The Sunday Class
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Taught/practised on: 2013 September 1 st September 8 th September 29 th 2014 January 5 th
GLASTONBURY TOR  (R8x32) Duncan Brown  RSCDS Book 47  1- 4 1s+2s set, dance ½ RH across  5- 8 1s+3s set, dance ½ LH across  9-16 1s set, cross RH, cast up one place, turn LH to face 1 st  corner positions 17-24 1s dance ½ diagonal reel of 4 with 1 st  corner positions, pass LSh, dance ½ diagonal reel of 4 with 2 nd  corner positions, finishing curving to right into lines across, 1M+3s facing down & 1L+2s facing up 25-28 1M+3s, 1L+2s Set & Link 29-32 1s turn 1½ RH while 3s+2s chase clockwise ½ way
This dance is dedicated to Duncan’s wife, Laura. Glastonbury Tor is a hill that stands above the Somerset Levels and Moors which is described by The National Trust as an ‘iconic and evocative landmark’. Glastonbury Tor is one of the most spiritual sites in England and pagan beliefs are still celebrated here. Tor is a word of Celtic origin meaning "rock outcropping" or "hill" and Glastonbury Tor has a striking location in the middle of the Summerland Meadows, part of the Somerset Levels. The plain is reclaimed fenland out of which the Tor once rose as an island. The remains of Glastonbury Lake Village nearby were identified in 1892, showing that there was an Iron Age settlement about 300–200 BC on what was an easily defended island in the fens. Earthworks and Roman remains prove later occupation. The spot seems to have been called Ynys yr Afalon (meaning "The Isle of Avalon") by the Britons and is believed by some to be the Avalon of Arthurian legend. Remains of a 5 th C fort have been found on the Tor, which was replaced by the medieval St. Michael's church that remained until 1275. According to the British Geological Survey, an earthquake was recorded on 11 September 1275, which was felt in London, Canterbury and Wales, and this quake destroyed the church. A second church, built in the 1360s, survived until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 when the Tor was a place of execution; Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, was hanged, drawn and quartered along with two of his monks, John Thorne and Roger James.  Only the now roofless tower remains. The seven deep, roughly symmetrical terraces are one of the Tor's enduring mysteries. A number of possible explanations for them have been put forward: Agriculture — many cultures, including Middle Ages Britain, have terraced hills to make ploughing for crops easier. However, it would be expected that terracing would be on the south, sunny side and not equally on the north side and also more likely on some of the more sheltered lower parts of the Tor. Cattle grazing — over long periods of time, cattle grazing can cause terraces to develop, but these are usually of a much smaller size than at Glastonbury and also tend to run parallel to the contours of the hill whereas some of the terraces of Glastonbury are quite steep and there are no other hills with comparable patterns of livestock- induced erosion. Defensive ramparts — Other Iron Age hill forts show evidence of extensive fortification of the slopes of hills, (for example, British Camp (Herefordshire Beacon) in the Malvern Hills. However, the normal form of these ramparts is that of three or four concentric rings of banks and ditches supporting an large enclosure for the safekeeping of a community. By contrast, the Tor has seven rings and very little space on top for any community, making it seem less likely that so much effort would have been made to gain so little. Labyrinth — Geoffrey Russell first put forward the theory in 1968 that the Tor terraces formed the remains of a three dimensional labyrinth. The classical labyrinth, a design found all over the Neolithic world, could be easily transposed onto the Tor so that by walking around the terraces a person eventually reaches the top in the same pattern. Evaluating this hypothesis is not easy. A labyrinth would very likely place the terraces in the Neolithic era, but given the amount of occupation since then, there may have been substantial modifications by farmers and/or monks and conclusive excavations have not been carried out. A model of Glastonbury Tor was incorporated into the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. As the athletes entered the stadium, their flags were displayed on the terraces of the model.