Dance The Gates of Edinburgh 2415

Reel · 32 bars · 3 couples · Longwise - 4 (Progression: 213)

Devised by

David Rutherford (1750)

Intensity

888 888 888 888 = 100% (1 turn), 75% (whole dance)

Formations

Reel of three - 16b mirror, crossing (Gates of E) (REEL;DOUBLE;GE;R3;)
Set in line in threes (SETLIN;3P;)
Note: This list may be incomplete and/or incorrect.

Steps

Pas-de-Basque, Skip-Change

Published in

Book 15 [5]
Scottish Country Dances Books 13 to 18 (Combined A5 edition) [30]
Pocket: Books 13,14,15 [29]
101 Scottish Country Dances [36]
Compleat Collection of 200 of the most celebrated Country Dances both old and new - Vol 1
Fifty Scottish Dances [15]
Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 9 [68] (diagram only)
Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 8 [68] (diagram only)
Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 7 [54] (diagram only)
Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 6 [52] (diagram only)

Recommended Music

Extra Info: There are various opinions concerning the name of this dance. One school of thought claims that the “gates” are the …

There are various opinions concerning the name of this dance. One school of thought claims that the “gates” are the gates of the town which are opened in the morning and closed at night – hence the giving of hands in the reels of three. This sounds very plausible if one disregards the fact that the city of Edinburgh was never fortified and thus did not actually feature such gates.

The other school of thought notes that the word “gate”, in Scots, does not actually mean “gate” as in “big door”, but “street” (from the Scandinavian gatan) – as evidenced by well-known Edinburgh street names such as Cowgate or Canongate. A “gate”, the big door, would be a “port”, as in in the song about John Graham of Claverhouse, a.k.a. “Bonnie Dundee”:

Come fill up my cup, come fill up my can,
Saddle my horses and call out my men,
And it’s Ho! for the west port and let us gae free,
And we’ll follow the bonnets o’ Bonnie Dundee!

So according to this theory the “gates of Edinburgh” are really the “streets of Edinburgh”.

The Gates of Edinburgh

In the towns of medieval Scotland, “gates” or “gaits” were roads or thoroughfares. In some instances, the term continued in usage and thus we still have in the Old Town of Edinburgh the Canongate, the road of the early Augustinian canons of Holyrood Abbey (See “Cadgers in the Canongate”) and the Cowgate, the cattle road. In Edinburgh’s New Town, far below the huddled mess of the Old Town, Princes Street was once known as “The Long Gait”.

From “Scotland Dances”, by Eugenia (Jeannie) Callander Sharp (Used by permission.)

Name	Artist	Album	Media	Trk	Type	Time	Pace
The Gates of Edinburgh	Fiddlers Three Plus Two	Book 14/15. Music for Scottish Country Dances (1)	LP+	4	R32 8	4:45	35.6
The Gates of Edinburgh	The Atholl Players	Dances of Scotland Volume 1	MC	3	R32 8	4:24	33.0
The Gates of Edinburgh	The Atholl Players	Dances of Scotland Volume 1	LP+	3	R32 8	4:24	33.0
The Gates of Edinburgh	John Ellis and his Highland Country Band	A Reel Kick	LP+	2	R32 4	2:20	35.0
The Gates of Edinburgh	Stan Hamilton and his Flying Scotsmen	Scottish Dance Time Vol 3	LP	8	R32 8	4:40	35.0
The Gates of Edinburgh	Blue Bonnets	Gates of Edinburgh	LP	1	R32 8	0:00	0.0
Gates of Edinburgh	Muriel A Johnstone	Teachers Certificate Examination (1983)	MC	9	R32 4	0:00	0.0
The Gates of Edinburgh	Muriel A Johnstone	Teachers Certificate Examination (1990)	MC	2	R32 4	0:00	0.0
The Gates of Edinburgh	Catherine Fraser & Duncan Smith	Old Favourites and Odd Couples	CD	5	R32 8	4:57	37.1
The Gates of Edinburgh	Neil Barron and his Scottish Dance Band	Book 15	CD	5	R32 8	4:40	35.0

The Gates of Edinburgh 3/4L · R32

1–: 1c+2c+3c mirror Reels3 on opposite side (with hands), 1c cross down to begin
9–: 1c+2c+3c mirror Reels3 on own side ; finish 1W/1M between 2c/3c
17–: Set twice in lines of 3 across ; 2W+3W & 2M+3M turn BH while{4} 1c BH 1¼ turn (2,1,3)
25–: All set twice ; turn RH

E-cribs

The Gates of Edinburgh 3/4L · R32

1-8: 1s cross down to dance reflection reels of 3 on opposite sides
9-16: 1s cross down to dance reflection reels on own sides ending in lines across 1L between 2s & 1M between 3s
17-24: 2s+1s+3s set twice, turn opposite person 2H, 1s end 2nd place on own sides
25-32: 2s+1s+3s set twice & turn RH

MiniCribs

Keith Rose's Diagrams

Combined View

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