Lesson Plan for February 13 - Beginner Class

New step taught: pas de basque
New figures: setting, grand chain


LADY CATHERINE BRUCE'S REEL (J8x32) 2C (4C set) Bk of Graded SCDs
1- 8       1s lead down the middle & back to top
9-16      1s+2s dance Allemande
17-24    1s dance full fig of 8 round 2s
25-32    2s+1s circle 4H round & back

Dance Information:

Clacmannan Tower,
(image courtesy of Clackmannanshire Council)

Now ruined castle, Clackmannan Tower crowns the summit of King’s Seat Hill, an important strategic site overlooking the Forth valley and all the land around. The land on which it stands was a Bruce property, having been granted to Robert Bruce, an illegitimate grandson of King Robert the Bruce, in the 14th century. King Robert himself lived at Clackmannan Tower in 1316, 1317 (probably in 1318) and visited this favorite hunting seat frequently from 1323. It's last occupant, Lady Catherine Bruce, widow of Jacobite Henry Bruce, retained King Robert's great double-handed sword and at parties she sometimes used this to "knight" favored guests. In 1787, she "knighted" Robert Burns.

Additional information found at Clackmannan Tower website, Clackmannanshire Council website, and Jimpson's History of Clackmannon.

Image from Diane Gilbert Manson.

Lady Catherine Bruce's Reel on You Tube, danced by Baton Rouge Scottish Country Dancers.

THE DUKE HE WAS A BONNIE BEAU (R8x32) 2C (4C set) RSCDS Bk 24
1- 8      1s+2s set twice & turn RH
9-16     1s followed by 2s lead down & 2s followed by 1s lead back to top,
             2s cast to original places
17-24   1s+2s dance RH across & LH back, 1s casting to 2nd places
25-32   2s+1s dance R&L

LADY LUCY RAMSAY (S8x32) 3C (4C set) MMM 2
1- 8      1s+2s+3s circle 6H round & back
9-16     1s+2s+3s dance Grand Chain
17-24   1s lead down the middle & back to places
25-32   1s+2s dance 1/2 R&L & turn 2H 1.1/2 times to places

Lady Lucy Ramsay on You Tube, danced by the Highland Mist Scottish Country Dancers

ESPIE MCNABB (J8x32) 3C (4C set) MMM 1
1- 8      1s+2s+3s set, cross RH, set & cross back RH
9-16     1s lead down the middle & back to place
17-24   1s set, cast 1 place & turn RH (long turn)
25-32   2s+1s+3s circle 6H round & back

Eppie McNab, by Robert Burns, 1791

THE DE'IL AMANG THE TAILORS (R8x32) 3C (4C set) RSCDS Bk 14
1- 8      1s+2s set & dance RH across 1/2 way,
             set & dance LH across 1/2 way back to place
9-16     1s lead down the middle & back to top
17-24   1s+2s dance Allemande
25-32   2s+1s+3s circle 6H round & back

Dance Information:

Devil among the tailors pub game,
photo and description thanks to Wikipedia.

Devil among the tailors is a pub game which is a form of table skittles (bowling). The wooden ball (about the size of a golf ball) hangs from a string or chain attached to the top of a vertical wooden post rising from one corner of a box containing 9 small skittles (pins) arranged in a 3 x 3 square. The aim of the game is to knock down the skittles by swinging the ball in an arc round the post, rather than aiming directly at the skittles.

The game can be seen in a pub setting in the Beatles movie 'A Hard Day's Night' at the 1 hour 4 minute mark. Ringo goes AWOL from a gig and ends up annoying people playing various pub games.

It is also the name of a game in which each player spins a spinning top with a string, to knock down skittles, earning points for doing so. This game is quite a large table game, around 1M x 1.5M. This may be the form in Scotland commonly referred to as De'il Among the Tailors.

On 15 August 1805 a play called The Tailors: A Tragedy for Warm Weather, starring William Dowton, was presented at the theatre, then known as The Little Theatre in the Hay. The London tailors took exception to this satire on their craft, and thousands rioted, both inside and outside the theatre. The special constables were helpless against the overwhelming odds, so a troop of Life Guards was called. Sixteen prisoners were taken and the rest dispersed. The Life Guards did their job so effectively that it was likened to a skittle ball ploughing through the skittles. Thereafter, the game of Table Skittles (or Bar Skittles) was often referred to as‘Devil Amongst the Tailors’ (or Devil Among the Tailors).[citation needed]

In the picturesque name, the 'devil' refers to the ball and the 'tailors' are the skittles.