ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at footwear and dancing surfaces and how they affect the dancing sounds. Movement of and attention to the heel suggests spatial and rhythmic punctuation, as the heel consists of just one tarsal bone, the largest in the tarsal group and in the entire foot. The size and shape of the calcaneus, the heel bone, drives a weighted, direct placement of the heel in pedestrian strides. Footwear is an important subject to consider, given that different shoe types can limit movement of the feet, elevate the heels, and accentuate sounds made in contact with a floor. People across Scotland wore varied types of footwear at different points in time. Observers describe various forms of footwear, including none at all. Highland men and women in the eighteenth century frequently went barefoot in summer and winter. This may have been true in other parts of Scotland as well, but the point was made regularly about Highlanders at this time.
