Ceilidh Night

Here is a tale of a fun little trip to the North Sea and then a Ceilidh. For those of you who don’t know a ceilidh (pronounced Kay-Lee) is a Gaelic word which roughly translates to “party.” The Gaelic idea of party involves a lot of dancing. Disclaimer: I do not remember the names of the several dances preformed over the course of the evening nor will I remember the dances well enough to teach them when I get back.

Saturday 16 February 2013

12:46PM

Dalkeith House

It was a lazy Saturday. Amber, Jess and I were relaxing atop the Tartan stairway. We really didn’t have anything going on until that evening, and so despite it being a rather mucky day, I suggested we hop on our bus passes and go somewhere we haven’t been before.  We eventually decided to take the 40 first to Musselburgh, and then landing in Portobello. The bus ride was relatively smooth, and we made it to and through Musselburgh in less than a half an hour. As we were coming up on Portobello, through the gaps in the buildings we could see the North Sea. The girls and I began to get excited. We got off at the next stop, and headed down to the beach.

Yes I said beach, complete with sea shells and white sand – well…    light tan sand. Anyway the point remains the same. If this beach, which stretched on for at least a mile along the coast, were transplanted to some place tropical and sunny it would have fit right in with any other beach.

The gloomy damp air was filled with a vaguely briny scent as cool air wafted off the North Sea. In a weird way, it was beautiful. I eagerly ran across the sand and plunged my hand into the water. This was the first time I had touched the ocean since Belize, and I have to say I missed it. It was a lot colder than I remembered, actually it was freezing, but I largely attributed that to being 40º north of Belize.

Amber and Jess soon joined me touching the North Sea and then snapping a few photos. The three of us then moved on to scavenging for cool looking shells. There was quite a variety, and it was quite a lot of fun for the first fifteen minutes or so. An hour and a half later, I have to admit I had gotten a wee bit bored. Either way, the tide was beginning to come and, and so we decided to get off the beach.

We ventured into the town of Portobello, stopping at a few shops along the way. I bought a small bag of jelly babies which I put in the inside pocket of my jacket. Pulling them out and offering them occasionally. It was a Fourth Doctor reference, that they didn’t get but I still had fun with it.

Anyway, we caught the next 40 out of Portobello and made it back to Dalkeith by about 5:45. The three of us were to meet up with Niki and Andy at about 6:30, and so we had plenty of time to get changed and ready for the night.

At 6:30 we were out the door. The Rugby Club, where the ceilidh was taking place, was at the opposite end of town so it was 6:50 when we got there. This was apparently good timing, because a good number of people were there, but a lot of people came after us as well.

We took our seats at a table, and were greeted by the local Pastor. He was a pleasant guy who chatted with us for a bit, and then moved on to meet the next table. Shortly after the pastor left us, they announced it was time for the first dance. My stomach rumbled. I had hoped that we would get to eat before we began dancing.

Anyway since we were an odd group of 5, pairing up for the dances proved to be a bit of a debacle. Andy and Niki usually danced together, and I alternated between Amber and Jess. However, sometimes Amber and Jess would dance together and I would end up with someone else entirely. The thing about ceilidh dancing is that it’s not so important that you know all the steps. It’s really not a couple’s affair, but it really is a communal party type thing. However, the one thing they don’t mention is that it is absolutely exhausting.

About half way through we had dinner, which to be honest I’m not really sure what we had. It resembled sausage cut into flat disks mixed into not all the way mashed potatoes. That’s about how it tasted, and it was good enough for me to go get seconds.

The night continued on and it got really warm in the Rugby Club hall, which became rather annoying as we would be dancing for at least five minutes at a time. By the end of the night we couldn’t drink enough water.

This was considered a small band for a ceilidh consisting of only an accordion and a drum set. A full ceilidh band would probably also have a fiddle or two and maybe a guitar. Even still the polka-like music was easy enough to catch the rhythm and step with.

As per Scottish tradition, the night was finished by all of us forming a large circle, holding hands and singing Auld Lang Syne. As far as I’m concerned that’s just about the best way I can think of to end a night.

Cheers!

-Anth