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Taught/practised on:
SIX MILE ROAD FROM PITLOCHRY
M – 4x(S32+R32)
Amanda Peart
Strathspey:-
1- 4
1s & 4s dancing in towards their partners, cast off (4 bar ‘curly
cast’), 2s & 3s step up/down on bars 3 & 4
5- 8
1s (RH) & 4s (LH) dance the Asquith Turn – as in ‘The Viking Ship’:
`5-6
Join hands with partner (using the nominated hand), pass
each other keeping hold of hand, whilst Lady pulls LSh (RSh if using
LH) back to pass with her back to Man and turns under his arm, to
finish towards the opposite sides
`7-8
½ turn (using the nominated hand) back to sidelines
9-12
1M & 4M cast out on own sides and across the top/bottom to centre
of set, facing down/up whilst 1L & 4L, nearer hands joined, advance
to centre then turn individually to face partner, 1s & 4s set to
partner
13-16
1s+2s RH across whilst 3s+4s LH across, finishing with 1s & 4s in
centre ready for:
17-24
1s+4s Reel of 4, finishing on opposite sidelines 2 (1) (4) 3
25-28
2s+1s & 4s+3s circle 4H round to left
29-32
4s dance ½ Fig of 8 around 3s 2 (1) 4 3
Reel:-
1- 8
1s & 4s dance a double Fig of 8, 1s casting & 4s crossing up to start
9-24
1M+4L also 1L+4M take prom hold (L on M’s right), with 1M+4L facing
down & 1L+4M facing up, pass corner person RSh, all dance 4x½
Reels of 3 on sides (to right to start, then left, right & left) with
1s+4s changing partners in centre at end of each ½ Reel to progress
Men clockwise & Ladies anticlockwise, end in centre 1s facing down
& 4s facing up (all as in The Bees of Maggieknockater)
25-28
1s dance between 4s turning 4s with nearer hand 1½ times (4s end in
2
nd
place)
29-32
1s dance ½ Fig of 8 around 3s 2 4 1 3
Eight of us went for a week’s dancing holiday to Pitlochry to enjoy Marian Anderson’s playing. We quickly
discovered a very nice Merlot in the local Co-op. When trying to remember the name of it so that we could buy
some more, I said, “It will be easy to identify as it has a picture of a Viking Ship on the label and top”. Much to
everyone’s amusement, this Viking ship turned out to be a prairie wagon (Californian wine, you see) and the wine
was called Six Mile Road.
On discovering that there was a dance and recording called The Viking Ship, it seemed that a Six Mile Road dance
should be devised to fit this music.
The ‘Asquith Turn’ is from The Viking Ship dance and seems indicative of unscrewing bottles. Of course, some
people chose to drink white wine and needed a corkscrew (Reel of 4 in the centre) but we all found a glass to
drink from (circles) even if it was from the bathroom!
Strathspey time:
9-16 - to try and get one table of 8 for all of us in the dining room each night involved various of us joining
different queues at different doors as we waited to be admitted and then nipping smartly past people
to gain ‘our’ table.
25-32 - one night (12.30 am) a huge picture slid gracefully down the bedroom wall and the glass exploded as
it came to rest on the radiator, curtailing our evening soiree.
Reel time:
1- 8 - we all ‘did our own thing’ in the day though usually in 2s and 4s and this included shopping (a lot of
weaving in and out in clothes shops!) and also Joyce and I did some embroidery.
9-28 - much dancing was done during the week, with many changes of partner .... and each evening we were
entertained in different bedrooms, often resulting in different people sharing beds - to sit on!
A video, kindly taken by
Mike Thompson, of the
premiere of this dance
by 7 of the Pitlochry
Eight plus 1 substitution
- at the Calpe Ceilidh -
can be viewed here.
Remember the story
behind the dance whilst
watching and don’t
judge us too harshly!
