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Sheila’s 65
th
Birthday Ceilidh
dancing to “All the Best Bands” with MC Amanda Peart
with a Bring & Share Tea after dancing
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donations to
Cancer
Research UK
are welcomed
and can be
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clicking the
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Research UK’
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Research UK,
PO Box 1561,
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For
each
dance
there
is
some
information
if
you
click
on
the
blue/brown
writing,
and
to
view the carefully selected (!) video, click on the dance name.
Enjoy yourself and help Sheila enjoy her birthday ceilidh.
The
Gay
Gordons
is
a
well
known
march
from
the
First
World
War.
Named
for
The
Gordon
Highlanders,
this
dance
remains
very
popular
and
is
danced
to
any
4/4
march,
though
the
original
tune
composed
by
Pipe
Major
George
S
McLennan,
entitled
The
Gordon
Highlanders
March,
is
played
most
often.
The
dance
is
performed
in
couples,
in
what
is
known
as
a
“round
the room” dance.
Strangely,
there
are
no
videos
showing
this
dance
danced
as
per
the
RSCDS
instructions
(third
dance
in
Book
1)
and
the
dance
which
we
know
as
“Circassian
Circle”
(as
seen
in
this
video)
owes
more
to
Baltic
dance
traditions,
than
any
of
many
“English”
versions
on
which the RSCDS based their “official” dance.
A
Scallywag
in
(UK)
English
is
a
person,
typically
a
child,
who
behaves
badly
but
in
an
amusingly
mischievous
rather
than
harmful
way;
a
rascal,
possibly
derived
from
the
Latin
“scurra
vagas”
meaning roughly “wandering fool or buffoon”.
However
in
the
United
States,
scalawags
(also
spelt
scallawags
or
scallywags)
originally
referred
to
low-
grade
farm
animals
and
the
word
was
adopted
by
their
opponents
to
refer
to
white
Southerners
who
formed
a
Republican
coalition
with
black
freedmen
and
Northern
newcomers
(called
carbetbaggers)
after
the
American
Civil
War
to
take
control
of
their
local
governments.
Both
words
(scalawags
and
carpetbaggers)
have
a
long
history
of
use
as
a
slur
in
Southern partisan debates.
Although
this
dance
originated
in
San
Francisco
it
definitely
has
an
air
of
the
UK
meaning
to
it
-
and
the fantastic music emphasises that.
It
has
been
discussed,
and
the
conclusion
come
to
is
that
this
dance
name
refers
to
a
Fair
on
St. Andrew’s Day (November 30th) rather than a Fair at St. Andrews.
The
patronage
of
the
saint,
whose
name
means
'manly',
also
covers
fishmongers,
gout,
singers, sore throats, spinsters, maidens, old maids and women wishing to become mothers.
But just who was Saint Andrew and how did he become the patron saint of Scotland?
Saint
Andrew
(who
is
believed
to
have
later
preached
around
the
shores
of
the
Black
Sea),
was
an
agile
and
hardy
Galilean
fisherman
whose
name
means
Strong
and
who
also
had
good
social
skills.
He
brought
the
first
foreigners
to
meet
Jesus
and
shamed
a
large
crowd
of
people
into
sharing
their
food
with
the
people
beside
them.
Today
we
might
describe
him
as
the Patron Saint of Social Networking!
Traditionally,
Scots
also
claimed
that
they
were
descended
from
the
Scythians
who
lived
on
the
shores
of
the
Black
Sea
in
what
is
now
Romania
and
Bulgaria
and
were
converted
by
Saint
Andrew.
In
the
fascinating
legend
of
The
Voyage
of
St
Rule
from
Greece
to
Scotland
we
can
see
the
complicated
spread
of
devotion
to
Saint
Andrew
-
from
Constantinople
in
modern
Turkey,
to
St
Andrews
in
Fife.
St
Rule
(Regulus
in
Latin)
and
the
six
nuns
and
monks
who
took
the
long
sea-journey
with
him,
stands
for
the
missionaries
and
monasteries
who
worked
long
and
hard
to
bring
the
Good
News
to
Britain.
They
lived
in
communities
organised
by
a
monastic Rule - hence the name St Rule or Regulus.
As
Scotland
slowly
became
a
nation
it
needed
a
national
symbol
to
rally
round
and
motivate
the
country.
Saint
Andrew
was
an
inspired
choice
and
the
early
Picts
and
Scots
modelled
themselves on Saint Andrew.
In
832,
King
Angus
of
the
Picts,
facing
a
larger
army
of
Saxons
at
Athelstaneford
in
what
is
now
East
Lothian,
was
overwhelmed
by
a
blinding
light
the
night
before
the
battle
and,
during
the
night,
had
a
dream.
The
message
he
was
given
was
that
he
would
see
a
Cross
in
the
sky
and
would
conquer
his
enemies
in
its
name.
The
following
morning
King
Angus
looked
into
the
rising
sun
and
saw
the
Saltire
Cross
in
its
blinding
light.
This
filled
him
and
his
men
with
great confidence and they were victorious.
From
that
time
Saint
Andrew
and
his
Saltire
Cross
were
adopted
as
the
national
symbols
for
an emerging Scotland.
Having
Saint
Andrew
as
Scotland's
patron
saint
gave
the
country
several
advantages:
because
he
was
the
brother
of
Saint
Peter,
founder
of
the
Church,
the
Scots
were
able
to
appeal
to
the
Pope
in
1320
(The
Declaration
of
Arbroath
-
700
years
ago
last
month)
for
protection against the attempts of English kings to conquer the Scots.
by Michael T R B Turnbull, author of Saint Andrew: Myth, Legend and Reality
The
dance
was
written
to
celebrate
the
special
ball
of
SCD
group
’Mie
SCDF’.
‘Mie’
is
a
prefecture
(administrative jurisdiction) name and means ‘Triple’.
subsequently,
his
daughter
Ethel,
and
grand-daughter)
taught
Mancunians
to
dance
right
up
until
it
closed
in
2005.
In
1898,
James
joined
the
British
Association
Of
Teachers
of
Dancing
(which
started
in
1892),
leading
him
to
help
create
the
Manchester
and
Salford
Association of Teachers of Dancing in 1903.
Around
this
time,
the
term
‘military
two
step’
referred
to
a
number
of
dances
of
a
common
type
and
James
decided
to
bring
them
together
in
a
regimented
form,
helped
with
this
arrangement
by
his
daughter
Ethel.
Indeed,
though
the
dance
was
first
arranged
by
James
in
1900,
its
earliest
appearance
on
a
dance
programme
wasn't
until
1917,
when
it
appeared with music by Ethel and a dedication from her to her father.
By
this
time,
it
was
a
combination
of
James’
original
arrangement,
which
was
also
known
as
'Victoria
Cross'
and
Ethel’s
arrangement,
the
main
difference
being
when
the
salute
-
the
part
of
the
dance
that
marks
it
out
as
a
military
two
step
-
comes
(in
James’
dance,
it
comes
in
bar
6,
while
Ethel’s comes later, in bar 12).
In
1950,
the
Official
Board
of
Ballroom
Dancing
(which
would
later
become
the
British
Dance
Council)
standardised
many
Old
Time
dances,
including
the
Military
Two
Step,
though
they
changed
it
very
little
in
the
process
and
the
dance
that
dancers
know
today
is
pretty
much the same one that Ethel would have done.
Now,
the
Military
Two
Step
is
actually
one
of
the
least
danced
of
all
the
Old
Time
dances
and
doesn’t
make
many
appearances
on
dance
programmes.
However,
when
people
talk
about
Old
Time,
it
is
always
one of the dances that gets mentioned.
The
story
of
the
Military
Two
Step
begins
with
one
of
Manchester’s
most
important
dance
instructors,
James
Finnigan,
at
the
end
of
the
19
th
C.
Just
as
the
rest
of
the
city
was
pushing
itself
to
the
forefront
of
the
Industrial
Age,
making
advances
in
technology,
building
the
first
cars,
planes
and
telephones,
leading
the
world
in
trade,
James
wanted to put Manchester on the dancing map.
He
founded
a
dance
academy,
Finnigans,
in
Cheetham
Hill
in
1877,
where
he
(and
This
is
generally
used
as
a
reference
to
Irish
soldiers
who
fought
in
the
service
of
various
foreign
kings
and
monarchs,
including
some
who
supported
both
Jacobite
risings.
The
legend
is
that
when
they
died
abroad,
their
souls
were
transformed
into
geese
so that they could fly back to Ireland.
“First
and
foremost,
the
wild
goose
is
never
alone,
but
part
of
a
flock;
they fly in formation and no goose is left behind.
Second,
by
flapping
their
wings
together,
each
bird
creates
uplift
for
the others, allowing them to fly longer distances.
Third,
when
the
lead
goose
gets
tired,
it
drops
back
into
the
flock
and
allows another to lead.
Lastly,
and
to
me
most
poignantly,
the
geese
in
the
back
honk
to
motivate those in front to keep going.”
Why
did
I
share
this?
Because
wild
geese
are
a
fundamentally
collaborative
species.
They
are
interdependent,
recognizing
the
need
for
each
other’s
presence
and
the
desire
to
work
together.
Their
rotating
structure
means
they
have
resilience
as
a
group,
and
everyone
understands
that
they
have
an
equal
role
to
play.
And
by
honking
to
motivate
those
in
the
front
to
keep
going,
they
recognize
that
good
leadership
is
held
in
encouragement
as
much
as
it
is
in
direction setting.
I
wonder
if
it
is
time
for
us
all
to
fly
together
right
now
(Mar
24
2020),
to
create
uplift
for
each
other,
to
each
take
our
turn
and
to
help
everyone’s
ideas
come
to
the
forefront.
Above
all,
I
think
it
is
time
for
us
all
to
flock
together,
so
that
we
can
all
keep
going.
How
people
are
treated
—
colleagues,
employees,
citizens,
communities
—
is
going
to define each of us and our societies for the foreseeable future.
https://medium.com/@pbennett101/the-story-of-the-wild-geese-f3bbaf844cee
When
Paul
Bennett
visited
the
scene
of
devastation
in
Tohoku
(2011)
and
was
asked
to
speak
about
“something
hopeful”,
he
spoke
about the behaviour of wild geese.
This
dance
was
devised
in
1967
by
Hugh
Foss
and
published
in
The
Glendarroch
Scottish
Dance
Sheets,
a
collection
of
61
dances
published
by
Bill
Forbes,
which
also
includes
Airie
Bennan,
The
Black
Mountain
Reel
&
Kinfauns
Castle,
as
well
as
many
lesser
known
dances
by
Hugh
Foss
and
other
devisers.
A
stream
in
Dumfries
and
Galloway,
the
Polharrow
Burn
rises
in
Loch
Harrow
and
flows
eastwards
to
join
the
Water
of
Ken,
2
miles
northwest
of
St
John's
Town
of
Dalry
(where
Hugh
lived).
Its
chief
tributaries
are
McAdam's
Burn and Crummy Burn.
I
chose
this
video
from
Berlin
as
I
liked
the
name
of
their
demonstration
team
-
The
Berlin
HOPaLOTS
-
and
although
the
video
starts
with
Butterscotch
&
Honey
before
moving
into
the
Double
Diamond
Strathspey,
it
does
return
to
Butterscotch
&
Honey
for
the
final
32
bars.
This is a party, after all, not a class!
However
popular
the
waltz
is
today,
it
was
initially
viewed
with
great
suspicion
by
the
general
populace
as
it
spread
from
the
courts
of
Europe
in
the
late
18
th
century.
Dancing
masters
saw
the
waltz
as
a
threat
to
their
profession
as
the
basic
steps
of
the
waltz
could
be
learned
in
a
relatively
short
time,
whereas,
the
minuet
and
other
court
dances
required
considerable
practice,
not
only
to
learn
the
many
complex
figures,
but
also to develop suitable postures and deportment.
Additionally,
the
waltz
was
criticised
on
moral
grounds
by
those
opposed
to its closed hold and rapid turning movements.
The
early
years
of
the
waltz’s
arrival
in
Britain,
beginning
around
1812,
were
marked
by
scepticism,
and
nobody
was
more
sceptical
than
George
Gordon,
Lord
Byron,
whose
poem
“Waltz:
An
Apostrophic
Hymn”
appeared
anonymously
in
1813,
personifying
the
waltz
as
a
promiscuous
and
corrupting
force,
altering
the
spirit
of
English
dancing
and,
by
extension, English women!
Waltz—Waltz—alone both legs and arms demands,
Liberal of feet—and lavish of her hands;
Hands which may freely range in public sight,
Where ne’er before—but—pray ‘put out the light.’
Methinks the glare of yonder chandelier
Shines much too far—or I am much too near;
And true, though strange—Waltz whispers this remark;
‘My slippery steps are safest in the dark!’
An
entry
in
the
Oxford
English
Dictionary
shows
that
it
was
still
considered
"riotous
and
indecent"
as
late
as
1825.
Religious
leaders
almost
unanimously
denounced
it
as
vulgar
and
sinful
-
in
California
the
waltz
was
banned
by
Mission
priests
until
after
1834
because
of
the
"closed" dance position.
Get the smelling salts! 1-2-3 ... 1-2-3!
Just
had
to
choose
this
video
to
show
that
dancing
is
very
much
alive
and
well
in Pitlochry at least!
… and who would not want to dance to this?
Exuberance at its best!
The SCDDB video editors have labelled this:
REJECTED.
"artistic"
views
from
the
side,
below,
feet,
above,
alternating
so
the
overview
is
lost.
Dancing
is
Ceilidh
style,
using
elbow
hold
in
turns
and
by
some
in
the reels. No value in SCDDB.
Wikipedia tells us:
The
Virginia
reel
is
a
folk
dance
that
dating
from
the
17
th
C.
Though
the
reel
may
have
its
origins
in
Scottish
country
dance
and
the
Highland
reel,
and
perhaps
have
an
even
earlier
influence
from
an
Irish
dance
called
the
Rinnce
Fada,
it
is
generally
considered
to
be
an
English
country
dance,
and
was
most
popular
in
America
from
1830–1890.
As
the
Virginia
Reel
was
such
a
popular
dance,
in
each
area
there
would
be
slight
differences,
which
has
given
rise
to
a
large
number
of
dances
called
the
Virginia
Reel.
All
of
the
versions
have
certain
similarities,
such
as
the
reel figure.*
*
“the
reel
figure”
is
what
we
might
call
“Strip
the
Willow”
movement,
and
doesn’t
actually
form
part
of
the Virginia Reel which the RSCDS recognises!
Schottische;
but
that
term
somehow
or
other
has
been
supplanted by the others which we give.
The
dance
hails
from
America,
its
invention
being
credited
to
M.
M.
B.
Gilbert,
of
Boston;
and
it
was
brought
over
the
Atlantic
and
introduced
into
this
country
in
1886
by
Mr.
K.
M.
Sellars,
Professor
of
Dancing
in
Glasgow
and
Ayr.
It
has
attained
great
popularity,
and
in
a
large
hall
has
a
particularly
pleasing effect.”
He
goes
on
to
explain
the
dance
movements
and
talk
about
the
music,
noting
that
as
the
dance
gained
popularity
and
attracted
the
attention
of
composers
“
quite
a
number
of
Barn
Dances
have
been
written,
some of them delightful and inspiriting.”
The
Barn
Dance
or
Pas
de
Quatre
is
described
by
James
Scott
Skinner
in
his
People's
Ballroom
Guide,
1905,
as
a
precursor
of
the
Canadian
Barn
Dance.
He starts by saying:
“
The
correct
name
of
this
dance
should
be
the
Military
John
(McLeod)
Bannerman
Milne
was
one
of
three
sons
of
Mr
Charles
Milne,
a
Dundee
coal
merchant,
born
in
1902.
When
he
was
9
he
bought
his
first
violin
and
by
the
age
of
16
he
was
working
in
Dura
Works
from
5.30
am
to
6
pm,
teaching
the
violin
from
6
pm
to
8
pm,
then
playing
in
a
dance
hall
until
midnight.
He
was
‘a
mill-boy
with
ambition’,
and
although
an apprentice engineer, his future lay in the entertainment world.
His
first
entertainment
job
was
at
the
Variety
Theatre
(later
called
the
Palladium,
and
then
the
Rex,
until
it
was
demolished).
He
was
a
19s
a
week
“musical
director
and
cleaner”.
His
savings
were
invested
in
a
motor
hire
business,
which
he
sold
for
£360
to
found
his
cinema
empire,
buying
the
Palladium,
Dundee,
in
1928,
where
he
had
first
started
playing the violin and washing floors!
He
had
the
vision
to
install
talkies
and,
within
10
years,
he
had
the
largest
cinema
chain
under
private
ownership
in
Scotland.
He
recognised
the
potential
of
bingo
and
introduced
it.
Some
of
his
halls
remained
cinemas,
some
became
bingo
halls,
some
combined
the
two.
Mr
Milne’s
interests
ranged
from
Stornoway
to
Galashiels
and
when
he
died,
on
24
September
1968
aged
66,
he
controlled
34
cinemas
and
bingo halls.
It
has
been
said
that
in
this
dance
the
first
eight
bars
represent
the
auditions
for
leading
man
&
leading
lady
who
then
star
on
the
silver
screen as marked out by the second and third couples.
Angus
Fitchett
dedicated
this
tune
to
'the
man
who
gave
him
his
start
in
his show business career'.
After
working
with
Jimmy
Shand's
Band,
Angus
Fitchett
formed
his
own
highly
successful
Scottish
Dance
Band
-
but
what
other
band
leader
drove
his
band
all
over
Scotland
and
England
in
an
old
Dodge
Red
Cross
ambulance
which
had
cost
him
£50
and
was
run
on
half
petrol
and
half
paraffin?
"Sometimes
we
couldn't
see
for
the
smoke!"
There
was
the
famous
occasion
when,
at
North
Queensferry,
the
boat
had
moved
off
but
when
it
was
noticed
that
an
ambulance
had
been
left
behind,
the
ferry
turned
back
and
Angus
cheerfully
drove
his
"band
bus"
on
board.
Inside, the members of the band were sitting playing dominoes!
The
title
refers
to
the
portrait
by
Sir
Henry
Raeburn
of
“The
Rev
Robert
Walker
skating
on
Duddingston
Loch”
which
now
hangs
in
the
National
Gallery of Scotland.
This
title
links
the
dance
to
one
of
Roy
Goldring’s
other
great
passions:
art
and
artists.
The
Clydeside
Reel
is
a
reel
devised
to
reflect
the
warmth
of
the
welcome
and
the
sense
of
inclusion
all
visitors
and
competitors
to
the
Commonwealth
Games
(2014)
can
expect
to
receive
from
the
City
of
Glasgow.
Danced
to
the
tune
entitled
Controlled
Abandon,
this
reel
can
be
performed
by
people
of
all
ages
and
all
abilities;
all
guaranteed
a
place
at
the
heart
of
this
great
sporting event.
The
dance
was
developed
by
RSCDS
(Glasgow
Branch)
in
collaboration
with
Confidance
(Glasgow's
blind
and
partially
sighted
dance
group)
and
Indepen-dance
(Scotland's
inclusive
dance development company).
The
story
is
told
that
two
Scotsmen
had
a
holiday
in
Bavaria
when,
due
to
language
difficulties,
they
found
themselves
going
all
over
the
place
before
reaching
where
they
wanted
to
be.
When
they
got
home
they
wrote
a
dance
recalling their holiday.
The
source
text
for
this
dance
appears
in
Collins
with
a
copyright
date
of
1960.
It
was
devised
by
James
MacGregor-Brown
following
a
Glasgow
group
trip
to
Munich.
James
also
wrote
a
tune
(of
the
same
name
or
more
accurately
‘Eine
Reise
nach
Bayern’
as
he
actually
called
it)
to
go
with
the
dance.
He
produced
a
short
film
of
the
dance,
to
this
tune
and
the
second
tune
‘Dyster
Laddie’,
which
he
sent to their Munich hosts.
There
is
controversy
over
bars
29-32
in
the
dance,
about
which
James
said
in
2011:
“
The
directions
in
the
Collins
Reference
Book
are
indeed
what
I
had
in
mind.
This
tiny section of four bars, i.e. 29 - 32, will take longer to describe than to dance …
”
He
goes
on
to
describe
1
st
couple
(in
4
th
place)
changing
places
right
hand,
not
with two hands as is commonly danced nowadays.
He
adds:
“
You
must
feel
free,
for
you
are,
to
do
it
in
whatever
way
you
like!
What’s
wrong
with
small
changes
that
don't
confuse
others?
Amusing
perhaps?
Not
so
very
long
ago,
I
was
at
an
RSCDS
dance,
and
A
Trip
to
Bavaria
happened
to
be
on
the
programme.
I
was
“told
off”
by
a
fellow
from
Australia,
who
told
me
I
had
done
that
end
part
the
wrong
way.
I,
of
course,
said
nothing,
being
just
rather
pleased
to
think
that
people
in
Australia
are
enjoying
this
little
dance,
which
does
have, I suppose, an amusing, entirely new movement.
”
The
tune
which
is
always
associated
with
this
dance,
Remmerts
of
Herford
(or
Hamish’s
tune)
is
therefore
not
the
original
recommendation
and
in
fact
the
deviser
has
stated
that
he
doesn’t
like
it!
The
Remmerts
of
Herford
(often
spelled
“Remots”)
is
usually
credited
to
Hamish
Menzies,
though
it
bears
an
uncanny
resemblance
to
a
German
song,
Die
Fischerin
vom
Bodensee
(The
Lake
Constance Fisherwoman), which was written by Franz Winkler in 1947.
Hamish
Menzies
was
a
Scottish
fiddle
player
and
dance
band
leader.
Herford
is
a
town
in
the
German
state
of
North
Rhine-Westphalia
and
Remmert
is
a
German
family
name
but
we
have
no
information
about
the
connection
between
any
of
those people and Hamish Menzies.
The
alternative
title,
Hamish's
Tune,
is
said
to
go
back
to
Andrew
Rankine,
who
when
recording
the
dance
on
his
album,
“Barn
Yard
Party”,
couldn't
remember
the
original title, only the composer's name.
The
dance
devisor
moved
to
Canada
(Toronto
area)
and
allegedly
is
known
there
as “The Duke of Ireland” because he always wears emerald
green!
The
Edinburgh
University
New
Scotland
Country
Dance
Society
(EUNSCDS,
or
New
Scotland
to
its
friends)
was
formed
in
1947
by
students
at
the
University
of
Edinburgh
as
the
New
Scotland
Society
to
promote
the
revived
interest
in the culture of Scotland.
The
emphasis
has
always
been
on
Scottish
dancing,
particularly
Scottish
Country
and
Highland
dancing,
and
the
members
frequently
perform
in
and
around
Edinburgh
and
travel to competitions across the country.
Dunedin
Dancers
was
formed
in
1970
by
members
of
New
Scotland
who
wanted
to
return
the
favour
to
groups
they
had
visited
at
Folk
Festivals
around
Europe.
The
first
Dunedin
Festival
was
held
in
1971,
and
it
has
been
held
every
two
years
since;
2019
was
the
25
th
Dunedin
Folk
Dance Festival.
There
is
more
to
Dunedin
than
the
Festival,
though.
Members
dance
all
forms
of
Scottish
dancing
-
predominantly
Scottish
Country
dancing,
but
also
Ceilidh
dancing,
Highland
and
Scottish
Step
-
and
they
have
published six books of dances.
"Bon
Accord”,
is
the
motto
of
the
city
of
Aberdeen
and
is
French literally for "Good Agreement".
Legend
tells
that
its
use
dates
from
the
14th
century
password
used
by
Robert
the
Bruce
during
the
Wars
of
Scottish
Independence,
when
he
and
his
men
laid
siege
to
Aberdeen
Castle
before
destroying
it
in
1308
and
massacring
the
English
Garrison,
retaking
Aberdeen
for
the townspeople.
The
secret
phrase
to
initiate
the
campaign
was
"Bon
Accord".
Aberdeen
was
John
Drewry’s
adopted
home
and
this
dance
was
devised
in
1971
to
commemorate
the
winning
by
the
City
of
Aberdeen
of
the
“Britain
in
Bloom”
Competition for the third successive year.
Since
then
Aberdeen
has
won
the
competition
many
more
times,
and,
it
is
rumoured,
has
even
been
barred
from entry some years to give other cities a chance!
The
Circle
Waltz
is
likely
to
be
a
traditional
Norwegian
folk
dance.
There
is
a
traditional
Norwegian
tune
called
Kristiana
Waltz
which
was
recorded
and
released
in
the
UK
in
the
1920's
by
an
accordion
duo.
It
became
a
very
popular
accordion
tune
in
Scotland,
where
it
is
known
as
the
Oslo
Waltz,
and
the
dance
is
now
known
as
either
the Circle or Oslo Waltz.
This
video,
nor
any
of
the
SCD
recordings
which
I
found,
used
Kristiana/Oslo
Waltz
tune.
This
video
is
from
a
Budapest
“Scottish
Dance
House
for
Beginners”
in
February
2019
with
live
music
from Dagda Zenekar.
For
those
of
you
interested,
this
link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moL11SacgCs
is
a
lovely
idea
and,
visually,
could
be
quite
spectacular
with
a
bit
of
practice.
The
title
almost
certainly
refers
to
a
table
game
of
skittles.
This
game
involves
nine
small
skittles
to
be
knocked
down
by
a
ball
on
a
string
attached
to
an
arm
similar
to
a
miniature
garden
‘swingball’
or,
in
a
larger
version, by directing a spinning top at the skittles.
Why
the
devil
should
be
among
the
tailors,
however,
remains
a
mystery
although
it
has
been
suggested
that
a
tailor’s
devil
is
a
pressing
iron
and
the
title
refers
to
its
use
by
a
number
of
tailors
who
traditionally
sit
in
a
circle
on a large workbench.
Not
in
Highland
gear
but
certainly
a Rambler …
I
use
this
picture
on
my
holiday
literature
when
Keith
Rose
is
leading
walks,
and
was
reminded
of
this
when
I
saw
Helen
&
Keith
on this video from Aberdeen.
Also
spotted
nearer
the
centre
of
the
room
is
Bethany
Warburton,
we think …