It’s fair to say that the seeds for the Central Kentucky Branch were planted in 1958 when Charles and Marie MacKay moved from Scotland to Lexington, Kentucky, so that Charles could pursue graduate studies in agriculture at the University of Kentucky.
One of Charles’ professors was Dr. Carl (“Doc”) Clark, who was also the leader of a Boy Scout Troop called the Buckskin Pioneer Dancers, a group of boy and girls ages 8-17, who performed American folk dances such as clogging, western squares, Virginia Reel, and Kentucky Running Set.
Doc Clark’s troop was the first co-ed Boy Scout Explorer Troop in the US. They were polished, dedicated performers who performed at top level venues such as the International Folk Festivals at Wolf Trap Farm, Devou Park in northern Kentucky, and at National Square Dance and National Scouting Conventions. Among the young dancers are names that some readers will recognize David Holzwarth, Leslie Bell, Jack Clarkson, and, most notably, Vicky Smith Goodloe, who was in middle school at the time.
At Doc Clark’s invitation, Charles and Marie taught the basics of Scottish country dancing to the teenagers in Doc’s troop. The teens ultimately formed a Scottish team within the Buckskin Pioneers, and danced Duke of Perth, Monymusk, and The Eightsome Reel at Buckskin performances.
The MacKays were only in Lexington for 9 months, but they left an indelible gift of dance. Long after they had returned to Scotland, the Buckskin Scottish team continued to perform the country dances that they had learned. They even added Highland dances to their program after Vicky learned the Highland Fling and Sword Dance by watching a home movie of the Black Watch Regimental Dancers over and over again. Bill Reid joined the group as piper for the Highland dances, and his daughter, Sandy, joined the Scottish country dancers.
In time, Doc Clark formed another performance group called The Kentucky Heritage Dancers, comprised of older Buckskin Pioneers, including members of the Scottish team. Dancers from the Lexington community also joined, including Cliff Jaggie, Rhenda Bonner Mills, Sandy Marler Holzwarth, Larry Bell. Their repertoire included waltzes and European folk dances. Together with the younger Buckskin Pioneers, The Heritage Dancers performed under the umbrella name of The Kentucky Heritage Performers, and in 1975, they danced under that name in Poland as part of US Ambassador Tour. Those performances included their usual Scottish dances.
At some point, Vicky and another Buckskin dancer named Ronnie Tabscott attended a Scottish Country Dance Workshop in Lexington taught by Nora Kindness from Cincinnati. For Vicky, meeting Nora was a seminal experience. Until then, she had no idea that there was a world of Scottish country dancing beyond the three dances that she and her friends had been performing for years. Nora introduced Vicky to the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (RSCDS), with its large collection of published dances and vast network of teachers and dancers.
Most importantly for us, Nora became Vicky’s mentor. Vicky still has all of Nora’s letters explaining various figures and offering teaching points. With Nora’s help and encouragement, Vicky eventually became a fully certificated teacher for the RSCDS, which was one of the requirements for us to become a Branch. Nora remained a friend and supporter of our group until her death. In 1980, she was made an Honorary Member of the Central Kentucky Scottish Country Dance Society in recognition of her “untiring efforts” on behalf of the CKSCDS, and for her “inspiration and energy” to uphold the standards of the RSCDS.
After meeting Nora, Vicky and Ronnie sparked an interest in others to learn more Scottish dances. They attended dances in Cincinnati together, and a few even drove to Ontario to attend a Hamilton Branch Weekend. At the close of a Cincinnati Weekend that soon followed Hamilton’s, the Lexington dancers said, “We’ll be back next year!” Much to their dismay, they were told that the Cincinnati Weekend was only held every other year. They, frankly, weren’t willing to wait two years for another dance weekend. So, the impetus to form a Scottish country dance group in Lexington was to create a platform to host their own weekended, and in November 1975, a core group of dancers met to organize what became the Central Kentucky Scottish Country Dance Society. By then, Vicky’s husband, David, was traveling with Vicky to the dances. He shared everyone’s vision and energy and became another mover and shaker in the group. The first officers were Sandy Reid (President), Cliff Jaggie (Vice President), Sandy Marler (Secretary); and David Holzwarth (Treasurer).
It's worth noting that because of Vicky’s introduction to the RSCDS through Nora, the CKSCDS immediately embraced the RSCDS model in two important ways. First, it was committed to preserving and promoting Scottish country dances through classes, demonstrations, and other events. To that end, their first public event was a Scottish Open House in Versailles in March 1976, which included audience participation dancing, and performances by the CKSCD Demonstration Team and the Lexington Pipe Band. By the end of their first year (1976), the CKSCDS met its goal of hosting its first Scottish Country Dance Weekend, which was held in Midway, Kentucky. Nora was the teacher.
Beyond those immediate activities, the agenda of the November ’75 meeting included the long-range goal of becoming “a recognized chapter of the RSCDS.” In 1977, under the leadership of Larry Bell, the CKSCDS began that process and, with David Goodloe at the helm, the CKSCDS became an RSCDS Affiliated Group in May 1979.
With new dancers joining in leadership roles, momentum continued and in July 1980, the CKCDS started the process of becoming a Branch of the RSCDS. They achieved that status in July 1981. The Officers and Board Members who led us through the final steps were: Rebecca McCraith (President); Pam Keogh (Secretary); Faith Shine (Treasurer); Charland Garvin (Newsletter Editor); Mary Beth Hernon (Social Chair); David Goodloe (Weekend Treasurer); and Teachers, Vicky Goodloe and Charlie Robertson.
In November 1981, our friend Charles MacKay attended the RSCDS AGM in Dumfries, Scotland, as our first AGM Delegate. Charles reported back that he was given a “particularly warm welcome” from the Chairman, Mr. James Taylor, and that the Secretary, Miss Muriel Gibson, congratulated the Branch for “getting off the mark” so quickly by having representation at the meeting. By then, Charles was the Chief Agricultural Officer for the Scottish Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. While he was undoubtedly pleased to be our first AGM Delegate, he received an even greater honor in 1986 when he was awarded “Companion of the Order of the Bath” by Queen Elizabeth II.
Over time, we’ll use our website to continue to look back at people and events that have shaped our history. We’re proud of the legacy that began with a few young teenagers in 1958, and look forward to building on the new energy in our current classes, always looking for opportunities to accept Miss Milligan’s invitation, “Won’t you join the dance?”
For more details about our history, please see the Timeline link
In Memoriam for this article and the Timeline:
Jean Bell (d.2009)
John C. “Jack” Clarkson (d. 2015)
David Goodloe (d. 1996)
Leslie Bell Jaggie (d. 2018)
Nora Kindness (d. 2008)
Charles MacKay (d. 2004)
Marie MacKay (d. 2007)
William “Bill” Sutherland Reid (d. 1993)
One of Charles’ professors was Dr. Carl (“Doc”) Clark, who was also the leader of a Boy Scout Troop called the Buckskin Pioneer Dancers, a group of boy and girls ages 8-17, who performed American folk dances such as clogging, western squares, Virginia Reel, and Kentucky Running Set.
Doc Clark’s troop was the first co-ed Boy Scout Explorer Troop in the US. They were polished, dedicated performers who performed at top level venues such as the International Folk Festivals at Wolf Trap Farm, Devou Park in northern Kentucky, and at National Square Dance and National Scouting Conventions. Among the young dancers are names that some readers will recognize David Holzwarth, Leslie Bell, Jack Clarkson, and, most notably, Vicky Smith Goodloe, who was in middle school at the time.
At Doc Clark’s invitation, Charles and Marie taught the basics of Scottish country dancing to the teenagers in Doc’s troop. The teens ultimately formed a Scottish team within the Buckskin Pioneers, and danced Duke of Perth, Monymusk, and The Eightsome Reel at Buckskin performances.
The MacKays were only in Lexington for 9 months, but they left an indelible gift of dance. Long after they had returned to Scotland, the Buckskin Scottish team continued to perform the country dances that they had learned. They even added Highland dances to their program after Vicky learned the Highland Fling and Sword Dance by watching a home movie of the Black Watch Regimental Dancers over and over again. Bill Reid joined the group as piper for the Highland dances, and his daughter, Sandy, joined the Scottish country dancers.
In time, Doc Clark formed another performance group called The Kentucky Heritage Dancers, comprised of older Buckskin Pioneers, including members of the Scottish team. Dancers from the Lexington community also joined, including Cliff Jaggie, Rhenda Bonner Mills, Sandy Marler Holzwarth, Larry Bell. Their repertoire included waltzes and European folk dances. Together with the younger Buckskin Pioneers, The Heritage Dancers performed under the umbrella name of The Kentucky Heritage Performers, and in 1975, they danced under that name in Poland as part of US Ambassador Tour. Those performances included their usual Scottish dances.
At some point, Vicky and another Buckskin dancer named Ronnie Tabscott attended a Scottish Country Dance Workshop in Lexington taught by Nora Kindness from Cincinnati. For Vicky, meeting Nora was a seminal experience. Until then, she had no idea that there was a world of Scottish country dancing beyond the three dances that she and her friends had been performing for years. Nora introduced Vicky to the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (RSCDS), with its large collection of published dances and vast network of teachers and dancers.
Most importantly for us, Nora became Vicky’s mentor. Vicky still has all of Nora’s letters explaining various figures and offering teaching points. With Nora’s help and encouragement, Vicky eventually became a fully certificated teacher for the RSCDS, which was one of the requirements for us to become a Branch. Nora remained a friend and supporter of our group until her death. In 1980, she was made an Honorary Member of the Central Kentucky Scottish Country Dance Society in recognition of her “untiring efforts” on behalf of the CKSCDS, and for her “inspiration and energy” to uphold the standards of the RSCDS.
After meeting Nora, Vicky and Ronnie sparked an interest in others to learn more Scottish dances. They attended dances in Cincinnati together, and a few even drove to Ontario to attend a Hamilton Branch Weekend. At the close of a Cincinnati Weekend that soon followed Hamilton’s, the Lexington dancers said, “We’ll be back next year!” Much to their dismay, they were told that the Cincinnati Weekend was only held every other year. They, frankly, weren’t willing to wait two years for another dance weekend. So, the impetus to form a Scottish country dance group in Lexington was to create a platform to host their own weekended, and in November 1975, a core group of dancers met to organize what became the Central Kentucky Scottish Country Dance Society. By then, Vicky’s husband, David, was traveling with Vicky to the dances. He shared everyone’s vision and energy and became another mover and shaker in the group. The first officers were Sandy Reid (President), Cliff Jaggie (Vice President), Sandy Marler (Secretary); and David Holzwarth (Treasurer).
It's worth noting that because of Vicky’s introduction to the RSCDS through Nora, the CKSCDS immediately embraced the RSCDS model in two important ways. First, it was committed to preserving and promoting Scottish country dances through classes, demonstrations, and other events. To that end, their first public event was a Scottish Open House in Versailles in March 1976, which included audience participation dancing, and performances by the CKSCD Demonstration Team and the Lexington Pipe Band. By the end of their first year (1976), the CKSCDS met its goal of hosting its first Scottish Country Dance Weekend, which was held in Midway, Kentucky. Nora was the teacher.
Beyond those immediate activities, the agenda of the November ’75 meeting included the long-range goal of becoming “a recognized chapter of the RSCDS.” In 1977, under the leadership of Larry Bell, the CKSCDS began that process and, with David Goodloe at the helm, the CKSCDS became an RSCDS Affiliated Group in May 1979.
With new dancers joining in leadership roles, momentum continued and in July 1980, the CKCDS started the process of becoming a Branch of the RSCDS. They achieved that status in July 1981. The Officers and Board Members who led us through the final steps were: Rebecca McCraith (President); Pam Keogh (Secretary); Faith Shine (Treasurer); Charland Garvin (Newsletter Editor); Mary Beth Hernon (Social Chair); David Goodloe (Weekend Treasurer); and Teachers, Vicky Goodloe and Charlie Robertson.
In November 1981, our friend Charles MacKay attended the RSCDS AGM in Dumfries, Scotland, as our first AGM Delegate. Charles reported back that he was given a “particularly warm welcome” from the Chairman, Mr. James Taylor, and that the Secretary, Miss Muriel Gibson, congratulated the Branch for “getting off the mark” so quickly by having representation at the meeting. By then, Charles was the Chief Agricultural Officer for the Scottish Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. While he was undoubtedly pleased to be our first AGM Delegate, he received an even greater honor in 1986 when he was awarded “Companion of the Order of the Bath” by Queen Elizabeth II.
Over time, we’ll use our website to continue to look back at people and events that have shaped our history. We’re proud of the legacy that began with a few young teenagers in 1958, and look forward to building on the new energy in our current classes, always looking for opportunities to accept Miss Milligan’s invitation, “Won’t you join the dance?”
For more details about our history, please see the Timeline link
In Memoriam for this article and the Timeline:
Jean Bell (d.2009)
John C. “Jack” Clarkson (d. 2015)
David Goodloe (d. 1996)
Leslie Bell Jaggie (d. 2018)
Nora Kindness (d. 2008)
Charles MacKay (d. 2004)
Marie MacKay (d. 2007)
William “Bill” Sutherland Reid (d. 1993)
Looking Back …
A History of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society,
Central Kentucky Branch
A History of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society,
Central Kentucky Branch
Come Dance With Us!
Centenary Celebration Dance
Download Centenary Celebration Dance flyer HERE.
Saturday, May 13th 2023 at 2:00 PM
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Louisville
with music of KELTRICITY
Coming Events:
DATE: May 13, 2023
TIME: 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
PLACE: St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 2233 Woodbourne Ave
Louisville, KY 40205