News in pictures
Following this issue of Scottish Country Dancer Rosemary Coupe will take over as editor. Rosemary grew up in Tasmania but was imprinted with ancestral Scottish culture at an early age. Her grandmother tried in vain to teach her to sing Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond in tune. Despairing, she allowed Rosemary to be enrolled in ballet classes, which she loved. She became an ardent bushwalker and the mountains of British Columbia lured her to Vancouver as a graduate student. Soon after arriving, she discovered Hugh Thurston (a mathematics professor) teaching SCD in an old army hut on the university campus. This was both Scottish and physical, so she took to it immediately. After class everyone would go to the home of one of the members to drink tea and listen to Hugh talk about the dances and their history. Rosemary has been intrigued by dance history ever since. She taught English at Capilano College in North Vancouver, and for over twenty years she has taught for the Burnaby SCD Club in metropolitan Vancouver. For much of that time she also edited the Vancouver Branch newsletter, The White Cockade.
The RSCDS trophy at the National Accordion and Fiddle Club Festival was won by Shona MacFadyen. The competition was open to solo fiddlers and accordionists to promote the playing of Scottish country dance music and to encourage musicians to work with dancers for their mutual enjoyment. Shona is the younger sister of previous winner, Susan (see issues 10 and 12). They hail from West Kilbride and mum, Elma, is a member of North Ayrshire Branch. Both Shona and Susan have been competing around the festival scene for about 15 years with considerable success as soloists and band members. Neil Copland presented the trophy on behalf of
the RSCDS Management Board. He hopes that branches and and other SCD groups will encourage young musicians in their area to enter next year’s competition on 2 March 2013.
The International Branch team dancing at the Newcastle Festival, where they were placed first in the display section.
When her grandchildren give her time off, Rosemary continues to indulge passions for gardening, hiking and, of course, dancing. The full range of Scottish dance traditions continues to fascinate her, and she enjoys both hard and soft shoe step dancing as well as SCD. Her study of the Eightsome Reel in relation to the culture of its time appeared in the 2010 issue of the Folk Music Journal, after a shortened version of the article had been published in Scottish Country Dancer 3 back in 2006. She is now working on a detailed history of Scottish country dancing in Vancouver based on archival material. Through the magic of e-mail, Rosemary hopes to be in frequent touch with members interested in the magazine, and in particular she looks forward to working collaboratively with the very capable Editorial Board.
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It is not just about the dancing. At their end of season party the Scottish country dance class that meets in Buchan Street Hall, Macduff, Aberdeenshire held a raffle in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind. The photograph shows Alice Archibald, the class teacher, presenting a cheque to the chairman of the recently formed Guide Dog support group in nearby Whitehills.
