The Montgomeries' Rant
Background Source
The The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies dates from 1749, it is a manuscript that was found at (surprise!) Castle Menzies. There are 18 dances given in full, and some of them have names arguing for revolution. Transcribed by Jim Healy:
The 1st pair goes back to back & casts off then back to back again & 2d woman casts up, & the man down, then reels above & below then the 1st pair sets hand in hand to the 2d woman then to the 3d man then to the 3d woman & then to the 2d man; then leads out att the sides.
Interpretation
It may seem presumptuous for me to attempt to interpret this dance from Scotland when the RSCDS has already done so, but their interpretation pretends the dance is a modern Scottish Country Dance, while I see it as a Country Dance of the eighteenth century. I shall attempt to interpret it as I would any other country dance from that period.
The first thing I take issue with is the music. In the Register the dance is named The Montgomerie's Rant a Strathspey Reele so I assume it was originally intended to be done as a strathspey.
I also presume it should be done with a rant step, a step which seems to have vanished from Scottish Country Dancing.
I'm not sure why the RSCDS has converted the two back to backs into crosses. Perhaps simpley because it is hard to do a back to back in 2 bars at reel tempo (but in a strathspey it should be no problem).
back to back again & 2d woman casts up, & the man down "2d woman" is almost certainly a misprint. These directions are for the 1s. Anyway the 2d woman is currently at the top, it makes no sense for her to cast up.
I suspect that when the 1s are setting to the corners, the corners will not set back. This is a display move for the 1s which the corners should watch rather than copy.
The final figure is lead out at the sides. There seems debate as to what this label refers to and I know of at least four meanings. None of those meanings involves a reel however.
Some dance examples
My interpretation
The RSCDS interpreted this dance in 1935 (Book 10).
This website is copyright © 2021-2026 by George W. Williams V
My work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Most of the dances have more restrictive licensing, see my notes on copyright, the individual dance pages should mention when some rights are waived.