Website designed and maintained by Microport  © 2010 -20
The Sunday Class
YAN TAN TETHERA (J8x32)  Derek Haynes  Carnforth Collection 2  1- 8 1s   cross   RH,   cast   1   place,   1L   dances   a   ½   Fig   of   8   round   2s   while   1M dances ½ Fig of 8 round 3s  9-24 1s dance Corner Chain with 1 st  & 2 nd  corners : - `1s   change   places   RH   with   1 st    corners,   1 st    corners   turn   LH   in   centre   & return   to   places   giving   RH   to   1s   who   turn   LH   in   centre   to   face   2 nd   corners `1s   change   places   RH   with   2 nd    corners,   2 nd    corners   turn   LH   in   centre &   return   to   places   giving   RH   to   1s   &   1s   end   turning   LH   ¾   to   face   1 st   corner 25-32 1s   dance   reels   of   3   on   opposite   sides   giving   LSh   to   1 st    corners   &   cross to 2 nd  place own sides
Taught/practised on: 2015 July 26 th November 22 nd November 29 th
For the late Dennis & Rhoda Park, the Westmorland farmers who counted their sheep “ Yan, Tan, Tethera …” The recommended tune is by Pat Clark called Aon, Da, Tri … - of course! (Gaelic for 1, 2, 3 …) Dating   back   at   least   to   the   medieval   period,   and   continuing   to   the   present   in   some   areas,   farms   were   granted   fell rights,   allowing   them   access   to   common   grazing   land.   To   prevent   overgrazing,   it   was   necessary   for   each   farm   to keep   accurate,   updated   head-counts.   Though   fell   rights   are   largely   obsolete   in   modern   agriculture   except   in upland   areas,   farms   are   often   subsidised   and   taxed   according   to   the   quantity   of   their   sheep.   In   order   to   keep accurate   records   (e.g.   of   birth   and   death)   and   to   be   alert   to   instances   of   straying,   shepherds   must   perform frequent head-counts of their flocks. Sheep-counting   systems   derive   from   Brythonic   Celtic   languages,   such   as   Cumbric   and   all   compared   very   closely   to 18 th C   Cornish   and   modern   Welsh.   A   particularly   common   tendency   is   for   certain   pairs   of   adjacent   numbers   to come   to   resemble   each   other   by   rhyme   (notably   1   and   2,   3   and   4,   6   and   7,   or   8   and   9).   Like   most   Celtic numbering   systems,   they   tend   to   be   based   on   the   number   twenty,   lacking   words   to   describe   quantities   larger than   twenty.   To   count   a   large   number   of   sheep,   a   shepherd   would   repeatedly   count   to   twenty,   placing   a   mark   on the   ground,   or   move   his   hand   to   another   mark   on   his   crook,   or   drop   a   pebble   into   his   pocket   to   represent   each score (e.g. 5 score sheep = 100 sheep). The    Wikipedia    page:    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_Tan_Tethera     gives    an    extensive    table    of    regional variations.