Study Notes Copyright © William Lynch 2007
| First Figure - Swing Opposites (Reels) | 112 bars |
| 1 | Advance and retire twice, with crossed hand hold. | 8 bars |
| 2 | Diamond left: with the same hold, both couples dance two steps into the place on their L, fall back two steps into the place opposite their own (4 bars) and repeat the movement back home (4bars). | 8 bars |
| 3 | Swing (6 bars) with ceili hold and dance in place (2 bars). | 8 bars |
| 4 | Ladies chain R hand in the centre, L arm to turn the opposite gent and pass back R to R and into ceili hold. | 8 bars |
| 5 | Swing. | 8 bars |
| 6 | Swing opposites: 1st gent and 2nd lady dance into the centre (2 bars) swing (4 bars) and fall back to place (2 bars). Meanwhile, partners dance out of the set and circle their own place slowly once and back home to take their partners with crossed hand hold. | 8 bars |
| 7 | Diamond left. | 8 bars |
| 8 | Swing opposites, 2nd gent and 1st lady while their partners dance around. | 8 bars |
| 9 | Diamond left. | 8 bars |
| 10 | Ladies half chain R hand, L arm to turn the opposite gent, drop arms and turn anti-clockwise onto his L side ready to form a basket. | 8 bars |
| 11 | Swing four, with crossed arm hold behind, falling back to place to take crossed hand hold on the last 2 bars. | 8 bars |
| 12 | Advance and retire twice. | 8 bars |
| 13 | Swing. | 8 bars |
| Second Figure - Walkabout (Polkas) | 168 bars |
| 1 | House around, partners separating on the last bar. | 8 bars |
| 2 | Walkabout: both gents ¼ turn clockwise while the ladies face the opposite gent’s position and all walk the square (see STEPS later). | 16 bars |
| 3 | Swing with waltz hold. | 8 bars |
| 4 | Long polka: with the same hold, couples sidestep, the gents back-to-back, across to the opposite side and then into the corner behind the gent, dancing 12345678,1234567 (4 bars), with the weight on the leading foot. From the corner the movement is repeated back across the set, ladies passing back-to-back, and back to place (4 bars). | 8 bars |
| House around each other. | 8 bars | |
| Long polka. | 8 bars | |
| House around. | 8 bars | |
| 5 | Ladies chain.
Swing. |
16 bars |
| 6 | Gents change places (see STEPS later). | 8 bars |
| 7 | Swing.(see ENDNOTE) | 8 bars |
| 8 | Slide: new partners face each other with crossed hand hold
and slide in and back once (4 bars).
Pass through: couples drop hands and pass through, gents on the outside (2 bars), and new partners change places, the gents on the inside and turning anti-clockwise in beside their partners to take crossed hand hold (2 bars). |
8 bars |
| 9 | Slide.
Pass through again, but into waltz hold. |
8 bars |
| 10 | Swing. | 8 bars |
| 11 | Gents change places. | 8 bars |
| 12 | Swing and separate. | 8 bars |
| 13 | Walkabout, the ladies turning to meet their partners and take waltz hold on the last bar. | 16 bars |
| 14 | House around. | 8 bars |
| Third Figure - The Three and One (Reels) | 144 bars |
| 1 | Lead around with crossed hand hold, the ladies turning under both raised arms on the last 2 bars. | 8 bars | |
| 2 | Hook and turn: partners hook L elbows and dance around each other in place. | 8 bars | |
| 3 | Swing with ceili hold. | 8 bars | |
| 4 | Three and one: 1st couple, with R hands held on the lady’s R shoulder and L hands held in front, advance, retire and advance (6 bars) while 2nd couple stand in place with R hand shoulder hold only. On the last 2 bars 1st gent drops L hand hold and half turns his partner clockwise, keeping R hands held, in beside 2nd gent who takes her L hand on her L shoulder. 1st gent takes 2nd lady’s L hand in his L to complete the formation. | 8 bars | |
| Ladies change partners: the formation advances, retires, advances (6 bars) and the ladies dance L to L past each other into place beside their opposite gent (2 bars). | 8 bars | ||
| 5 | Swing. | 8 bars | |
| 6 | Gents hook L elbows in the centre, dance around each other (6 bars) and double out to their own partners (2 bars). | 8 bars | |
| 7 | Lead around.
Hook and turn. Swing. |
24 bars | |
| 8 | Three and one, with 2nd couple leading.
Ladies change partners. Swing. |
24 bars | |
| 9 | Gents hook in the centre and double out to their own partners. | 8 bars | |
| 10 | Lead around.
Hook and turn. Swing. |
24 bars |
| Fourth Figure - The Fling |
| Introduction: Couples, in waltz hold, form a well spaced circle with the gents' backs to the centre. |
||
| 1 | With weight on the R foot Gents dance: Hop, step forward, hop, step back, hop, step to the side, step together, step to the side (L foot), (2 bars) Hop, forward, hop, back, hop, side, together, side, (2 bars) and repeat these steps (4 bars). With weight on the L foot Ladies dance: Hop, step back, hop, step forward, hop, step to the side, step together, step to the side (R foot), (2 bars) Hop,back, hop, forward, hop, side, together, side (2 bars) and repeat these steps (4 bars) |
8 bars |
| 2 | House around the circle, doubling the last two steps to finish with gents' backs to the centre again. | 8 bars |
| 3 | 1 and 2 are repeated until the music stops. |
| STEPS A flat reel step is used for the reel figures. In the polka figure the normal step is used except for the following two movements: Walkabout: When stepping off (gents on the L foot and ladies on the R for the first step), the knee of the supporting leg is bent as the leading foot makes a long slide forward and takes the weight as the dancer rises on the count 1. The trailing foot slides alongside the leading foot on the count 2 (1 bar). Two 3s are danced in place followed by a third on which all ¼ turn anti-clockwise (3 bars), the whole 4 bar pattern being :- The step then changes to the other foot as the dancers dance into the next corner and ¼ turn (4 bars). This 8 bar sequence is then repeated back home. Gents change: They use the same sliding step to meet in the centre L to L, dance two 3s in place and, on the third, bow the head to each other (4 bars). They repeat the step to finish beside the opposite lady and turn in to face her on the last step. |
| SOURCE Mick Mulkerrin at his Wexford workshop, November 1999. This set is from the townland of Kildownet in the south of Achill Island and was revived by Eamonn Gannon (see 'Set Dancing News', Feb - March 2002, p3). |
| ENDNOTE : Andrea Corli has informed me from Italy, by e-mail, of the Swing which should be danced at 7. in Figure 2. and of the Fourth Figure which is also danced when the number of couples allow. Both of these points I find are in accordance with Pat Murphy's version of this set as described in "The Flowing Tide", but neither were included in the set Mick gave to us on the day. It's easy enough to miss out a swing, as anyone who teaches will know, and the likelihood is that he didn't think the dancers were up for the Fling on the day in question. I include it here, adapted from Pat's notes, as Mick apparently included it in the set he taught at Malahide in January, 2002 according to the Feb - March '02 issue of "Set Dancing News". |
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