with third couple whilst first lady dances a reel of three with second couple, they pass their first corners by the left shoulder to commence and finish in second place on own side.
41-48 First man dances a reel of three with second couple passing second lady by the right shoulder to commence: at the same time first lady dances a reel of three with third couple passing third man by the right shoulder to commence; first couple finish in second place on own sides. Repeat from second place. Recommended tune: Wm. Birse Esq.
(Dance crib reproduced from The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell)
Keith Rose's Crib Diagram
Published in The Whetherly Book Of Scottish Country Dances Number 8, by John W Mitchell, revised and republished by Alison Mitchell. Instructions reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-ND 4.0).
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