A favourite Scotch measure: the relationship between a group of Scottish solo dances and the tune ‘The Flowers of Edinburgh’

Mats  Melin

A favourite Scotch measure: the relationship between a group of Scottish solo dances and the tune ‘The Flowers of Edinburgh’

Mats Melin

Elphinstone Institute

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

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Abstract

Certain Scottish melodies seem to have inspired the dancing masters of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Scotland to devise a diverse set of dances designed to be performed to particular tunes. ‘The Flowers of Edinburgh’, a 4/4 Scotch measure, has inspired a number of soft- and hard-shoe solo dances taking their names from the tune, as well as a Scottish country dance. This article focuses on how the creative processes of various dance teachers have left us with three or four dances with varied movement segmentation patterns, and several versions of these dances in relation to versions of the same tune. My aim is to
illustrate the diversity of choreographic ideas and motifs in relation to a single tune, but also to examine whether we are dealing with discrete dances from different sources, or rather,
similar versions of a smaller, shared repertoire of nineteenth-century dances.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Ón gCos go Cluas
Subtitle of host publication	From Dancing to Listening
Editors	Liz Doherty, Fintan Vallely
Publisher	Aberdeen University Press
Chapter	21
Pages	177-187
Number of pages	11
ISBN (Print)	978-1-85752-073-6
Publication status	Published - 2019
Event	North Atlantic Fiddle Convention Conference - Northern Ireland, Derry/Londonderry, United Kingdom Duration: 27 Jun 2012 → 1 Jul 2012

Publication series

Name	Fiddle and Dance Studies from around the North Atlantic 5

Conference

Conference	North Atlantic Fiddle Convention Conference
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Derry/Londonderry
Period	27/06/12 → 1/07/12

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Cite this

A favourite Scotch measure: the relationship between a group of Scottish solo dances and the tune ‘The Flowers of Edinburgh’ . / Melin, Mats .
Ón gCos go Cluas: From Dancing to Listening. ed. / Liz Doherty; Fintan Vallely. Aberdeen University Press, 2019. p. 177-187 (Fiddle and Dance Studies from around the North Atlantic 5).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Melin, M 2019, A favourite Scotch measure: the relationship between a group of Scottish solo dances and the tune ‘The Flowers of Edinburgh’ . in L Doherty & F Vallely (eds), Ón gCos go Cluas: From Dancing to Listening. Fiddle and Dance Studies from around the North Atlantic 5, Aberdeen University Press, pp. 177-187 , North Atlantic Fiddle Convention Conference, Derry/Londonderry, United Kingdom, 27/06/12.

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AB - Certain Scottish melodies seem to have inspired the dancing masters of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Scotland to devise a diverse set of dances designed to be performed to particular tunes. ‘The Flowers of Edinburgh’, a 4/4 Scotch measure, has inspired a number of soft- and hard-shoe solo dances taking their names from the tune, as well as a Scottish country dance. This article focuses on how the creative processes of various dance teachers have left us with three or four dances with varied movement segmentation patterns, and several versions of these dances in relation to versions of the same tune. My aim is toillustrate the diversity of choreographic ideas and motifs in relation to a single tune, but also to examine whether we are dealing with discrete dances from different sources, or rather,similar versions of a smaller, shared repertoire of nineteenth-century dances.

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A favourite Scotch measure: the relationship between a group of Scottish solo dances and the tune ‘The Flowers of Edinburgh’

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Cite this