• Pillings and Scottish Country Dance
diagrams are the same thing.
• First published by Mr F L Pilling in 1955.
• Taken over by a committee in 1967.
Pillings or Scottish Country Dance Diagrams?
• “The little green book” is now in its 8th
edition (2004) + a supplement (2009).
• Maybe as many as 1000 dances are coded
in diagrams, and they keep coming.
1OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
We have made a “Key to the symbols”
on a card in a handy format.
Not all the symbols are there but you will find the most common ones.
New symbols are added as the need arises.
2OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
Ladies are
represented by a
square
Who is who?
2
Noses and arms will show
which way a dancer is facing.
Men are
represented by a
circle
1
3
The number denotes which couple in the set the dancer is part of.
Sometimes there will not be a number, not even a circle/square.
Then it is either obvious which couple(s) is/are dancing or it will be
indicated in some other way.
3OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
A diagram is divided into 8 bar chunks
1-----------------8 9------------16 17----------------------24 25----------------------------32
Top of the
set is here.
The 8 bar chunks are not necessarily equal in size.
It depends on what happens inside them.
The top of the dance is always on/to the left.
4OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
An 8 bar chunk may be subdivided into two 4 bar parts
17-------20 21--------24 25-----------------28 29---32
1-----------------8 9------------16 17----------------------24 25----------------------------32
This technique is used to make the phrasing clearer
Solid lines for 8 bar boundaries Broken lines for 4 bar boundaries
5OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
Let us see how The Arctic Circle is divided up
Sometimes even smaller parts are specified
6OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
The Arctic Circle could also look like this
I think I prefer our own version!
7OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
However, it is always an issue how much or how little
information one should put into the diagrams.
You should never rely on diagrams for learning a
dance.
The diagrams are only meant as an aide mémoire.
A quick glance, and we know how the dance starts!
So, how do we interpret them?
8OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
Let’s take a simple dance:
RL
A
6
RAKES OF GLASGOW XI 11 S32
Name of the dance
Type of dance and no of bars
Source of dance:
RSCDS Book XI, dance 11
RL
A
6
Rights and lefts
Dance (or lead)
down and up
8 bars 8 bars 8 bars 8 bars
Allemande
(2 or 3 couple?)
6 hands round
and back
But, there are no ladies, no men! Who is dancing?
And what about that Allemande?
9OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
RL A
6
RAKES OF GLASGOW XI 11 S32
Who is dancing?
If there is no explicit indication who is dancing a formation it is the dancing
couple or the leading couple which is usually the 1st couple.
They cannot do a Rights-and-Lefts all by themselves so there must be another
couple involved. There is no couple above them so it must be 2nd couple.
In other words, the first 8 bars translated into Minicrib: 1C+2C dance R&L
10OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
RL A
6
RAKES OF GLASGOW XI 11 S32
Who is dancing (2)?
Bars 9-16: Dancing (or leading?) down and up, 1st couple, obviously. Is it
’dance’ or ’lead’? The diagram does not tell; we have to know. Since this
formation is followed by an Allemande it is most likely a ’lead down and up’.
Bars 17-24: Allemande. Is it a two or three couple Allemande? It is a two
couple Allemande. If it were a three couple Allemande it would be indicated.
Bars 25-32: Six hands circle round and back. In order to get the required
number of hands we need to involve the next couple down the set, 3rd couple.
11OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
RL A
6
RAKES OF GLASGOW XI 11 S32
Explicitely who is dancing?
1 2 1 1 2 2 1 3
To explicitely say who is dancing the number(s) of the couple(s) involved can be
written above the symbol(s) for the figure(s). The numbers will also indicate in
which order the couples are in the set (see bars 25-32).
In this dance that is regarded as superfluous information.
12OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
GOLDEN PHEASANT XVI 9 J40
CHAIN
1 2 3
P 6 S T DT
Not all formations have a symbol or a one- or two-letter
abbreviation. Some are described with an easy to understand
word, and sometimes even a Minicrib-like explanation.
Bars 1-8: CHAIN = ’Grand chain’ is one of these formations. Others are CHASE, the
KNOT, PROM(enade) and RONDEL.
Bars 9-16: P = Poussette
Bars 17-24: Obvious.
Bars 25-32: The angles represent 2nd and 1st corner positions, as if you were
looking into the corners (1st diagonally to the right and 2nd diagonally to the left).
’S = Set’ and ’T = Turn’. This diagram says: Dancing couple ’Set and Turn corners’,
which also says something about the position of 1C at the end of bar 24.
Bars 33-40: DT = ’Double Triangles’. (Do not confuse this with ‘Pass back to back’
and ‘Turn’ which would be denoted D<space>T, similar to S T above!)
13OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
CORN RIGS IV 12 R32
P
1
1 2
2 3 4
3 4 2
2
Some times words are not enough...
Some times we must show exactly where a dancer is going. That is done by
Some times we must show exactly where a dancer is going. That is done by
showing the actual path a dancer is taking. We do this by using lines: a solid
line ( ) for men and a broken line ( )for ladies.
Bars 1-8: 1L and 1M cast behind their own lines down to 4th place, turn inwards
and dance up to place. (A single line can say all this!)
Bars 9-16: 1C dance figure of 8 around 2C.
Bars 17-24: Obvious? Not quite! Reel time poussette, starting in the middle
with both hands joined, could indicate ’dance’ but the description says ’lead’!
Bars 25-32: Poussette
14OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
DONALD BANE XVII 12 S32
RA 6 S SSSLA
1 31 2
1
More symbols...
is the symbol for ’Reel of three’. If there is a need for clarification on
how the reel starts a small line is added which shows which way the
head dancer goes into the reel. In this dance it will be a right shoulder reel on
the men’s side and a left shoulder reel on the ladies’ side, in other words mirror
reels.
indicates ’lead man’s reel’ which is useful when there are more than one
reel going on at the same time.
15OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
DONALD BANE XVII 12 S32
RA 6 S SSSLA
1 31 2
1
... and more...
RA = right hands across all the way to places
LA = left hands across all the way to places
= cast off one place. The number tells you how
many places to cast.
= cast up one place. Again the number tells you
how many places to cast.
1
1
16OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
DONALD BANE XVII 12 S32
RA 6 S SSSLA
1 31 2
1
... and even more...
S SSS
These are all well known symbols by now,
but put together like this, what do they mean?
(Hint: An S without ’adornment’ means ’Set to partner’.)
Answer: 'Hello-Goodbye' setting ending with petronella turn to 2nd places
17OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
GLEN MOR Birmingham 1973 J32
RA SSS LA
1 3
1 2
Hmm, getting trickier? Not really.
1
1
1
2
2
3
3
1
13
3
S
1
1
12
2
2 1
1 2
1 2
CHAIN PROGRESSION
T
R¾
T
R¾
T
L1½
2 1
T
R¾
T
R¾
11 22
Bars 1-8: RA = ’Right hands across’ as we saw on the previous page. The horisontal line
through RA means that you do half the formation. THIS GOES FOR ALL FORMATIONS.
In other words, LA is half ’Left hands across’. Other examples:
half reel
of three
CHASE
half
chase
RL
half rights
and lefts
CHAIN
half
grand
chain
Bars 9-16: 1C set and then cast up while 3C cross down. And then the same again with 2C.
18OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
GLEN MOR Birmingham 1973 J32
RA SSS LA
1 3
1 2
1
1
1
2
2
3
3
1
13
3
S
1
1
12
2
CHAIN PROGRESSION
T
R¾
T
R¾
T
L1½
2 1
T
R¾
T
R¾
11 22
1 2
CHAIN PROGRESSION
Bars 17-24: Here we have two reels on the sides and it is shown explicitly who
goes where. (Mirror reels where 3C are head and dancing in and up.)
Bars 25-32: The friendly person who has diagrammed this dance could have
written ’CHAIN PROGRESSION’ and been done with it. However, she/he has
gone to the trouble to explain how the formation goes. ’T = Turn’, and the
additional subscript R¾ means ’Right hands three quarter round’. Then we are
shown the actual progression, with the 1L & 2M dancing a half chase while 1M
& 2L turn left hand one and a half time.
The horisontal brackets show formations which are danced at the same time.
19OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
We have seen how the system works.
Let us do some summing up:
• The diagram is split into 8-bar parts
by solid vertical lines.
• An 8-bar part may be subdivided into two 4-bar parts using a broken line.
• The top of the set is always the left end of the diagram.
• The name, origin and type of dance are always stated on the top line of
the diagram.
• A lady is represented by a square; a man by a circle.
•
facing
.
•
facing
.
• The formations of the dance are shown using simple codes (called
mnemonics) in the order they are danced.
• Unless obvious, the dancers involved in a formation are shown by
numbers inside the symbols in the formation or above the code for the
formation.
• We have seen that some of the symbols, like T and S, can have a suffix
like T
B
or S
2
which gives further information about how to execute the
formation.
20OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
Which suffixes are there?
R = ’right hand’. Usually used with T (turn): T
R
, and X (cross): X
R
L = ’left hand’. Usually used with T (turn): T
L
and X (cross): X
L
B = ’both hands’. Usually used with T (turn): T
B
= ’leading man’s reel’. Used with reels
= ’advancing’. Used with S (set): S
= ’retiring’. Used with S (set): S
= ’retiring’. Used with S (set): S
(Note: The formation ’Advance and retire’ has its own mnemonic:
and ’Retire and advance’ is denoted: .)
Sometimes we will see a number as a suffix, e.g. T
R¾
or T
B1½
or S
2
.
This tells us how many times to perform the action, like ’set twice’.
21OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
MISS JARVIS REEL R40
X
R
1 LA
2
1
2
LA
3
3
1
X
R
1
LA
3
1
3
4
4
1
LA
S
2
3
2 3 4 1
S
2
ALL
T
R
S
2
3
S
2
T
R
A couple of new symbols here:
Bars 1-8: Cross right hand, cast off one place (four bars) and two simultanous ’three
left hands across’ (four bars) where the dancers are specified.
Bars 9-16: Spot the differences from bars 1-8...
Bars 17-24: 1C set, dance (or lead) up two places and cast off three places.
Bars 25-32: Two reels of four across (dancers specified).
Bars 33-40: All couples set twice and turn right hand.
22OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
MISS JARVIS'S REEL (R4x40) 4C set Stirlingshire Branch
1- 8 1s cross RH, cast 1 place, 1L dances LH across with 2s while 1M dances
LH across with 3s
9-16 1s cross RH, cast to 3rd place, 1L dances LH across with 3s while 1M
dances LH across with 4s
17-24 1s set, lead up to top & cast to 4th place, 3s & 1s dance in to face 2s/4s
in line across
25
-
32
2s+3s & 4s+1s dance full
diagonal reels
of 4 (2L+3M & 4L+1M pass LSh
What is Minicrib saying about it?
25
-
32
2s+3s & 4s+1s dance full
diagonal reels
of 4 (2L+3M & 4L+1M pass LSh
to start)
33-40 All circle 8H round & back
If there is a difference between the Diagrams and
Minicrib, who should you trust?
Neither the diagrams nor Minicrib tell the full story,
and sometimes they don’t even tell the same story!
Here there is clearly room for personal interpretation!
23OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
R
MAIRI’S WEDDING Cosh R40
T
R
1
Finally a dance we all know and love...
T
L
( )
( )
( )
( )
6
( )
( )
( )
( )
Anything new in here?
24OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM
1
S
2
DUCHESS OF BUCCLEUCH’S FAVOURITE BB 4 R32
X
1
1 32
32
1 32
1 32
+
And finally – a little test:
There is one symbol here we have not explained. Find it in your book or on
your card. Form 3-couple sets and walk the dance.
That’s all! Thank you, and good night.That’s all! Thank you, and good night.
25OSCDG course in SCD diagrams25 October 2012/KM