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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!
Skating, Duddingston Loch
Feb 19
Olympic Skating Days
The Minister on the Loch
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
“None shall be admitted here who cannot skate.”
~ Edinburgh/Duddingston Skating Club, 19th century
Well ... I suppose that makes sense for a Skating Society. But what about the enthusiastic beginner? It's a good thing that Scottish Country Dancers welcomes newcomers with a nicer creco ... "Won't you join the dance?"
Well, talented dancers ... can you ice skate as well as Scottish Country Dance? Have you been enjoying the winter Olympics skating championships? Fancy a time-travelling glide along a frozen loch with the Reverend Walker? Devisor Roy Goldring's popular strathspey gives honour to a famous painting and merges his other great passions, art and artists, with Scottish Country Dance.
The famous painting, often referred to as "The Skating Minister" is formally titled "The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch"! Painted around 1795 and traditionally attributed to the Scottish portrait artist Henry Raeburn, it is now one of the best-loved works in the National Galleries of Scotland.
The picture shows the Reverend Robert Walker gliding gracefully across the frozen surface of Duddingston Loch. He wears dark clerical clothes and balances with his arms folded — the poised posture used by members of the Edinburgh Skating Club.
Robert Walker (1755–1808) was a Church of Scotland minister who served at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh. As a boy he likely learned to skate in the Netherlands, and in adulthood he became a keen member of the city’s skating society. Beyond his clerical duties he wrote sermons and essays and even served as chaplain to the Royal Company of Archers.
The painting remained in Walker’s family for generations before becoming internationally famous in the twentieth century. Today it is regarded as an icon of Scottish character, and its enduring popularity led to the Scottish country dance devised in its honour, keeping the skater’s quiet gliding stride alive not only on canvas but also on the dance floor! Make that strathspey step as smooth as ice! 🖤 💙 🤍 ⛪ ✝️ ⛸️ ⛸️
The Minister on the Loch
The Duddingston Skating Club of Edinburgh is generally regarded as the oldest organised skating club in the world. It was founded in the mid-18th century, most sources placing its beginnings around the 1740s–1760s, when gentlemen in Edinburgh began meeting regularly to practice figure skating on natural ice. The club skated primarily on Duddingston Loch at the foot of Arthur’s Seat, just outside the city, and occasionally on other frozen waters when conditions required.
From the beginning, the club was not a casual winter pastime but a disciplined art. Membership was restricted. A skater could not simply join — he had to demonstrate ability. The famous rule was that no one was admitted unless he could skate prescribed figures cleanly, including one-foot circles and the serpentine pattern. This made the society closer to a fencing or riding club than a recreational gathering.
By the late 18th and early 19th century the club had become a distinctive part of Edinburgh winter life. When frost froze the loch hard enough, word spread quickly across the city and members gathered in formal dress — coats, cravats, and sometimes top hats — to skate. Spectators assembled along the banks to watch the precision patterns traced into the ice. The emphasis was elegance and control rather than speed.
Scottish skating differed from later Victorian public rink skating. The Edinburgh style focused on tracing geometric figures with exact edges, balance, and posture. Skaters performed in sequence, often demonstrating skill individually before the group. This tradition directly influenced the development of figure skating as a formal sport in Britain and later internationally.
The club also had a strong social component. After skating sessions members dined together in taverns in Edinburgh. Minutes record toasts, speeches, and discussions of technique. Skating was treated as both athletic discipline and gentlemanly accomplishment.
During the 19th century the club’s reputation spread. Visitors from England and continental Europe came to observe Scottish figure skating technique. Many early manuals on skating referenced the Edinburgh school as the highest standard of skill. The structured testing of members foreshadowed modern figure skating proficiency tests.
Natural ice limited the season. Some winters produced long periods of activity; others almost none. Nevertheless, the club endured and continued to meet whenever the loch froze sufficiently, preserving traditions for over two centuries.
Today the Duddingston/Edinburgh Skating Club is remembered as a foundational institution in the history of figure skating. Its insistence on figures, balance, and formal admission standards helped transform skating from simple winter travel into an aesthetic sport.
For more on the club's history, click one its immortalized members, the Reverend Robert Walker, immortalized in Henry Raeburn's portrait, 1790–1795.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
