Strathspey

Strathspey, a Scotch dance, allied to and danced alternately with the Reel (q.v.). The name is derived from the strath or valley of the Spey, where it seems to have originated; but it does not occur before the middle of the 18th century, and was at first applied indiscriminately to music now known as reels. It differs from the latter in being slower, and abounding in the jerky motion of dotted notes and semiquavers (when the latter precede the former it constitutes the Scotch Snap), while the reel is almost entirely in smooth, equal, gliding motion. Many of Burns's songs were written to the music of strathspeys.