Earl of Erroll (reel)
 Highland dancing, Dornoch | |
| Genre | Scottish highland dance |
|---|---|
| Inventor | Francis Peacock |
| Year | 1805 |
| Origin | Scotland |
The Earl of Erroll is a Scottish highland dance sometimes danced today at Highland games around the world, as part of Scottish National dances repertoire. It is danced to two slow reels (4/4), Earl of Erroll and the 23rd Countess of Erroll.[1]
The dance takes its name from James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll, for whom it was choreographed by Francis Peacock.[2] It was originally performed in hard shoes. The dance came back to the repertoire of Scottish dancers after it was published in 1953 by Mrs Isobel (Tibbie) Cramb,[3] with reference to Frederick Hill's Manuscript (1841) and Miss Cruickshank of Aberdeen. It is still seen as a soft balletic Scottish step dance by RSCDS teachers[4] The Earl of Erroll is considered one of the hardest national dances to perform well.[5]
A Scottish country dance of a somewhat similar name, Earl of Errol's Reel, is performed in groups of 6 dancers (3-couple sets) as part of Scottish country dancing repertoire.[6] The Earl of Errol's Reel is a jig, collected in Quebec, Canada, by Mary Isdal MacNab, who noted that the dance originated in France. It is a 6/8 jig, performed to a tune Mrs McMillan's Quadrille.[7]
References
- ↑ United Kingdom Alliance of Professional Teachers of Dancing (2012). The UKA Highland, National and Hebridean Book. Blackpool. p. 15-16.
- ↑ McKee Stapleton, Anne (2014). Pointed Encounters: Dance in Post-Culloden Scottish Literature. Rodopi.
- ↑ Cramb, Isobel (1953). Four Step Dances. Edinburgh.
- ↑ Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (2013). St Andrew's Collection of Step Dances. Vol. 1. p. 28-29.
- ↑ "Highland Dance History". The Thistle Dancers And Pipers. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ↑ "The Earl Of Errol's Reel". Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ↑ Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (2007). Scottish Dances Collected by Mary Isdal MacNab. Edinburgh. p. 8-9.