

None of the dances published by the RSCDS before book 13 were devised by the RSCDS, instead they were considered "traditional" dances. Many dances published in subsequent books fall into that category as well. I have tried to track down the sources of these dances and display here the earliest published versions of the dance's figure which I've been able to find.
In some cases the RSCDS mentions a source. Often I have found earlier examples of the dance. Sometimes I have been unable to find the RSCDS source and will present the earliest source I have found.
When I know the deviser, I mark the name in italics. In most cases for these old dances I only know the publisher.
When a dance source is marked with "†" it means I have been unable to verify the source of the dance, when it is marked with "‡" it means I have been unable to find any Scottish dance manual containing this dance (prior to 1924).
Hovering the mouse over a dance's devisor/publisher will (often) produce a popup containing the text of the original.By default the list below shows only traditional dances interpreted by the (R)SCDS. I believe that Book 34 (1986) was the last book to contain any traditional dances. Before Book 13 all (R)SCDS dances were traditional, but Book 13 contains The Reel of the 51st Division, the first published modern dance. No further modern dances were published until Book 22 (1963), and after that some books contained modern and some traditional dances until Books 31&34, which contains both.
At the end I have several tables of statistics.
Order by:
Include:
(R)SCDS Book Range:
Containing figure:
| Lady Mary Menzie's Reel ~ RSCDS | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as transcribed by Jim Healy): 1st pair goes cross hands round with the 2d pair then back again & casts off, then the 1st woman and the 1st man leads up and sets to the 2d pair then leads down and sets to the 3d pair; then the 1st woman turns the 2d man & sets to her partner, then turns the 3d man and sets again to her partner who was doing the same on the woman's side: then reels at the sides, & falls into their places. | |
| Menzies Rant ~ RSCDS | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as transcribed by Jim Healy): 1st man turns 2d woman & casts off, then the 1st woman does the same then the 1st pair goes figure of eight through the 2d pair; then the 1st man sets to the 2d woman & turns her, then the 1st woman the same; then the 1st pair goes four hands round with the 2d pair & right & left | |
| The Priest and his Books | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as transcribed by Jim Healy): 1st man leads up the 3d woman to the top & she casts off, then the 1st woman does the same, then both 1st and 3d pair dances down the middle; & the 3d pair turns each other round while the 1st pair dances up again & casts off; then the 1st pair leads down between the 3d pair and casts up. | |
| Ye'll Aye Be Welcome Back Again ~ RSCDS | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies The Castle Menzies manuscript entitles this "He'll Aye Be Welcome Back Again". Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as transcribed by Jim Healy): 1st man sets to the 2d woman & turns her the 1st woman does the same then the 1st pair dances down two couple & up again (the woman going down the midle the man behind backs, & returning the contrary way) then casts off; then the 1st man turns the 3d woman, then his own partner half round, then turns the 2d woman, the 1st woman does the same on the man's side att the same time; then the 1st pair leads out at the sides | |
| Ye're Welcome Charly Stuart | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies The Castle Menzies manuscript entitles this "You'r Wellcome Charly Stuart". Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as transcribed by Jim Healy): 1st pair sets to each other & casts off then the 2d pair does the same then goes cross hands, back again & casts off, then sets cross, & reels att the sides |
| The Bleu Ribbon ~ RSCDS | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as transcribed by Jim Healy): 1st man goes figure eight round the 2d man & the 3d woman the 1st woman does the same round the 2d woman & 3d man then the 1st pair leads forward to the 2d pair then leads up & casts off, then does the same below and casts up; then the 1st woman goes round the 2d man & turns her partner, who was doing the same round the 3rd woman then she goes round the 2d woman then the 1st pair leads out att the sides |
| Miss Clemy Stewart's Reel - RSCDS | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as transcribed by Jim Healy): [1st man] casts off & turns the 3d woman then the 1st woman the same, then cross hands above & below, the 1st pair sets cross & reels at the sides. |
| General Stuart's Reel | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as transcribed by Jim Healy): 1st man sets to the 2d woman, & casts off, then the 1st woman does the same, then the 1st man turns the 3d woman by the right hand & goes half round his partner, who was turning the 2d man by the right hand then the 1st man turns the 2d woman by the left hand, while the 1st woman turns the 3d by the left hand; then the 1st pair setts cross, & then to each other, & reels att the side. | |
| The Infare ~ RSCDS | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies The Register spells the sub-title "Will Ye Marry Kitty". Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as transcribed by Jim Healy): 1st man sets to the 2d woman & turns his partner with cross'd hands as in Jamaica then the 1st woman sets to the 2d man & then turns her own partner as above, then the 1st pair casts down one couple & turns each other half round as before; then the 1st woman goes round the 3d woman & comes into her own place; the 1st man does the same round the 3d man at the same time The only dance called Jamaica that I know is from Playford's 4th (and subsequent) editions of The Dancing Master, and it does indeed have a crossed hand turn. The first man take his wo. by the right hand, then the left, ans so holding hands change places, then do the same to the 2. wo. ... Note that in Jamaica, the turn is only half. From the comment here on the third turn I assume that is intended in this dance too — however, that leaves the 1s on the wrong sides, however the description, the 1st woman goes round the 3d woman & comes into her own place; the 1st man does the same round the 3d man at the same time sounds more like a half figure eight than it does like a lead down, and that would fix things. Jamaica gives four bars for the half turn. Modern interpretations spend those four bars thus: 1 bar to take right hands, 1 bar to take left, 2 bars to turn half. In a strathspey you could achieve the same effect in half the number of bars. | |
| The Montgomeries' Rant | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as 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. |
| Couteraller's Rant ~ RSCDS | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as transcribed by Jim Healy): 1st pair joins cross right hands & 1st woman turns under her own right arm, then they join cross left hands & the 1st man turns under his own left arm, then the 1st pair leads down & up between the 2d pair & casts off, then leads down between the 3d pair & casts up, then goes the figure of eight, the man on the womans side & the woman on the man's side, (setting en passant to each other) & then foots it into their own places The full title is "Couteraller's Rant a Strathspey Reel". | |
| Open the Door to Three - Menzies | Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749 The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies Quoted from The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies (as transcribed by Jim Healy): 1st & 2d women leads forward then falls back then leads through the 1st & 2d men; then repeats the same & the 1st & 2d man leads through them back to their places again; then the 1st pair crosses over two pair down, & crosses up one pair & falls into their places then the 1st man leads the 2d & 3d man forward, while the 1st woman does the same on the woman's side, then the 1st man turns the 3d woman & falls in between her & the 2d woman, the 1st woman in the meantime turns the 2d man & falls in between him & 3d man & leads forward as before & turns his partner, then they go six hands round with the 2d and 3d pair then back again to their own places. Note: There is a Playford tune and dance with this name from 1652, which is an 4 bar slip jig. This is not it. |
| Castle Menzies | 12 |
| 1700-1749 | 12 |
| Castle Menzies | 12 |
| Castle Menzies | The Register of Dances at Castle Menzies, Scotland, 1749. Found at the A K Bell Library, Perth |
Scans of old dance manuals are scattered about the internet. The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, International Music Score Library Project, Scott Pfitzinger's Playford site, Richard Powers' website, Library of Congress, and The Library of Dance all provide primary sources. A number of other sites provide indeces of these sources: The Regency Dance site, The Library of Dance again, and my own site have all proven useful for finding old sources. Finally there is Robert Keller's index which does not provide sources directly but lists thousands of dances, the publications containing them, dates and a brief coded description of the figures. This last has proven invaluable for tracking down dances for which I had no complete sources.
And, of course, both the Scottish Country Dance Database and the Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary provide online descriptions of all the RSCDS books and often hint at early sources.
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.