ABSTRACT
The twentieth century saw a complex maze of social, industrial, political, and economic changes. World Wars I and II caused upheaval and devastation for most people in Scotland. The huge numbers of male casualties in the First World War resulted in a loss of cultural tradition bearers of all kinds. One result was that more women started dancing together through the Women's Rural Institute. Other women began teaching dance, and were now more accepted in doing so. The male-dominated era of the dancing master was over. Dance tuition and schools became the domain of women. The fiddler signalled the end of the Bride's Reel by playing a screeching sound indicating the ladies should give kisses to partners their partners as payment for the pleasure of the dance. More kisses on the dance floor were shared when the occasion ended with the ‘Bobadybouster,’ or Bob-at-the-Bolster, a dance where partners accumulate, dance together, then, one by one, leave floor, and end party.
