Dance The Minister on the Loch 4411

Strathspey · 32 bars · 3 couples · Longwise - 3 (Progression: 231)

Devised by

Roy Goldring (2008)

Intensity

880 800 808 844 = 58% (1 turn), 58% (whole dance)

Formations

Poussette - standard (POUSS;PV;)
Figure of Eight - double (FIG8;2C;)

Steps

Strathspey setting, Strathspey travel

Published in

Magazine Dances 2005-2009 [10]
Four Dances 2008 [2]
Thirty Popular Dances, Volume Two [28]
Graded and Social Dances 1 - 24 Dances [15]
Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 9 [352] (diagram only)
Scottish Country Dances in Diagrams. Ed. 8 [472] (diagram only)

Recommended Music

Muriel Johnstone's Compliments to Robert MacKay (Muriel A Johnstone)

Extra Info: The title refers to the portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn of “Reverend Robert Walker skating on Duddingston Loch” (or “The …

The title refers to the portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn of “Reverend Robert Walker skating on Duddingston Loch” (or “The Skating Minister”, for short) which now hangs in the National Gallery of Scotland. Art and artists were among Roy Goldring’s other great passions.

The Rev. Robert Walker skating on Duddingston Loch

The Revd Dr Robert Walker (1755–1808), a personal friend of Henry Raeburn’s, was born in Ayrshire but – as his father served as the minister of the Scots Kirk in Rotterdam – he lived in the Netherlands as a child, and it is reasonable to assume that he learned to skate there. Having been licensed as a minister in 1770 (!) he eventually became minister of the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh and joined the Edinburgh Skating Club (the world’s first figure skating club), whose members frequented Duddingston Loch (seen in the painting) or Lochend Loch when conditions were suitable for skating. According to the National Gallery of Scotland, “Walker’s pose, as he glides across the ice, looks effortless, but would have been recognised by fellow skaters as a difficult and sophisticated manœuvre.”

The picture, which was painted around 1795, spent a long time in the possession of the Walker family before passing through the hands of a number of owners during the first half of the 20th century and finally, in 1949, being acquired, for £525, by the National Gallery of Scotland where it languished in obscurity for another few decades. It was featured on a commemorative postage stamp in 1973 and eventually displayed in an exhibition of Raeburn pictures at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 1997, where it appeared on widely publicised posters and finally achieved its well-deserved popularity.

This painting is rather unlike other portraits by Raeburn and there is an ongoing controversy where some art historians claim it was actually executed by the French painter, Henri-Pierre Danloux. In spite of this, it is considered an iconic work, has been exhibited domestically and abroad, and has also found its way into popular culture, making cameo appearances in TV shows and popular fiction.

“Name” column: normal = designated recording, greyed-out = designated but not official lead tune, italic = possible match found in DB (watch number of repeats!)

Name	Artist	Album	Media	Trk	Type	Time	Pace
The Minister on the Loch	The Music Makars	Jig for Joy	CD	3	S32 3	3:12	64.0
The Minister on the Loch	Muriel Johnstone's Band	Barmkin. The Dancing Years & other Leeds' Branch Dances	MC	2	S32 3	0:00	0.0
The Minister on the Loch	Muriel Johnstone & Keith Smith	Todlen Hame and other Favourite Dances	CD	11	S32 3	3:26	68.7
The Minister On the Loch	Luke Brady's Scottish Dance Band	Take Your Partners For Vol 2	CD	3	S32 3	3:17	65.7
The Minister on the Loch	Lindsay Weir and her Scottish Dance Band	Magazine Dances 2005-2009	CD	10	S32 3	3:13	64.3
The Minister on the Loch	Lindsay Weir and her Scottish Dance Band	Book 9. Music for 18 Scottish Country Dances (Book 9 plus 4 Dances 2008 and 2 dances for Eileen Watt)	CD	8	S32 3	3:13	64.3
The Minister on the Loch	Lindsay Weir and her Scottish Dance Band	Thirty Popular Dances - Volume Two Part two	CD	11	S32 3	3:13	64.3
The Minister on the Loch	Colin Dewar and his Scottish Dance Band	Special Requests Volume 8	CD	9	S32 3	3:17	65.7
The Minister on the Loch	Reel of Seven	The Magic of Summer School	CD	6	S32 3	3:22	67.3
Suitable for The Minister on the Loch	Terpsichore	Caledonian Muse	CD	5	S32 3	3:16	65.3

The Minister on the Loch 3/3L · S32

1–: 1c+2c Poussette
9–: 1c dance down 2 places, turn BH ; dance up 2 places, turn BH, open upwards and face out
17–: 1c+3c DblFig8 round 2c, 1c casting, 3c crossing up to begin, 1c finish facing out for
25–: 1W+2W & 1M+2M turn EH 1½ ; 1c+3c repeat (2,3,1)

E-cribs

The Minister on the Loch 3/3L · S32

1-8: 1s+2s dance Diamond Poussette
9-16: 1s dance down for 2 steps, turn 2H, dance up to top & turn 2H remaining in centre facing up
17-24: 1s+3s dance double Fig of 8 round 2s with 1s casting to start
25-32: 1M+2M turn LH 1.1/2 times while 1L+2L turn RH 1.1/2 times, 1M+3M turn RH 1.1/2 times while 1L+3L turn LH 1.1/2 times

MiniCribs

Keith Rose's Diagrams

SCDDB Contributed Cribs & Diagrams

Combined View

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