Ceilidh Night

During a morning show today, host Meredith Viera presented a segment in which she went back to her roots on an island near Portugal. During the trip she joined the villagers in a "Folklore Night." There was food, singing, music and dancing. We have hosted nights of music, food and poetry since 1991 which we call "ceilidhs". Ceilidh is a Scottish Gaelic word for such a night which I found while checking into my Scottish heritage. "An evening of music, food and conversation around the peat fire... the word was the description I wanted for ours although we do without the peat fire which is sometimes replaced by a lovely blaze in a fireplace. About once a month we gather at our home or the home of a friend with guitars, mandolins, bouzouki's, fiddles and other instruments in hand. We eat for a while, chat for a while and then the instruments come out and we sing and play music until the wee hours. Ceilidhs came over with the early settlers and evolved into the American Hootenanny. By any name, the tradition is still the same. We are blessed to have many friends who help us keep this tradition alive. I love learning of these gatherings in so many countries and cultures and hope to learn of more.

I wrote Ceilidh Night in 2001

Ceilidh Night

Move the sofa and the chairs, making room for friends
Line the cases in the hall, it's ceilidh night again
Vickie rosins up her bow, Jan gets out her saw
Eggs and shakers and tapping feet, there are instruments for all
Friends are gathered with music to share
A poem a story, it's a lively affair,
Tried and true or timid and new, All are playing on this ceilidh night
Pam and Spencer try a tune they wrote just yesterday
Eric does a sing-a-long so everyone can play
Jackie sings her song of birds and Tracy makes us cry
Chris reads us a poem he wrote and Pru sings a lullaby
Friends are gathered with music to share
A poem a story, it's a lively affair,
Tried and true or timid and new, All are playing on this ceilidh night
Lennie takes us back a while with songs from bygone days
Fred will sing the blues tonight as George sits in and plays
Songs from John or Madeline then Papa makes us smile
Jim will add his baritone but he can only stay awhile
Friends are gathered with music to share
A poem a story, it's a lively affair,
Tried and true or timid and new, All are playing on this ceilidh night
Martin, Taylor, Alverez, Ovation, Groen, Guild
We've seen all types of instruments a Luthier would build
Concertinas, psaltery harps, banjos and mandolins
No concert could be better than a concert here with friends
So light the candles, stir the stew and put some biscuits in
Move the sofa and the chairs, its ceilidh night again