SPLENDID SHILLING
(3 couples longways, Fallibrome c. 1750)
Adapted by Bernard Bentley in 1968,
Proper 3 couple longways dance.
Tune: SPLENDID SHILLING
A 1-8 W1 leads women round men 9-16 M1 leads men round women B 1-8 C1 lead down the middle and back cast to 2nd place, C2 moving up 9-12 C1 and C3 4 hands round (Left?) A 1-8 Circular hay (grand chain) C1 and C3 face on sides, C2 face across top. 6 changes, 1s and 3s one extra pass. C1 finish in bottom place (need to skip) Alternative: C1 and C2 4 changes of circular hay, beginning with partners, and then slip to bottom
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaUR4DSUPwI
Recording: Step Stately, track 6 (A5 on cassette)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_9g6fizZvY
SPLENDID SHILLING
Al 1-8 Women taking hands in a line, 1st woman lead the women counterclockwise around the standing men, back to places. A2 1-8 Men taking hands in a line, 1s man lead the men clockwise around the standing women, back to places. B 1-8 1s lead down the center of the set and back to places, then cast down into 2nd place (skipping), 2s moving up. 9-12 1s and 3s circle left once around. A 1-8 Circular hey for six, thus: 2s (now at top) facing partner, 1s and 3s facing neighbor, all pass by right shoulders to begin (6 bars), then 1s and 3s do one more change by right shoulders with neighbors, leaving 1s in 3rd place. (grand chain)
When soldier got recruited - he received a SHILLING as a compensation.
Jane Maxwell, Duchess of Gordon (1748-1812), was known for her flagrant infidelities, her missing finger, and her patronage of Robert Burns. One of the most striking stories about her, however, concerned her technique for encouraging young men, in 1793, to join her husband’s new regiment, the Gordon Highland- ers. She hosted reels wearing a version of a military uniform and a large black Highland bonnet; male attendees would receive the King's Shilling—the payment that secured a soldier’s commitment to the Army—from between her teeth, by kissing her—an unusually splendid shilling.