On 25/09/2007 Patricia Long wrote: > The Pride of Aaron (I have no idea how that last word is spelt, as > I've never seen it written down.) The Pride of Erin, I think, but I could be wrong. Also known by us Stromness thugs as The Fry of Herring :-) -- Mike Clouston

I remember the name from school dancing lessons but have no recollection of the steps. Traditional dancing is having a renaissance in Orkney just now, with several parishes holding regular get-togethers where some of the old dances are revived but I'm afraid I haven't been to one. The Westray One Step is becoming quite popular. Four dances I forgot to mention, that are often danced at weddings and Harvest Homes are the Highland Scottische, the Quickstep, the Eightsome Reel and my favourite, The Pride of Aaron (I have no idea how that last word is spelt, as I've never seen it written down.) -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mike Clouston Sent: 25 September 2007 10:26 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ORCADIA] Wind on Loch Fyne Re: a muckle confusing? On 25/09/2007 Patricia Long wrote: > The difference between Scottish Country Dancing and the Orkney > version is illustrated by the local name for the Cumberland Reel. In > my home parish of Stenness it is known as the Stenness War Dance but > I've also heard it referred to as the Wyre War Dance. It isn't danced > very often nowadays but Strip The Willow is still very common. In > Orkney it isn't danced in small genteel groups; couples swing their > way down the entire length of the hall, usually at a pretty high > speed. The most common dances are still the St Bernard's Waltz, the > Eva Three Step, Military Two Step and Gay Gordons. No Boston Two Step in Stenness, Pat? -- Mike Clouston _______________________________________ Orcadia Group Photo Album http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

On 25/09/2007 Patricia Long wrote: > The difference between Scottish Country Dancing and the Orkney > version is illustrated by the local name for the Cumberland Reel. In > my home parish of Stenness it is known as the Stenness War Dance but > I've also heard it referred to as the Wyre War Dance. It isn't danced > very often nowadays but Strip The Willow is still very common. In > Orkney it isn't danced in small genteel groups; couples swing their > way down the entire length of the hall, usually at a pretty high > speed. The most common dances are still the St Bernard's Waltz, the > Eva Three Step, Military Two Step and Gay Gordons. No Boston Two Step in Stenness, Pat? -- Mike Clouston

I attended a dance in Kirkwall at the legion one June night, and observed that dancing there is more like a team sport than the one on one up close and personal type of dancing here. There is "plays" involved, not unlike rugby. Thankfully, towards the end of the night, they played a few familiar 60's r and b tunes from over here, so I didn't feel like a total fish on the beach. The very lovely lady I was with was from over here (US actually), but she obviously spent lots of time at these things in Orkney, because she had all that footwork memory work down, and recognized all the names for the various labeled team footwork workouts without a play book. I declined most of the contrived group dances, fearing an anxiety attack when my unfamiliar feet would become entangled at this strange initiation stage. Not unlike our western square dancing to some degree I thought. Sadly, there did not seem to be many young folk floating around the floor. In the many journals written of our Orcadians here in the far north, at York Factory for instance, special occasions or just impromptu meetings of the fur brigades, would be reason enough to engage in some sort of serious party, where the fiddles howled and the spirits of those free living couriers let loose for hours on end, the strange sounds rising into the cool north air under an umbrella of a million twinkling stars. Joseph Isbister was one that encouraged these regular "blowouts" that included native indian maidens by the score and any of the french courier du bois on hand. Company rum and brandy flowed. The dances were raucous and physical in the extreme. The numerous accounts of these bushland blowouts describe in detail the mood and atmosphere and the colourful clothing including the moccasins and the deer hides on the local maidens. Those basic musical tendencies were passed down through Orcadian and French Canadian families here for many generations. My grandfather, a northerner, could play the fiddle, the guitar and a thing called an autoharp and the harmonica as well as the jew's harp and the spoons. The entire family were musical. I still have my grandfather's fiddle. Has someone produced a good cd based on Orkney song and dance? Personally, my late wife and I always enjoyed the good old north american "up close and personal" dance style, depicted so well in the movie dirty dancin'. The final couple of dances in Krikwall that night were of this type, and while the locals seemed to dance to those old sixties tunes, I could see that they were more used to that patterned group stuff. I was revived and invigorated at the ability of my partner that night, in her native dirty dancin' mode, and so sadly those tunes from over here were played at the end of the night, and I was soon shot out onto that Kirkwall street feeling just a wee bit deprived wanting to latch onto my little yankee, and dance down the dark damp street. Funny that after just half of a 60's r and b tune, how in step and comfortable we were, and we both knew it. It was a happy note to end on and a great place to pick up on n the future. May the world keep on dancin'! Cheers....Tanglefoot

Thanks Jan,, I will pass it along to Eliz. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 9:15 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Wind on Loch Fyne Royce - I put out a heads-up to a folk music e-list I'm on and have had a couple of responses from John, of the Wheeze and Suck Band (truly)! Herewith; *The Dunedin Dancers (Scotland) have the dance in a book listed on their website; http://www.dunedindancers.org.uk/public/activities.php * and from an old school chat room in Canada that John's linked to; Scottish Poetry Library on line, which might be able to help - http://www.spl.org.uk/ And a reasonable priced copy of the book (£20) at this site - http://www.antiqbook.co.uk/boox/alb/65454.shtml The dance is a very interesting one – done in a Triangular set, with three couples, i more usual four couple straight (or square) set. The dance was written for an Oakville Teacher, Bob Campbell, who died a few years ago. * and this contact; The Scottish Poetry Library 5 Crichton's Close Canongate Edinburgh EH8 8DT Telephone: 0131 557 2876 Fax: 0131 557 8393 Email: [email protected] Web site: www.spl.org.uk <http://www.spl.org.uk/> http://www.spl.org.uk/downloads/tapes.doc you can borrow a tape with the poem on *also; Michael Byrne, editor of the campbell hay poetry books, is lecturer in Scottish Gaelic, Department of Celtic, University of Glasgow. You could e-mail him and ask for the words, if that's what you're after. Some of those may be ground already covered or they may provide new leads. I'll feed through any more info. that may come in. Cheers, Jan (Aus.)

Patricia Long wrote: > The difference between Scottish Country Dancing and the Orkney version is > illustrated by the local name for the Cumberland Reel. In my home parish of > Stenness it is known as the Stenness War Dance but I've also heard it > referred to as the Wyre War Dance. It isn't danced very often nowadays but > Strip The Willow is still very common. In Orkney it isn't danced in small > genteel groups; couples swing their way down the entire length of the hall, > usually at a pretty high speed. > The most common dances are still the St Bernard's Waltz, the Eva Three Step, > Military Two Step and Gay Gordons. Also the Shapinsay War Dance, have a look at <http://www.farmofgarth.co.uk/Wool%20Products.htm> And the farm is for sale! -- Bruce Fletcher Stronsay, Orkney <www.stronsay.co.uk/claremont> "Do you get virgin wool from ugly sheep?"

To Anne from Eliz in Austin. (see below) Note from me: For those that may not be familiar, there are about four "traditional" types of Scottish dance. The Scottish Country Dances are very formalized and patterned. Much like ball room dance only more free spirited and energetic. The north American Square dances are direct decedents of SCD. The ceilidh dances are the same type of group dances but less ridge and as Eliz says below, subject to a multitude of local variation. There is also a Scottish Step Dance that has died out in Scotland, but still survives on Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. It's very similar to the Irish Step dance you see in Riverdance. It's an individual dance, although there may be several people dancing at the same time. Highland Dance, see below, is also a solo dance. Originally war dances or victory dances. R From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Chennault Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 4:57 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [clangunnsociety] Need a Favor LOL! This network amazes me <g>. I knew I could count on you guys... I'm sure there is a copy at the grad school library at UT but with dance class on Tue and Thur, sewing our costumes on Wed, and rehearsal on Friday....and a little thing like my full time job during the day, I just don't have time to get down there. Tell her that "Wind on Loch Fyne" refers to the dance itself. There are some dances that are tunes also, like Mairi's Wedding. WoLF may have a tune by that name also although I don't think so. I'm not sufficiently conversant to answer Anne's question about Orcadian reels and strathpeys in terms of dance, but I'll do a little research. There is an Orcadian/Shetland version of the popular ceilidh dance "Strip the Willow. " Ceilidh dances have lots of local variations. As for Highland though (and forgive me for cutting and pasting in the interest of time) here is a brief but succinct answer: Highland Dancing is of military origin and was only performed by men up until the early 1900's. The Highland Fling is by far the oldest, dating back to the time of the Roman occupation of ancient Caledonia. Steps have changed throughout the millennia mostly due to the French influence in Scottish history, but the original meaning of the dance - a victory celebration - remains. Traditionally, Highland dancing is done to bagpipes. The version pipers play today dates back to the 16th Century, when the MacCrimmon family, pipers for the McLeod of Harris, worked out not only the form of the bagpipes, but also the intricate fingering on the chanter

What a wealth of information and resources we have just been provided on the subject of traditional dance customs. Wouldn't it have been nice if someday wanting to refer to that archived information we could look for the "dance" topic instead of having to remember it's all filed under "muckle". ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

The difference between Scottish Country Dancing and the Orkney version is illustrated by the local name for the Cumberland Reel. In my home parish of Stenness it is known as the Stenness War Dance but I've also heard it referred to as the Wyre War Dance. It isn't danced very often nowadays but Strip The Willow is still very common. In Orkney it isn't danced in small genteel groups; couples swing their way down the entire length of the hall, usually at a pretty high speed. The most common dances are still the St Bernard's Waltz, the Eva Three Step, Military Two Step and Gay Gordons. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Royce Perry Sent: 24 September 2007 22:25 To: [email protected] Subject: [ORCADIA] Wind on Loch Fyne Re: a muckle confusing? We await her reply with bated breath! Thanks. <G> You have brought up an interesting topic,,are the "country dances" in Orkney the same as the Scottish Country Dances,,,or a whole different gaggle of geese? R -----Original Message----- From: Anne Slater [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 3:08 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Wind on Loch Fyne Re: [ORCADIA] a muckle confusing? I have determined that a copy SHOULD be available in the New York (City) Public Library, where my New York daughter used to work (Who knows, there may even be an uncatalogued copy in the Morgan Library where she works now). So I have asked her to find me the words.... This will definitely take more than a couple of hours, but.... I see by googling the title that there is a dance (form? or tune?) of the same title. Oh yes, I see you say it's the name of a country dance, but still, tune or form/pattern of dance? And can someone speak to the differences btw Highland Dancing and the Orcadian Strathspeys and Reels and the origins of both ? Anne (Yes, a copy of this 1948 book is over $60 in Amazon) _______________________________________ Orcadia Group Photo Album http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Sian Thomas wrote: > Mike, There are now a couple of photos on the Graemsay Community website of > the old coo boat. Thought you (and others might like to see them). I've > suggested Mick (who manages the website) uploads old photos as and when he > has time. > > go to: www.graemsay.org.uk > Choose Island Life on the left hand menu and click on "Days gone by". If > anyone recognises any folk in the photos do let us know! That's just how I remember it Sian, thanks very much. -- Kind regards Mike Clouston

By the way, the English word "much" originates from the same word "mickle = big" much - c.1205, worn down by loss of unaccented last syllable from M.E. muchel, from O.E. micel "great in amount or extent," from P.Gmc. *mekilaz, from PIE *meg- "great." For vowel evolution, see bury. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=much&searchmode=none All the best, Andrei

What a great story - love it !!! Isabella ----- Original Message ----- From: Royce Perry <[email protected]> Date: Monday, September 24, 2007 7:24 am Subject: Re: [ORCADIA] Shipping Kye from Graemsay.. Photo.The Boat To: [email protected] > It's surprising what they can do with those horns. Alan > Cameron's older > bull. McDuff, is a glutton for head scratching and coo treats. > You walk up > to the pen and here he comes, puts his head up against the bars > and waits to > have his head scratched. If you go around to the side where Alan > keeps a > bucket of range cubes for the kids to feed him. He sticks his > muzzle through > the bars and hold his tongue out. So, last year at one of our Texas > festivals,,,the coo treat bucket gets empty and Alan takes it > and walks off > toward the parking lot to get more. Worse yet from McDuff's  > point of > view,,there was nobody coming to his pen to do head scratching!! > Not At All > Acceptable! Pro-active measures are required. He goes over to > the side of > his pen closest to where he can see some "head scratchers". Puts > his horns > through the bars, lifts his head till that whole side of the pen > is off the > ground, and walks slowly toward the humans. By the time Alan > gets back > McDuff had moved the pen, and the two yearling heifers in it > with him, > better than thirty yards across the venue. He and Alan had a > long discussion > about whither McDuff was going to take the pen back to where it > belonged.Alan lost, ended up having to dismantle the pen and > drag the panels back to > their space and reassemble it. McDuff had the last word however. > All the > commotion attracted so much attention that he had a steady > supply of head > scratchers and treat providers for the rest of the afternoon. > R > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:orcadia- > [email protected]] On > Behalf Of stephen davie > Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 8:24 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [ORCADIA] Shipping Kye from Graemsay.. Photo.The Boat > > Great Photo Sian: > > This amazing photo explains in a flash why highland cattle would > not  > be the preferred species. One confused animal could easily spear > that  > fragile wee boat with the horns, and the whole fold would end up > in  > the drink. Had to wonder how old this photo was. > Very nice!...Stephen > ody of the message > > _______________________________________ > Orcadia Group Photo Album > http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA- > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > Isabella

I must admit that I got "mickle" wrong in one of my earlier posts in this thread. There's a well-known saying, "Many a mickle maks a muckle," and I therefore assumed (as I think many people do)that "mickle" meant a small quantity, so that the saying translates as, "Many small things can make a big one," — the sort of thing people say about saving money, for example. Not so, though. Chambers Dictionary says for "mickle": "*mickle*... adj. much: great. — n. a great quantity. — adv. much. Scot *muckle*. — "many a little (or pickle) makes a mickle" (often absurdly "many a mickle makes a muckle"), "every little helps". The Scots dictionary at http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/ simply lists "mickle" as a variant of "muckle", so that muckle, mickle and meikle are all just common forms of the same word, together with other spellings such as mukle, mukkel, meikill, mikil, and mykil. Norman Tulloch

We await her reply with bated breath! Thanks. <G> You have brought up an interesting topic,,are the "country dances" in Orkney the same as the Scottish Country Dances,,,or a whole different gaggle of geese? R -----Original Message----- From: Anne Slater [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 3:08 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Wind on Loch Fyne Re: [ORCADIA] a muckle confusing? I have determined that a copy SHOULD be available in the New York (City) Public Library, where my New York daughter used to work (Who knows, there may even be an uncatalogued copy in the Morgan Library where she works now). So I have asked her to find me the words.... This will definitely take more than a couple of hours, but.... I see by googling the title that there is a dance (form? or tune?) of the same title. Oh yes, I see you say it's the name of a country dance, but still, tune or form/pattern of dance? And can someone speak to the differences btw Highland Dancing and the Orcadian Strathspeys and Reels and the origins of both ? Anne (Yes, a copy of this 1948 book is over $60 in Amazon)

I have determined that a copy SHOULD be available in the New York (City) Public Library, where my New York daughter used to work (Who knows, there may even be an uncatalogued copy in the Morgan Library where she works now). So I have asked her to find me the words.... This will definitely take more than a couple of hours, but.... I see by googling the title that there is a dance (form? or tune?) of the same title. Oh yes, I see you say it's the name of a country dance, but still, tune or form/pattern of dance? And can someone speak to the differences btw Highland Dancing and the Orcadian Strathspeys and Reels and the origins of both ? Anne (Yes, a copy of this 1948 book is over $60 in Amazon) On 9/24/07, Royce Perry <[email protected]> wrote: > Dang...If you are that good,,maybe you can help one of our Scottish Country > Dancers down in Austin that is looking for a copy of a poem titled "Wind on > Loch Fyne" by George Campbell Hay. That is also the title on the book of his > poems it's in. So far all she has come up with are copies of the book in the > rare book sites............very expensive to get just one poem. <g> It's > also the name of a country dance which is I suspect the reason she is > interested. > R > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Anne Slater > Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 1:35 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [ORCADIA] a muckle confusing? > > This kind of etymological explanation is SOO fascinating. > Spasiba, Andrei! > Anne (ret. academic librarian) > > On 9/24/07, dear dron <[email protected]> wrote: > > By the way, the English word "much" originates from the same word "mickle > = > > big" > > > > much - c.1205, worn down by loss of unaccented last syllable from M.E. > > muchel, from O.E. micel "great in amount or extent," from P.Gmc. *mekilaz, > > from PIE *meg- "great." For vowel evolution, see bury. > > > > http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=much&searchmode=none > _______________________________________ > Orcadia Group Photo Album > http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > _______________________________________ > Orcadia Group Photo Album > http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Give me a couple of hours (she said breathlessly) Anne On 9/24/07, Royce Perry <[email protected]> wrote: > Dang...If you are that good,,maybe you can help one of our Scottish Country > Dancers down in Austin that is looking for a copy of a poem titled "Wind on > Loch Fyne" by George Campbell Hay. That is also the title on the book of his > poems it's in. So far all she has come up with are copies of the book in the > rare book sites............very expensive to get just one poem. <g> It's > a

This kind of etymological explanation is SOO fascinating. Spasiba, Andrei! Anne (ret. academic librarian) On 9/24/07, dear dron <[email protected]> wrote: > By the way, the English word "much" originates from the same word "mickle = > big" > > much - c.1205, worn down by loss of unaccented last syllable from M.E. > muchel, from O.E. micel "great in amount or extent," from P.Gmc. *mekilaz, > from PIE *meg- "great." For vowel evolution, see bury. > > http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=much&searchmode=none

Dang...If you are that good,,maybe you can help one of our Scottish Country Dancers down in Austin that is looking for a copy of a poem titled "Wind on Loch Fyne" by George Campbell Hay. That is also the title on the book of his poems it's in. So far all she has come up with are copies of the book in the rare book sites............very expensive to get just one poem. <g> It's also the name of a country dance which is I suspect the reason she is interested. R -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Anne Slater Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 1:35 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ORCADIA] a muckle confusing? This kind of etymological explanation is SOO fascinating. Spasiba, Andrei! Anne (ret. academic librarian) On 9/24/07, dear dron <[email protected]> wrote: > By the way, the English word "much" originates from the same word "mickle = > big" > > much - c.1205, worn down by loss of unaccented last syllable from M.E. > muchel, from O.E. micel "great in amount or extent," from P.Gmc. *mekilaz, > from PIE *meg- "great." For vowel evolution, see bury. > > http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=much&searchmode=none _______________________________________ Orcadia Group Photo Album http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Mike, There are now a couple of photos on the Graemsay Community website of the old coo boat. Thought you (and others might like to see them). I've suggested Mick (who manages the website) uploads old photos as and when he has time. go to: www.graemsay.org.uk Choose Island Life on the left hand menu and click on "Days gone by". If anyone recognises any folk in the photos do let us know! Sian Graemsay ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Clouston" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2007 10:01 AM Subject: Re: [ORCADIA] Shipping Kye from Graemsay >> > When I was a young boy growing up in Stromness, Wednesday was Auction > Mart day. > Cattle from Graemsay destined for the mart were shipped in an open boat > which was towed behind a motor boat. > How the cattle were put on board in Graemsay I have no idea but they > were off-loaded in Stromness at the slipway on the opposite side of the > South Pier to where the Graemsay now berths. > Every now and then there would be a 'runaway' which would cause much > merriment amongst us young hooligans! > -- > Mike Clouston

That's a wonderful site to visit. Besides the subject of each slide show, the BBQ or a walk along the shore, there is the beautiful scenery behind it. Graemsay and Flotta are the two inhabited islands I have never visited. Janice Langland Granger, Indiana On Sep 24, 2007, at 5:31 AM, Sian Thomas wrote: > Mike, There are now a couple of photos on the Graemsay Community > website of > the old coo boat. Thought you (and others might like to see > them). I've > suggested Mick (who manages the website) uploads old photos as and > when he > has time. > > go to: www.graemsay.org.uk > Choose Island Life on the left hand menu and click on "Days gone > by". If > anyone recognises any folk in the photos do let us know! > > Sian > Graemsay > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Mike Clouston" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2007 10:01 AM > Subject: Re: [ORCADIA] Shipping Kye from Graemsay > > >>> >> When I was a young boy growing up in Stromness, Wednesday was Auction >> Mart day. >> Cattle from Graemsay destined for the mart were shipped in an open >> boat >> which was towed behind a motor boat. >> How the cattle were put on board in Graemsay I have no idea but they >> were off-loaded in Stromness at the slipway on the opposite side >> of the >> South Pier to where the Graemsay now berths. >> Every now and then there would be a 'runaway' which would cause much >> merriment amongst us young hooligans! >> -- >> Mike Clouston > > _______________________________________ > Orcadia Group Photo Album > http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA- > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message