Highland Schottische 

Scotland

These notes ©2018, Andrew Carnie. First attested in 1855 under the name Balmoral Schottische.

Music:

• https://youtu.be/EKfN6rBbjQA 
• https://youtu.be/3zxTzC64Cno
• https://youtu.be/ck8Q0PzaAdA
• https://www.amazon.com/Highland-Schottische-Scottish-Ceilidh-Music/dp/B00O0R29L2/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1531432073&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=Highland+schottische
• Folkraft 1177, 
• RCA Victor 4133, 
• RCA Victor 1621

Meter:Any  4/4 Scottish Schottische tune
Formation: Couples in Ballroom position around the room. M in the center, W on the outside. M
Introduction: depends upon recording, may be a chord or may be 4-8 bars introduction with no action.

Bar 1: Hop on Inside and point outside foot in LOD (in 2nd position) (1), hop on I and bring O foot back behind I calf (2) Hop on inside, and point O towards LOD (3), Hop on I and bring O in front of I  shin (4). For older dancers, this step can be done without the hops on each count.
Bar 2: Still facing partner, step O in LOD (1), Close I next to O (2), Step on O in LOD (3), hop on outside, bringing I behind O calf (4)
Bars 3-4: repeat bars 1-2 with opposite footwork and direction.
Bar 5: Repeat bar 2
Bar 6: Repeat bar 2 with opposite footwork and direction
Bar 7-8:  Moving forward in LOD and turning CW, take 4 step hops (O, I, O, I) turning around each other.

repeat dance from the beginning.

Other Videos on the web

Other Instructions on the web

• https://my.strathspey.org/dd/dance/7548/
• http://www.scottishdance.net/ceilidh/dances.html#HighlandSchottische
• Page 111 of Stockton Folk Dance Camp Syllabus (1957)
• Page 12 of Stockton Folk Dance Camp Syllabus (1961)

Other Sources

• Beliajus, Finadar Vytautas (1940) Dance and Be Merry: Thirty One Folk Dances with Variations representing Seventeen Nations. Clayton F. Summy Co.
• Burchenal, Elizabeth and Ward Crampton (1908) Folk-dance Music: A collection of seventy six Characteristic Dances of the People of various nations. Boston, G. Schirmer. 
• Duggan, Anne Schley, Jeanette Schlottmann and Abbie Rutledge (1948) Folk Dances of the British Isles. AS Barnes and Company
• Ewart, David and May (1996) Scottish Ceilidh Dancing. Mainstream Publishing
• Hall, J. Tillman (1963) Dance! A Complete Guide to Social Folk and Square Dancing. Wadsworth Publishing.
• Houston, Ron (2011) The Folk Dance Problem Solver 2011. Society of Folk Dance Historians
• Ward-Crampton, Charles (1913) The Folkdance Book. NY: Barnes
• Herman, Michael (1953) Folk Dance Syllabus no 1. Folk Dance House.
• Crawford, Caroline (n.d but probably 1915ish) Folk Dances and Games. A. S. Barnes Co.
• Shaw, Lloyd (1948) The Round Dance Book. Caxton
• Knight, Peter (1996) Scottish Country Dancing: Collins Pocket Reference. Harper Collins Publishers
• Tobitt, Janet (1947) Promenade All. Self Published.

See Also:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schottische

Also spelled: Shottish, schottish,

Military Two Step

Scotland

These notes ©2018, Andrew Carnie. Originally choreographed by James Finnigan.

Music:

• https://youtu.be/l7HEMsuAZys
• https://youtu.be/QBCaMbHP27o
• https://youtu.be/0AwWAKK8bCs
• https://youtu.be/Wc98P-DN0Gk
• https://www.amazon.com/Military-Two-Step-Medley/dp/B0059CPZI6/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1531429125&sr=1-1&keywords=Military+two+step
• https://www.amazon.com/Military-Two-Step/dp/B004Y43WBW/ref=sr_1_4?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1531429125&sr=1-4&keywords=Military+two+step&dpID=61s99DD9pbL&preST=_SX342_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Meter: 2/4 March (or 6/8 march counted as (123)(456))
Formation: Couples around the room in promenade or skaters hold, facing LOD (CCW), M on the L, W on the R.
Introduction: Depends upon the music, but often 4 bars no action or a chord.

Bar 1: Touch outside heel forward (1), touch outside toe next to inside foot (2)
Bar 2: repeat bar 1
Bar 3: Walk O (1), I (2) forward in LOD
Bar 4: Walk O (1), pivot inwards to face RLOD (CW) (2)
Bars 5-8: repeat bars 1-4 with opposite footwork back in RLOD
Bar 9: Face partner, holding 2 hands. Jump on both feet together (1), kick L foot diagonally across to R (2)
Bar 10: repeat bar 9 with opposite footwork
Bar 11-12: Using 4 walking steps W turns CW under M's L, L's R joined hands
Bars 13-16: Take 4 polka steps around the room in LOD (turning)

Making the dance progressive/a mixer.

In bars 11-12, while turning under, women progress clockwise/forward to the next man.

Other Videos on the web

This first video cannot be embedded:
https://vimeo.com/89897896

Other instructions on the web

• http://www.thebigshoogle.com/ceilidh-dance-instructions/military-two-step
• https://my.strathspey.org/dd/dance/7552/
• http://www.scottishdance.net/ceilidh/dances.html#Military2Step
• http://www.personal.kent.edu/~ltaylor1/military%20two%20step-2.htm
• https://sites.google.com/site/patterndancesteps/patterns/military-two-step
• http://www.callanishmusic.com/upfiles/Military%20Twostep.docx.pdf
• https://www.myceilidh.co.uk/military-two-step
• http://www.burnsnightprague.com/Ceilidh-Dancing.html

Other Sources

• Anonymous (n.d.) Descriptions of Scottish Country Dances. ms.
• Ewart, David and May (1996) Scottish Ceilidh Dancing. Mainstream Publishing
• Knight, Peter (1996) Scottish Country Dancing: Collins Pocket Reference. Harper Collins Publisher

Also called: 2-step

The Flying Scotsman 

Scotland

These notes ©2018, Andrew Carnie. The Flying Scotsman is a train that goes from Edinburgh to London (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Scotsman_(train))

Music: 32 bar reel
Meter: 2/4
Formation: Longwise set of 4 couples
Introduction: Bow to partner on chord, then start right away

Bars 1-8: First 3 men form arches with hands, First 3 women join hands and lead around back of M1, under arch and in front of M2, Under arch and behind M3 and then back up to the top on their own side
Bars 9-16: Repeat bars 1-8, but with M dancing through W's arches.
Bars 17-24: 1st couple take two hands and sashay step down to the bottom, Other 3 couples step up. 1st couple sashay back up but end in 4th place.
Bars 25-32: All 4 couples take two hands and sashay down and back

repeat 3-8 more times with a new couple in the lead each time. 

Other notes on the web

• https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/dance-crib/flying-scotsman.html
• http://www.scottishdance.net/ceilidh/dances.html#FlyingScotsman
• http://198.252.106.75/~ofdaca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Kernerman-Dance-Notes-EFG.pdf
• https://www.ceilidhminogue.co.uk/FS.html

Other videos on the web

Other Sources

• Anonymous (n.d.) Scottish Country Dance Descriptions
• Austin Edwin (2004b) Classic Folk Dances vol 2. BYU

Britannia Two Step

Scotland

These notes @2018, Andrew Carnie

Music: Any 16 or 32 bar Scottish March
Meter: 2/4 , 4/4 or 6/8
Formation: Trios all facing CCW around the room. Traditionally the person in the middle is a M and the people on the sides are W.
Introduction: Depends upon the recording, but typically

Bar 1: Hop on R foot, touching L Heel forward to diagonal L (1), Hop on R foot, touching L toe next to R foot (2)
Bar 2: Hop on R (&) Step on L forward to diagonal L (1), close R next to L (&), Step on L diagonally to L (2)
Bars 3-4: repeat bars 1-2 with opposite footwork
Bar 5-6: Skip-change step forward twice  or  4 walking steps forward
Bar 7-8: Skip-change step backwards twice or 4 walking steps backwards
Bars 9-10: set twice (L then R)
Bars 11-12:  while continuing to set, the side people (traditionally the W) turn under the joined hands towards the center person.
Bars 13-16: repeat bars 5-8.

The dance can be made progressive by having the center person dance forward to the next trio on bars 15-16. 

Other Notes on the web

• https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/dance-crib/britannia-twostep.html
• http://www.scottishdance.net/ceilidh/dances.html#Britannia2Step

Other Videos on the web

Other Sources

• Ewart and Ewart (1996) Scottish Ceilidh Dancing
• Knight, Peter (1996) Scottish Country Dancing: Collins Pocket Reference. Harper Collins Publishers

Orcadian Strip the Willow

Scotland

These notes ©2018, Andrew Carnie.

Strip the Willow is a traditional Scottish Ceilidh dance. This variant of that dance is a simplified version that comes either from the Orkney Islands or the Shetland Islands. It is becoming increasingly more popular than the longer traditional dance and is slowly replacing it at Ceilidhs around the world.

Music: Any 32 bar Jig
Meter: 6/8
Formation: Longwise set for as many couples as will.
Introduction: depends upon the music, but often a bow on a chord

Bars 1-8: Top couple swing. This can either be done with a R elbow turn, or by grabbing partner's R elbow and holding L hand underneath.
Bars 9-10: Man turns next woman on the side, and W turns next M on the side with L hand (or L elbow)
Bars 11-12: Turn partner by the right hand all the way around.
... Keep working your way down the set to the bottom turning Opposite by the L and partner by the R.
... when you reach the bottom you swing again as in bars 1-8.

A new couple starts every 16 bars. 

Other instructions on the web

• http://www.scottishdance.net/ceilidh/dances.html#StripTheWillow2
• https://www.ceilidhminogue.co.uk/OSW.html
• https://www.webfeet.org/eceilidh/dances/orcadian-strip-the-willow.html
• http://www.callanishmusic.com/upfiles/Orcadian%20or%20Shetland%20Strip%20The%20Willow.pdf

Videos on the web:

See Also

• Strip the willow

Also called: Shetlandic, Drops of Brandy