The Flying Scotsman

How The Flying Scotsman is danced

1. The first lady, followed by the second and third, dances across the top of the set, behind the first man, in front of the second, behind the third, across the bottom and back to place.
2. The first three men repeat the figure around the ladies.
3. The first couple join both hands and side-slip (gallop) down the room for eight slip-steps, then back up again to the bottom of the set — fourth place.
4. All join hands on the sides and side-slip down the room and back up again.
5. Finish in the order 2, 3, 4, 1, ready to start again.

You do not need to memorise any of this. Garry walks the room through every dance before the music starts and keeps calling all the way through it — the steps are here because some people like to read ahead, not because anybody is expected to arrive knowing them.

What it needs, and who it suits

Formation

Longways sets of exactly four couples. The fixed set size matters more here than in most dances — the progression only works if everyone has four.

Music

Fast and forward-driving, with the eight-bar phrases that the slip-steps hang off. It gallops, and the band plays it that way.

The room it needs

The most demanding on this list. Sets of four couples galloping down the room and back need real length and a clear run, and it is the dance we are most likely to say no to in a tight space.

For beginners

Manageable but energetic. The figures are simple; the pace is not. It is a good dance for a young or fit crowd and a hard one for a room that has just eaten three courses.

Where it falls in the night

Mid to late, once people have stopped worrying about looking silly. The side-slips are genuinely fast and a cold room will not commit to them.

What usually goes wrong

• Galloping into the set in front. Everyone slips down the room at the same time, so the sets need spacing before the music starts — this is worth sorting during the walk-through rather than at speed.
• Sets of the wrong size. Five couples or three breaks the progression. Four, every time.
• Not warning people about the side-slips. It is the fastest thing most guests will do all night, and it is only fair to say so before it happens rather than during.

Where it comes from

Named for the train, which is about as much as can be said with any confidence. It is a twentieth-century ceilidh favourite rather than an ancient dance, and it earns its place by being the most purely exhilarating thing in the repertoire.