Website designed and maintained by Microport © 2010 -20
Taught/practised on:
RETURN TO SHIELDAIG
(S3x48)
G Thomson
1- 8
1s+2s dance double Fig of 8 (1s cross down to start)
9-16
1s cross down to dance Inveran Reels
17-24
1s turn 2H & cast 1 place, cross RH & cast round 1
st
corner into line
across
25-32
1s dance diagonal R&L (up/down) going to right to start
33-40
All Set+Link for 3, turn partner 2H. 3 1 2
41-48
1s+2s dance Diamond poussette right round
Shieldaig, in Ross & Cromarty, was established in 1800. People were attracted to the village by the offer of
grants from the Admiralty to support housing and boat-building; and, incidentally, to help build up a stock of
trained seamen who could be called upon by the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. After Napoleon's demise
in 1815 the official support disappeared but Loch Shieldaig and the surrounding waters had been famed for their
herring since the days of the Vikings, and the village's continuing prosperity was, for many years, based on the
success of its fishing fleet.
The village itself is a scattering of largely whitewashed cottages and other buildings along the shore of the loch
and would be a finalist in any "most picturesque village in Scotland" competition.
Views into the loch are dominated by Shieldaig Island, whose dense coverage of mature Scots pine contrasts
strongly with the bare mountainsides surrounding the loch. The island has been owned by the National Trust for
Scotland since 1970. It is believed that the trees were planted, probably with seeds taken from Speyside, in the
mid 1800s. There are concerns that these ‘imported’ pines may cross-pollinate the subtly distinct - and
increasingly rare - native Highland Scots pines that grow in Glen Shieldaig, and the eventual aim (over a century
or two) is to replace the Speyside trees with Highland trees.