The Tall Ship “Glenlee”, now located outside the Riverside Museum on the Clyde, was built
in 1896 by A Rodger and Company in Port Glasgow. The Clydebuilt vessel went through
several names and owners before being sold to the Spanish Navy in 1922 where she spent
much of her working life, eventually falling into disrepair. The three-masted barque was saved
after being bought by the Clyde Maritime Trust in 1993 and returned to Glasgow. She was
subsequently restored and given her original name ‘Glenlee’ and now stands as a museum
ship and icon of the Clyde. The first 8 bars of the dance represent the swell and churn of the
sea while the second 8 bars portray the ship’s wayward past as a training vessel in the Spanish
Navy. The final 16 bars draw out the shape of the three-masted barque, outlining the masts,
figurehead and hull.
The deviser adds this comment (for which there was no space in the Glasgow 100th Anniversary book):
“Regarding the Espagnole for three couples, I first devised this figure over the summer of 2017 and placed it into a dance called
Lost in the Dreaming Spires
. The figure derives from the standard Espagnole of John Drewry and in this extension the choice for which dancers begin by leading across the set was made for an easier and more flowing movement. Note that similar figures occur independently in several other dances.”