No Wind on Loch Fyne

from Scottish Country Dancer, Issue 28, April 2019

Dancing Around the World

Location Dancing is dancing a dance in a place associated with it. Helen Draper from Queensland, Australia, spent three weeks last August with a group of eleven Australians and three Germans travelling round Scotland, visiting places associated with dances.

**The group outside Appin Village Hall**

After dancing for many years together in Queensland, the Aussie dancers, aged in their 60s to 80s, decided an adventure to St Andrews, combined with a three-week journey around Scotland was a quest not to be missed, despite the 24-hour flight! “It wasn’t always easy to find a suitable place to dance but we always managed something,” said tour organiser and teacher Cathy McLeod.

“Finding the sign for Maggieknockater was exciting, only to realise it was on the side of a narrow road, making dancing there a bit difficult, not to mention dangerous!” It was exciting for us to visit Appin in Argyll and dance Autumn in Appin; and Mrs Stewart’s Jig near Fasnacloich, both dances in honour of Mrs Stewart. The trip included five ferries, three train journeys and many hours in our coach through spectacular scenery. The highlights were:

• Dancing The Rothesay Rant on thick grass and in glorious sunshine on the Isle of Bute.

• A day trip to to Benbecula in the Hebrides to dance on the sand at Culla Bay

• Dancing on the Isle of Raasay to the haunting tune Calum’s Road on a sloping, gravel track beside the sea and the romantic ruins of Brochel Castle.

• Climbing up the Lammermuir Hills to perform that dance, before dancing Neidpath Castle in front of the castle on the banks of the Tweed.

• Having an audience peering through the glass windows of the ferry terminal at Ardrossan, while performing Miss Johnstone of Ardrossan, after meeting Muriel Johnstone at Summer School.

• Dancing The Wind on Loch Fyne, near Loch Fyne, and without wind after the rain stopped!

• Joining a class on the Isle of Arran with Marion Devine who visits her family in Brisbane each year and joins in at our local class.

• Entertaining other guests with The Goat Fell Gallop on the front lawn of The Douglas Hotel in Arran, within view of Goat Fell, the highest mountain on Arran. You can watch our encore of the Blooms of Bon Accord on their Facebook page.

• Taking advantage of the dining room in our student accommodation in Glasgow, we delighted in our own ‘mini-socials’ where we twirled and skipped our way through such dances as Good Hearted Glasgow, Clutha and The Glasgow Highlanders.

• Scottish country dancing has the power to unite people from all over the globe thanks to the worldwide standardization of the dances. As we encountered new people and reunited with others we knew this to be true. As we left Scotland, our hearts were full of the joy that only Scottish music and dancing can evoke. Such is the power of this fabulous pursuit.