Strathspey

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A slow Scottish country dance performed in common time, with dotted rhythms and sustained steps ; a lively melody composed to accompany that traditional Highland dance
2. A stately Highland dance of Scottish origin, marked by its rhythmic pacing ; the music with dotted notes that is played to accompany this dance
3. A traditional Scottish dance with a deliberate, dotted rhythm ; a tune in the distinctive strathspey style written to be danced to

Etymology: Strathspey is a Scottish dance, and its name comes straight from a place. The word is taken from Strathspey, the valley of the River Spey in the Highlands of Scotland, where the dance was developed. "Strath" is the Scottish Gaelic word for a broad river valley, and the Spey flows through it toward the North Sea. The dance itself is a fast, lively reel with a distinctive rhythm, in which the dancers' steps and the music's dotted, snapping rhythms give it a character that set it apart from ordinary reels. The name thus moved from the landscape to the music and dance that grew out of it, a pattern common in Scottish dance names, which often honour the place where a tune was played or popularised.