Shon Truish Willichan ~ Williams

Shon Truish Willichan ~ Williams is an English Country Dance. It was published by Thomas Wilson in 1816 in A Companion to the Ball Room. It was interpreted by George Williams in 2024. Originally a Triple Minor this version is a proper Duple Minor dance. The minor set lasts 32 bars.

Wilson, on page 59, spells this dance Shon Truish Willichan and writes:

SINGLE FIGURE Each strain repeated
Set & change sides with 2^d. Cu: set & back again swing with right hands round the 2^d. Cu: then with left set 3 across set 3 in your places lead thro the bottom & lead outsides

SINGLE FIGURE (Each strain repeated)
Set & hands across quite round with 2^d. Cu: set & back again promenade 3 Cu: whole poussett & set contrary corners

OR THUS Cast off 2 Cu: & back again set & half right & left with 2 Cu: set & back again lead down the middle up again set to the top Cu: hands 6 round & back again

* This is the Scotch & the only real Shon Truish _ the other tune usually confounded with this derives its name from the french words Chant Russe signifying a Russian Song or Air _ each has a particular dance Composed to it, the above is more a favorite among the Scotch, but the Chant Russe is more prevalent in the English ball room. _ these dances consist of a number of steps necessary to be taught by a master & therefore the figure here set to them are only to adapt them for country dances

The music consists of four four-bar strains, to be played AABBCCDD. Wilson expects a reel, not a strathspey.

The RSCDS appears to have interpretted the third figure (the one titled OR THUS), and I think they are right in turning it into a duple minor, the 3s are only involved in the final circle.

Wilson defines most of his figures in his An Analysis of Country Dancing, 3rd Edition.

Cast off 2 Cu: & back again may be found on page 25 and means: top couple cast ending below the third couple, cast up and back to original places.
Set, and half right and left may be found on page 50 and means: Everyone sets in his or her place (he doesn't say whether this is to partner, neighbor or corner) then L1+M2 change by left, then M1+L2 change by right.
lead down the middle up again set to the top Cu: may be found on page 8 and means: Top couple leads down to between the third couple, 1s turn and lead up to 2nd place as the second couple move up (Wilson's pictures show them moving up the sidelines and not leading), then actives set (or foot it) to the second couple. (This seems to take 8 bars)
hands 6 round & back again may be found on page 5 and means what you expect. All take hands and circle left then right.

The animation plays at 120 counts per minute normally, but the first time through the set the dance will often be slowed down so people can learn the moves more readily. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color, however the border of each dancer indicates what role they currently play so the border color may change each time through the minor set.

The dances of George Williams (including interpretations like this one) are licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike: CC BY-NC-SA license.

If you find what you believe to be a mistake in this animation, please leave a comment on youtube explaining what you believe to be wrong. If I agree with you I shall do my best to fix it.

If you wish to link to this animation please see my comments on the perils of youtube. You may freely link to this page, of course, and that should have no problems, but use one of my redirects when linking to the youtube video itself:
https://www.upadouble.info/redirect.php?id=ShonTruishWillichan-Williams

A1+2	1-8	1s cast down to bottom, cast up back to places
B1	1-2	All set
	3-4	Corners change: W1+M2 change by left, M1+W2 change by right
B2	1-2	All set
	3-4	Corners change back: W1+M2 change by left, M1+W2 change by right
C1+2	1-6	1s lead down, turn, lead up to 2nd place as 2s lead up, 1s face 2s
	7-8	Set to neighbor
D1	1-4	Circle left four...
D2	1-4	...and back to the right