Werribee Scottish Country Dance Group

The Melbourne RSCDS Branch had a wonderful Day of Dance Class- "Down Under Dances" taught by Heather Ross. The dances were:
Fun in the Sun, Cathy McLeod
Katoomba Mist, Brian Charlton
Milton's Chain, Francis Walduck
The Dancing Doctor, Ros McKie
The Canberra Bluebell Logo, Brian Gunning
Travelling Triangles, Harry Robertson
The Lion Gate, Audrey Saunders
May's 100, John Brenchley
Geometry, Neville Pope
Budelah, Frances Wallace
Margaret Archibald's Strathpey, Sue Bailey
Up the Downs, Brian Charlton

🎻 He never left Perthshire, he could barely read music, and yet a Scottish fiddler named Niel Gow shaped the sound of a whole nation and half the folk tunes played after him.

Niel Gow was born in 1727 near Dunkeld, the son of a plaid weaver. He was playing the fiddle by nine and was largely self taught, learning in the old way, by ear, from the tunes in the air around him. What set him apart was not book learning but something you cannot teach, a bowing arm of astonishing power and lift, and a feel for the strathspey and the reel that made people unable to keep their feet still.

He became the favourite fiddler of the Dukes of Atholl, but he never became grand. He played for dukes and duchesses in the great house and for ploughmen and dairymaids in the barn, and by all accounts he gave both the same fierce joy. His music was the sound of Scottish social life itself, the weddings, the harvest homes, the long winter dances that held communities together.

Crucially, he and his sons wrote much of it down. The Gow collections preserved hundreds of Scottish tunes that might otherwise have vanished, and among his own compositions is Niel Gow's Lament for the Death of his Second Wife, a slow air of such tenderness that it can still silence a room three hundred years later. He is the reason so many tunes played today at a ceilidh, a Burns Supper, or a Cape Breton kitchen dance even exist.

When Niel Gow died in 1807, he was mourned like a national figure, because that is what he had become. A weaver's son with a fiddle under his chin had gathered up the music of the common people and handed it to the future.

Every time a bow bites into a strathspey and a room full of Scots gets to its feet, Niel Gow is still playing. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

A wonderful week of dancing, renewing friendships and making new friends. The ball was a lovely conclusion to an excellent week.

This is a great way to compare Scottish Country Dancing with Ceilidh and Highland.

Scottish Dance Styles 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿.

The Melbourne RSCD has organised three three hour sessions of dancing for any dancers that may be interested in developing their dancing abilities. The classes will provide consolidation prior to Winter School. These days are always popular so don’t hesitate to sign up.
All details including how to sign up are on the RSCD website www.rscdmelbourne.org.au