Rakish Highlandman
Background Sources
In his A Companion to the Ballroom of 1816, Wilson writes:
SINGLE FIGURE Tune played straight thro
Cross over 1 Cu: half figure round the 3d Cu: & lead outsides
OR THUSCast off 2 Cu: & back again & whole poussette
DOUBLE FIGURE Each strain repeated
Hey on your own sides lead down the middle up again allemande turn corners & the double triangle
This is an interpretation of the DOUBLE FIGURE. The music is two 8 bar strains (jigs) both repeated.
What Wilson meant
Wilson defines most of his figures in his An Analysis of Country Dancing.
Hey on your own sides is only defined as part of
"Hey Contrary Sides, and Hey of your own Sides" on page 83 and he shows a
mirror/reflection hey.
lead down the middle up again may be found on pages 10-11 and means:
"lead down two couples, turn, lead up to the place of the couple who were
below (who move up)" Wilson does not specify a hand hold for the lead, nor
whether the 2s take hands.
allemande may be found on page 7 and appears to
mean going about your partner in a circle. In a later edition of Analysis
Wilson adds the phrase "back to back". Wilson does not define a "back to back"
figure. His allemande is a bit rounder than a normal back to back but perhaps
that is the closest equivalent.
This is an unusual meaning for "allemande", but, as best as I
can understand, that is what Wilson describes.
turn corners may be found on pages 28-32 and appears to
mean: the 1s pass partner right shoulder to turn first corners with both
hands, then pass each other right shoulder to turn second corners (presumably
again with both hands, though Wilson does not specify), finally passing each
other left to return to places.
the double triangle does not appear until the 3rd edition of the Analysis
on page 113 and means: the middle couple loop first corner right shoulder
pass outside partner's place, then loop 2nd corner right shoulder and
return to place.
This is completely different from the RSCDS version of double triangles.
Some dance examples
Wilson's 1816 version, as best as I can interpret it
The RSCDS interpreted this dance in 1957 (Book 19).
For some reason the RSCDS turned Wilson's mirror reels into parallel right shoulder reels. Wilson's progressive 4 bar down the middle and up to 2nd place has become a non-progressive down the middle and up. Wilson's non-progressive 4 bar single couple allemande has become a progressive 8 bar two couple allemande. Turn corners has gone from a two hand turn to a right hand turn. Like allemande, "double triangles" has a completely different meaning.
And the music has gone from 32 bars to 40.
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.