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Whalsay dances during the inter-war period

Date 12 January 1974
Track ID 38112
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1974.9.2

Original Tape ID

SA1974.009

Summary

Whalsay dances during the inter-war period.

Willie Robertson tells Peter Cooke about the dances held in Whalsay, starting with the schottische, which was danced when he was a young man. It arrived with the Scotch herring lasses between the wars, when it would be played at their farewell foy [social evening] in Lerwick. During that period, Scotch and Irish tunes were influential.

Other dances included the lancers, quadrilles, the eightsome reel and what was called the Scotch reel, with four standing in a line with the middle two back to back and the group dancing from one side to the other. The latter was very popular in the Isbister hall and was danced to a strathspey such as 'The Braes of Mar'.

Item Notes

Herring fishing and processing was a major industry and social factor in Shetland in the first half of the 20th century. Hundreds of boats from all over Scotland and the East Coast of England participated along with thousands of female gutters, mainly from the North and North-East of Scotland and the Western Isles, who followed the fleet around the coast of Britain.

Recording Location

County - Shetland

Parish - Nesting

Island - Whalsay

Village/Place - Isbister

Item Location

County - Shetland

Parish - Nesting

Island - Whalsay

Language

Scots

Genre

Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good