The Seann Triubhas
Pronounced "shawn trews", the literal translation from Gaelic means "old trousers".
This dance is reputed to date from the rebellion of 1745 when Bonnie Prince Charlie challenged the might of England at Culloden, and lost. As a penalty, Highlanders were forbidden to wear the kilt.
Seann Triubhas is a dance of celebration developed in response to the repealing
by the English of the Act of Proscription in 1747, which restored to the Scots
the right to wear their kilts and play the bagpipes once more.
The first part of the dance comprising of graceful, flowing movements, is supposed
to mock the restrictions imposed by the foreign trousers, while the movement
of the second part clearly depict the legs defiantly shaking and shedding the
hated trousers and returning to the freedom of the kilt. The dance then progresses
from slow time to quick time as the final celebration of the rediscovered freedom.