Willow Tree
Formation:
Longways set of eight couples.
Instructions:
- Top couple gallop down to the end of the set and the man leaves his partner at the bottom and takes the lady at the bottom back to the top.
- The new bottom couple gallop back and the man takes his original partner back to place.
- The top and bottom couples strip the willow* until they reach the centre and then they join hands in a circle of four, forming arches (this is the Willow Tree).
- The remaining three couples cast off away from the tree and then go through the side arches to meet their partner and out through the ends, and back to place.
- Everybody swings.
- Start the dance again with new bottom and top couples.
*Strip the Willow:
Man gives right arm to partner and they spin round 360° and left arm to the lady in the next couple down and they spin round 360°; while the lady gives right arm to partner and they spin round 360° and left arm to the next man down and they spin round 360°. The top couple then repeats this with the next couple further down and keeps doing this until the bottom and top couples meet in the middle.
