Dance Monymusk 4646

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

Devised by

Preston (18C) (1786)

Intensity

800 888 888 866 = 79% (1 turn), 59% (whole dance)

Formations

Set in line in threes (SETLIN;3P;)
Hands round - 6 - and back (HR;6P;BACK;)
Reel of three - with corners (REEL;CRNRS;DOUBLE;R3;)

Steps

Strathspey setting, Strathspey travel

Published in

Book 11 [2]
Scottish Country Dances Books 7 to 12 (Combined A5 edition) [55]
Pocket: Books 10,11,12 [14]
A Guide to Scottish Country Dancing (ex-Collins) [151]
Collins Pocket Reference: Scottish Country Dancing [151]
101 Scottish Country Dances [74]
Thirty Popular Scottish Country Dances [27]
Five Scottish Dances (YSDA, Volume IV) [5]
Fifty Scottish Dances [32]
Collins Little Books: Scottish Dance [188]
The Thistle - A Magazine of Scottish Country Dancing and Allied Subjects [7]
Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 9 [122] (diagram only)
Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 8 [132] (diagram only)
Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 7 [111] (diagram only)
Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 6 [105] (diagram only)

Recommended Music

Sir Archibald Grant of Monymusk (Daniel(Donald) Dow)

Extra Info: In Scotland Through Her Country Dances, George S. Emmerson writes:

“Sir Archibald Grant of Monymusk” is one of the …

In Scotland Through Her Country Dances, George S. Emmerson writes:

“Sir Archibald Grant of Monymusk” is one of the great Strathspey tunes, composed by that very original composer in the traditional idioms, Daniel Dow (1732–83), music teacher in Edinburgh.

The name is Gaelic, “moine mus(g)ach”, “nasty, filthy bog”. Not, perhaps, the most prepossessing of names. The laird of this territory in Aberdeenshire is Grant, Baronet of Monymusk. The Third Baronet, who died in 1796, is doubtless the one honoured by Daniel Dow.

One must always be wary when Emmerson uses words like “doubtless”, but in this instance his theory seems sound. There are other conjectures about the name which are more absurd.

Monymusk is 50 kilometers or so (30 miles) north-west of Aberdeen and can be found using Google Maps. The Gazetteer for Scotland contains more information about the place than anyone other than serious Scottish history buffs would find useful.

The Reel #16 contains an article about Monymusk.

Monymusk

(See also “Grant’s Rant”)

Northwest of Aberdeen, on the banks of the Don, is the village of Monymusk and there, amidst the “Woods of Paradise”, stands the House of Monymusk.

The central tower was built by William Forbes about 1587 and the house stayed with the Forbes of Corsindae family until it was purchased in 1712 by Sir Francis Grant, Lord Cullen of Session. His son, Sir Alexander Grant, 3rd Baronet of Monymusk (d. 1796), planted the famous woods, fifty million trees in fifty years, certainly an arboreal record.

Having been expelled from Parliament for fraud in 1723, burdened with a decaying house and an unprofitable estate, Sir Alexander turned his attention to Monymusk and through his determined and often ruthless efforts became one of the great agrarian improvers of the 18th century.

In the village of Monymusk is the ancient church with its Norman chancel arch, one of the finest churches in the northeast of Scotland. In Monymusk there had also been in existence a flourishing Augustinian priory dating from the 12th century, the remains of which have now disappeared.

Gavin Douglas (c. 1475–1522), the poet and translator of Virgil’s Aeneid, was a priest at the church at Monymusk. For a time the Reverend John Skinner (1721–1807) taught school there and wrote “The Monymusk Christmas Ba’ing”, a long poem concerned not with religion but with a football match. (See also “The Crooket Horned Ewie” and “Tulloch Gorm”)

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

Name	Artist	Album	Media	Trk	Type	Time	Pace
Monymusk	Iain MacPhail and his Scottish Dance Band	Highlander Music Scottish Dances Vol 5	CD	3	S32 8	8:18	62.2
Monymusk	Fiddlesticks & Ivory	Ghillies on the Golden Gate	CD+	10	S32 8	8:47	65.9
Monymusk	Alastair Hunter & the Lorne Scottish Dance Band	Book 11.	LP+	2	S32 4	4:11	62.8
Monymusk	Alastair Hunter & the Lorne Scottish Dance Band	Fifteen Dances, Part Two	MC	4	S32 4	4:11	62.8
Monymusk	Don Bartlett and the Scotians	In Triumph	CD+	3	S32 8	8:16	62.0
Monymusk	Berkeley Scottish Players	A Camp of Pleasure	CD+	3	S32 8	8:20	62.5
Monymusk	John MacGregor Scottish Dance Band	Invitation to a Scottish Dance	LP	7	S32 4	4:02	60.5
Monymusk	Bill Clement	Honour the Piper	LP+	4	S32 8	7:51	58.9
Monymusk	Bill Clement	Dance to the Pipes	CD	11	S32 8	7:51	58.9
Monymusk	Alastair Hunter & his Caledonian Ceilidh Band	Alastair Hunter and his Caledonian Ceilidh Band	LP	2	S32 4	3:40	55.0
Monymusk	Unknown	Teachers Choice 1	LP	4	S32 4	4:02	60.5
Monymusk	Muriel A Johnstone	Preliminary Test	MC	9	S32 4	0:00	0.0
Monymusk	Bobby Crowe and his Scottish Dance Band	Step in Time	MC	4	S32 8	7:58	59.8
Monymusk	The Thistle Band	On Stage With..., Volume 3	LP+	2	S32 8	0:00	0.0
Monymusk	Alasdair Fraser & Muriel Johnstone	Just As It Was 3	CD	5	S32 8	8:37	64.6
Monymusk	The Muriel Johnstone Trio	Dancing Live	CD	11	S32 8	8:23	62.9
Monymusk	Charlie Jemmett and His Band	An Evening of Scottish Country Dancing	LP	2	S32 8	0:00	0.0
Monymusk	Terpsichore	Caledonian Muse	CD	3	S32 8	8:13	61.6
Monymusk	John Renton and his Scottish Dance Band	Book 11. Music for 12 Scottish Country Dances	CD	2	S32 8	7:54	59.2
Monymusk	Jim Cameron and his Scottish Dance Band	Jim Cameron's Scottish Dance Band Vol 1	CD	2	S32 3	2:19	46.3
Monymusk	Tim Wright and his Scottish Dance Band	Tim Wright and his Scottish Dance Band	CD	11	S32 3	2:56	58.7

Monymusk 3/4L · S32

1–: 1c turn RH | cast off (2c up) ; 1c turn 1¼ LH into
9–: 1W+2c & 1M+3c set twice in lines across, but on [11–12] 1c Petronella to opposite sideline ; all set twice on sidelines (2,1x,3)
17–: 2c+1c+3c circle6 and back
25–: Reels3{6} on the sides (Rsh to 2cnr) | 1c cross (2,1,3)

E-cribs

Monymusk 3/4L · S32

1-8: 1s turn RH & cast to 2nd place; turn 1.1/4 times LH (4 bars) to end 1L between 2s facing down, 1M between 3s facing up
9-16: 2s+1s+3s set twice, 1s Petronella turn on second setting onto opposite sides(bars 11-12) & all set twice again on sides. 2 (1) 3
17-24: 2s+1s+3s circle 6H round & back
25-32: 1s dance reels of 3 on sides giving RSh to person on their Right (2nd corner) & 1s cross RH to places. 2 1 3

MiniCribs

Keith Rose's Diagrams

Combined View

Watch on YouTube