Spring
Charity Social 2026
Caroline's Favourites
Monday 16th March 2026 - Parish Church of the Ascension Main Hall 8pm. All the entry money from tonight will be donated to St Luke's Hospice.
Today, we take a look at some of Caroline's favourite dances and this
gives us an insight into what she looks for in an ideal programme:
EH3 7AF
Every evening should start with a straightforward "loosener", preferably a jig which allows the band to warm up
their fingers before some more notey rhythms later on. This dance has an uplifting original by Bobby Crowe called
"The Pentland Jig", and a fine recording by Colin Dewar which sets up the evening perfectly.
The Gentleman
A full length strathspey early in the programme gives the dancers a chance to relax and settle into the evening.
This dance has stood the test of time and has another fine recording by Colin Dewar.
Cadgers in the Canongate
8x48 dances are rare these days and this one was on many programmes when I started dancing. The original tune
is called "John McNeil's Reel" and makes me think of my brother in Canada - John McNeily. Colin Dewar's set also includes one
of my favourite tunes, "Clancy's Salsa".
Farewell to Balfour Road
A delightfully simple 5-couple dance which is in the form of a canon - each time through overlaps with the next starting
after 16 bars. This condenses the dance into just 96 bars which leaves plenty of time for an encore.
To top it all off, the music is played by my all time favourite bandleader, Jim Lindsay.
City of Belfast
This short strathspey has become very popular over the past few years and, along with the lovely original by Marian Anderson,
Susan MacFadyen also plays a beautiful Nicol McLaren tune called Mrs Joan Russell.
Scott Meikle
I really wanted to include a track from Iain MacPhail called "The Rio Reel" which highlights the skills of his drummer,
Graham Jamieson in the second tune which is called "Wullie Nicholl's Samba" and commemorates the band's many trips to South America.
As this dance is not in our repertoire, we shall instead be dancing the ever-popular Scott Meikle to this amazing music.
INTERVAL
Swiss Lassie
This dance was an instant success when it came on the scene in 1996 and is still going strong being one of the most popular
dances on the circuit to this day. Sandy Legget's set comprises 8 of the most popular "notey" reels like "Tam Lin", "Alec
Soames Reel" and "The Calgary Fiddlers' Welcome to Shetland", every one a real banger!
Belle of Bon Accord
When Graham and I started going out in 1990, his father, Brian, composed a tune for me called "Miss Caroline Sturges"
and Nicol McLaren recorded it in 2001 as the third tune in a set which follows another of my father-in-law's tunes "Graham Hamilton of Glenwood".
We regularly use this track for this dance and there is something special about dancing to your very own tune.
Neil M Grant
As previously mentioned, my favourite band is that of Jim Lindsay. He is a "musician's musician" whose music is both innovative and technically
superb, both of which are highlighted in this track for another very popular dance. The fourth tune on this track is called "Cleveland Park" and
never fails to fire up the dancers with its undercurrent of tension and "James Bond" like chord sequences in the second 8 bars of the tune.
Glastonbury Tor
The last dance of the night is always important and needs to be a well-known dance which is not too complicated (no-one needs a tough mental exercise so late in the day).
The music also needs to inject a final burst of energy to send everyone home happy and exhilerated. Glastonbury Tor with music by Gordon Shand (with the aforementioned
Jim Lindsay on second accordion) fits the bill perfectly. Listen out for the fourth tune "Andy Broon's Reel" and some powerful second accordion chords by Jim in the third 8 bars
of the first and last time through. A brilliant way to end any evening.