Peterborough Chorister by Simon Scott

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Peterborough Chorister was devised in honour of my father, the Reverend Canon Eric Walter Scott.  As a young boy Eric entered King's School in Peterborough and sang in the choir twice daily, eventually becoming head chorister. The school is part of the Peterborough Cathedral and was founded in 1541 by Henry VIII and still operates at its Park Road campus. Thereafter Eric attended Saint John's College at nearby Cambridge University as a choral scholar. 

My mother and father met at Peterborough Cathedral at the age of fourteen. When I was last in Peterborough, I sprinkled a mixture of my father's and mother's ashes at the centre of each of the four pieces of lawn in the centre of the garden in the aerial photo shown below.

Here then is Peterborough Chorister  danced by the Gleneagles Dancers of West Vancouver.  The deviser is dancing as second man.  Eye-level videoing follows the 3X-through videoing from above. The dance includes a couple of unique and interesting figures.

Peterborough (pop. 202,100) is a cathedral city in the northwest corner of England's Cambridgeshire and is in fact the largest city in that county, larger indeed than the better-known university city Cambridge (pop. 158,400 including 29,300 students).  Peterborough was traditionally within Northamptonshire but ended up in Cambridgeshire as a result of that 1975 major reorganization of British counties and their boundaries which so greatly affected Scotland as well.  

Peterborough is located along the hundred-mile River Nene, which flows into the Wash, an arm of the North Sea, thirty miles downstream....

Peterborough Cathedral, officially the Cathedral Church of St. Peter (thus the city's name), St. Paul, and St. Andrew (whose statues look down from the three gables above the arches of its famous West Front) is primarily a Norman-architecture structure of the 12th century, and it is one of the three major 12th-century English cathedrals, along with Durham and Ely, to have remained largely intact since its original construction..

Peterborough has its own Scottish Country Dance Branch

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots

Mary, Queen of Scots went to France as a child.  She was married to the Dauphin at a very young age and widowed a year later. She returned to Scotland after her father died and became Queen of Scots. She married and had a son but shortly thereafter her husband was brutally murdered. She escaped to England, hopefully to meet Queen Elizabeth I, but was held captive for many years.

She was beheaded on the 8 February 1586, at the Castle of Fotheringhay outside the city of Peterborough. Her body was buried in Peterborough Cathedral until her son, whom she had only seen for a matter of a few days, became the first King of England and Scotland (James VI of Scotland and James I of England). He had her body removed from Peterborough and reburied in Westminster Abbey. There is only a mound left now at Fotheringhay. The castle was demolished. My father took me there a couple of times. I took Frankie Picherack when we were in England.

The prayer Mary wrote and read before she was beheaded.

O Domine Deus! speravi in te. 

O care me Jesu! Nunc libera me.

In dura catena, in misera poena

Disidero te, Languendo, gemendo, et genuflectendo

Adoro, imploro, ut libres me.

Mary, Queen of Scots

O Lord my God, I have trusted in thee.

O Jesus my dearest one, now set me free.

In prison’s oppression, in sorrow’s obsession,

I weary for thee.

With sighing and crying, bowed down as dying,

I adore thee, I implore thee, set me free.

The 56th Gleneagles Ball was a very enjoyable event. Thank you to the 105 dancers who attended - including the 20 dancers from outside the Vancouver area, the 22 dancers attending the ball for the first time and the 15 dancers from the Dunvegan Dance Academy in Maple Ridge.

The grand march was ably led by Simon Scott and our piper Mike Chisholm. We are very thankful to Mary Murray for her splendid work as dance master of ceremonies. One of the dance highlights was the 'Lady of Wishaw'' - a dance devised by Simon Scott and dedicated to May Loudon - a longtime teacher at Gleneagles. The Vancouver Fiddle Orchestra was once again in very fine form. 

We thank everyone responsible for organizing the  Gleneagles ball and appreciate your efforts in making it the highlight of our dancing year. 

We had a beautiful day  for this year's barbeque with approximately 60 people attending.   The barbeque was a great chance to reconnect with our dancing friends - old and new.

Our heartfelt thanks to May Loudon for hosting us once again. Her gardens were beautiful. Special thanks also to Helene and Douglas for organizing the event and to all those helped make it a success. The barbeque team of Robert, Paul, and Ann did an exceptional job and deserve a special mention. 

Here are some of the barbeque highlights. 

LIVE AUCTION

Auctioneer Simon did a masterful job and the auction raised $1,600 for club funds.  Congratulations to the successful bidders - Heather Fawkes (Whistler weekend),  Keith Errington (Boat Cruise), Jeff Peterson   (Dinner and Fireworks), and Susan Haug (Scotch tasting and Dinner). The club thanks everyone who donated the auction items – Ursel, Frankie, Douglas and Helene, Drum and Pat..  

JOHN FREELAND MEMORIAL SPORTS TOURNAMENT 

Norm Haug organized and managed our first Bocce Ball competition this year.  Jeff Peterson and Gillian Muir emerged victorious from the 4 round team knock out team competition. Their names inscribed on the impressive Freeland cup.  

The Heather Ball was a great success again this year. 

Mike Nichols and Mary Murray did a splendid job as dinner and dance MC and the music was spot on. The Ball was well attended and there were over 40 out of town guests. 

We all had a great time. Thanks to everyone who brought food and to Simon for selecting just the right Valentine inspired dances 

The 2019 Burns Supper was highly enjoyable. Special thanks to Jennifer Shearman and her team for orchestrating the event. Drum Cavers (dinner MC) and Mary Murray (dance MC) did an outstanding job and the speeches were excellent. The demonstration team, led by Kay Sutherland, provided superb entertainment before the dancing commenced and at the break. 

We had an excellent turnout on Welcome night.  The 9 newcomers were very enthusiastic and showed great aptitude for Scottish Country Dancing. Thanks to Louise  for providing  excellent instruction and to all the experienced dancers who came out to help kick off our dance season.    

Rose was inspired to devise this dance by her trip to the Zillertal (a region in the Austrian Tirol) last August. The Zillertal begins at village Strass and ends at the village Mayrhofen with the Glorious Hintertüx.  There is a promenade that goes from village to village. Rose's dance captures the hiking, jogging, cycling and social activity that the Zillertal is famous for.  

The 2018 Burns Supper was highly enjoyable. Special thanks to Sally and Sandy Marshall for masterminding the event. 

Several Gleneagles members played important roles in the evenings success  including Simon (dinner MC), Rose (greeter) and Drum (posters and colour party). The demonstration team, led by Kay Sutherland, provided superb entertainment before the dancing commenced and at the break. You can watch Helene, Louise and Mike in the 'Canada 150' dance video below.  

Lady Aberdeen, as she became in 1877, when marrying Lord Aberdeen, the 6th Earl and 1st Marquess of Aberdeen, was certainly a most significant figure of her time.