Seachdain na Gaidhlig comes to Lanark.

Seachdain na Gaidhlig , or World Gaelic week runs from February 19th to 25th , with BBC’s Joy Dunlop at the helm. Clydesdale Gaelic’s contribution will be a re-run of last year’s hugely successful song night.

The essential details are in the attached poster, but I’d like to explain the evening a bit further. It’s not a ceilidh as we would understand it nowadays, as in a concert-cum-dance, although it is a ceilidh in the original Gaelic sense, which is a social get together. I would describe it as a ceilidh tutorial. At a ceilidh, the singer usually sings the verses and the audience joins in the chorus. Our Gaelic group felt that, while we ‘know’ all the songs and the tunes, we were a bit lost when it came to joining in the chorus. Hence the evening. Morvyn Menzies is a singer and a teacher and is used to guiding the uninitiated through Gaelic songs. She will not be trying to create a choir, but just help us through some well-known Gaelic songs, the tunes of which you will probably know and the words possibly not. You don’t have to be a singer and you don’t need any previous Gaelic. She says that she will have songs of love, of absence, of battle, of lament, waulking songs, lullabies, songs for dancing and nonsense songs.

Please join us. Bring a friend. Bring the family. Bring the football team! We look forward to seeing you at the Tolbooth on the 22nd. Come early and join us for tea, coffee and cake before the evening starts. Doors open 6.30. If you wish to reserve a seat, please contact kenmacvicar@gmail.com.

Cost: Free, or donation, as wished