strathspey@strathspey.org:41846

Jim Healy

Re: The 51st Country Dance (Laufen Reel), also known as St Valery' s Reel

Aug. 1, 2005, 4:55 p.m. (Message 41846, in reply to message 41822)

Larry Orr writes of the Reel of the 51st:

>(it) concludes with a victory circle.
What _victory_ circle? The wartime symbol for Victory was 'V' which is why 
that is on the cover of Book 13. Peter Oliver liked the circle at the end of 
Hamilton House so it went into the brew.

As for the variations in the name, a summary of some of the these is given 
in my article in the most recent Bulletin.

Getting the instructions to Scotland was difficult - yes. The wartime 
censors of any country were not about to allow through something they did 
not understand, hence Tom Harris Hunter's arrangment of a demonstration. 
There are plenty of stories of POWs (both sides) facing aggressive 
questioning about knitting patterns.

However, the tendency for this dance to generate new and ever more abstruse 
myths continues to fascinate and amuse me - keep them coming.

Jim Healy
Perth, Scotland