The Sunday Class
Website designed and maintained by Microport  © 2010 -20
Taught/practised on:
2010 June 27 th 2012 January 8 th
THE ROAD TO MALLAIG (S4x32) Jack Frodsham RSCDS Book 36 1- 8 2s+3s dance RH across, then top 3 men & bottom 3 ladies dance ½ reel of 3 on sides (1M+2M also 3L+4L pass LSh to start) 9-16 Dancers in 2 nd  & 3 rd  places dance LH across, then top 3 ladies also bottom 3 men dance ½ reel of 3 on sides (1s+4s pass RSh to start). 3 4 1 2 17-24 Couples in 2 nd  & 3 rd  places (4s+1s) dance ½ R&L whilst end couples chase clockwise ½ way, 2s+1s & 4s+3s dance ½ R&L. 1 2 3 4 25-32 All dance ½ RSh reels of 4 on sides, top 3 couples (4s+3s+2s) dance ½ reel of 3 on sides to end 2 3 4 1
Mallaig lies at the end of the evocatively named "Road to the Isles." but it almost never happened at all. By the 1890s the Road to the Isles, which had terminated at Arisaig since 1812, had finally straggled north to the few cottages here. It was the coming of the railway in 1901 that led to the growth of the town. The railway was originally meant to take a left turn at Lochailort and finish at a new fishing port planned on the southern shore of Loch Ailort at a place called Roshven Farm, but the landowner at Roshven wouldn't agree terms, and the West Highland Extension Line, as it was known, came to Mallaig. The steamer pier was also built in 1901 and Mallaig quickly displaced Arisaig as the destination for steamers from Gairloch and Oban, and ferries started immediately to Armadale on Skye. There was a time when the narrow road into Mallaig from Morar to the south approached over the hill behind the town and dropped down the main street. This changed in 1988 with the building of a high quality new road close to the west coast that brings you directly to the roundabout at the entrance to the harbour.