MARY STEWART ASHWORTH
1-4 1s set, cross down to 2nd place facing out (2s step up)
5-8 1L cast up round 2M, down the middle & pull back R Sh to face up, while
1M cast down round 3L, up the middle & pull back R Sh to face down, back to back with 1L
9-16 1s dance out through the ends, cast round to the right, dance in through 2nd place and pull back R Sh to face out, back to back in the middle, while 2s & 3s set, advance and retire (6 bars); All take hands and set as in double triangles (2 bars)
17-24 1s dance out through the sides, cast round to the right, dance in through the ends and pull back R Sh to face up and down, back to back in the middle, 1M facing up while 2s & 3s set facing up and down, advance & retire up and down the dance (6 bars); All take hands and set as in double triangles (2 bars)
25-32 1s reel of three on the side, R Sh to 2nd corner (6 bars); 1s cross over RH (2 bars)
Devised by Joyce Cochrane (jcochrane [at] jcochrane.karoo.co.uk) in memory of a fellow branch member who died recently.
This is very timely for me, as I've recently been looking for dances with the movement "pass half round', or variations thereon, which occurs in dances written, or collected by Jack McConachie. See The Laird and the Lass, in The Grampian Collection (I think). It has now been taken into various "corners pass and turn" sequences, as in The Chequered Court. Anyhow, the movement by first couple in bars 5-8, 9-14, 17-22 are very much in that spirit. I wonder, did you ever think of having the first couple, in bars 9-16 and 17-24, dance 4 skip change, then 4 p de b? I.e., the "advance, pulling back right shoulder" at bars 5 and 6 of each phrase being done with p de b, rather than skip change?
Either way, I'll certainly try this out with my folks as soon as I get a chance. Suggestions about the music would be welcome, or I don't mind making my own selection. Thanks for this!
Peter McClure
Winnipeg, MB, Canada