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Enjoy this curated selection of theme-related dances for celebrations and holidays, or find a dance associated with a special calendar day, or EVEN your own birthday!
Jan 20
Cheese Day
Dr Windley's Stilton Strathspey
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"Stilton, thou shouldst be living at this hour
And so thou art. Nor losest grace thereby;
England has need of thee, and so have I —
She is a Fen. Far as the eye can scour,
League after grassy league from Lincoln tower
To Stilton in the fields, she is a Fen.
Yet this high cheese, by choice of fenland men,
Like a tall green volcano rose in power.
Plain living and long drinking are no more,
And pure religion reading "Household Words",
And sturdy manhood sitting still all day
Shrink, like this cheese that crumbles to its core;
While my digestion, like the House of Lords,
The heaviest burdens on herself doth lay."
~ Sonnet To A Stilton Cheese, G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
There are only so many dances in the SCD canon devoted to cheese (or cheese poetry for that matter), but this 3 couple strathspey is dedicated to true cheese royalty: the Stilton, the creamy blue cheese with 18th-century origins and a special cheese status. Originally associated with markets in the village of Stilton, this special occasion cheese may only be called a “Stilton” if it meets strict Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) rules—no freelancing blues or impostors allowed! This dance, in particular, marks the development of a particular Stilton created by the grandfather of the dance’s deviser: the celebrated Colston Bassett Stilton!
Described as "complex fudgy, silky, salty, and sweet all at once, with notes of green banana or graham cracker near the rind", it is no wonder that the devisor felt it merited a silky, salty, and sweet strathspey of its own.
The cheese-infused dance description includes the following historical background information from devisor Reggie Thomson:
My great-uncle Dr William Windley was a general practitioner in the village of Colston Bassett. In 1913 he invented the Colston Bassett Stilton, and this dance commemorates it:
Bars 1-8: The doctor on his rounds in Colston Bassett in 1913, having the idea of how to make a Stilton Cheese
Bars 9-16: Raising £1000 from the local farmers, aristocrats, and his patients, to start the Colston Bassett Dairy
Bars 17-24: Making the cheese – pushing in the stainless steel needles to make those delicious blue nodules
Bars 25-32: Eating the Colston Bassett Stilton cheese
An al fresco cheese tasting might be just the thing for your next dance gathering. Bring the crackers and perhaps a favourite cheese offering from your own neck of the woods! 💙 💛 💙 🧀 🧀 🧀 🕺 💃
Dr Windley's Stilton Strathspey
Stilton cheese’s story begins not in a quiet dairy, but along the busy coaching roads of 18th-century England. The cheese takes its name from the village of Stilton, a major stopping point on the Great North Road between London and York. Travelers would pause at the famous Bell Inn, where a rich, crumbly blue cheese was served to hungry coach passengers. The cheese became so popular that visitors began buying whole wheels to take home, spreading its reputation far beyond the village itself.
Ironically, Stilton cheese was never actually made in Stilton. Production came from surrounding counties, especially Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire, where skilled dairy farmers refined its distinctive character: a pale, buttery paste threaded with blue veins, neither sharp like Roquefort nor mild like Cheshire, but luxuriously balanced. One of the earliest documented champions of the cheese was Daniel Defoe, who praised it in the early 1700s, helping cement its status as a fashionable delicacy among England’s growing middle and upper classes.
Over the 19th century, Stilton evolved from a regional curiosity into a national symbol of English cheesemaking. Techniques became more standardized, the signature cylindrical shape was fixed, and the blue veining—introduced by piercing the cheese during maturation—was perfected. By the Victorian era, Stilton had earned the nickname “the king of English cheeses,” often appearing on grand dining tables and at Christmas feasts, paired with celery, walnuts, or a glass of port.
Today, Stilton is legally protected under a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), meaning only cheese made in the historic counties using traditional methods may bear the name. This protection preserves not just a recipe, but a living link to England’s coaching inns, agricultural traditions, and centuries-old love of bold, characterful food.
For a special history of the Colston Bassett Stilton, click the cheese!
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
