Edinburgh school ceilidh

Tonight we were out at another Edinburgh school ceilidh. It was our annual visit to play for the fundraising event run for the Stewart’s Melville school pipe band. We had a slightly rocky start to the evening with a puncture on the way to the gig. But Drew was rescued by a passing RAC driver, we set up at double speed, and we caught up with ourselves and started the gig on time.

We’ve lost count of the number of years we’ve been playing at this ceilidh, but it’s still one we look forward to in the band’s calendar. One of the highlights of the evening for us is getting to hear the junior and senior pipe bands perform. They were certainly on good form tonight. The junior and senior dancers also put on a cracking display for the audience.
Edinburgh school ceilidh with Da Hooley ceilidh band

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A wee celebration ceilidh

Choir 15 year celebration ceilidh

Last night we were out playing in St Peter’s church hall in Edinburgh. The ceilidh was a celebration party for Sangstream, a folk choir in Edinburgh. The event also marked the completion of a project from the summer – recording their CD ‘More than a choir’.

St Peter’s church is a lovely venue for a ceilidh. As it’s just off South Clerk Street, it’s pretty central, and is easy to get to. Although the hall is in the middle of the city, it has some resident wildlife! I snapped this picture on my mobile phone a few weeks ago, at another ceilidh in the hall. I spotted this wee fellow scuttling off into the shadows as I was locking up my bike. I decided to have a quick look to see if he was still lurking behind the parked cars before I went into the hall. I was a bit surprised to not only find him standing there, but that he came towards me as I got my camera out of my pocket. I guess he was hoping for something a bit more interesting than a photo opportunity!

The main room at St Peter’s has a wooden floor, which is great for dancing. And the choir had permission to use the kitchens, which meant the band were treated to a fantastic buffet of typical Sangstream proportions!

It was a pleasure to play for a group of folk which included so many people familiar with plenty of ceilidh dances. And we had a brief performance of a couple of Sangstream’s favourite songs before the night was over.

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Wedding ceilidh in the Merchant Hall, Edinburgh

Edinburgh wedding ceilidh

Tonight the band was out playing for a wedding in the Merchant Hall in Hanover Street, Edinburgh. It’s a fabulous venue, with a huge domed ceiling in the main function room, some ornate carvings, and plenty of huge portraits around the walls. The room was beautifully presented, with a red and white theme for the tables.

We were on a tight schedule getting the band set up before the dancing began for the night, so didn’t have a lot of time to take in the surroundings until the ceilidh was underway.

Playing for the queen

As we were playing for the first Gay Gordons, I realised as I looked around that we had Princess Anne looking down from the wall on the right, and Prince Phillip watching over the ceilidh from our left hand side. When the band took a break in the middle of the evening, I discovered the Queen looking down from behind us, taking a great interest in the dancing. I can safely say it’s the first time we’ve played in quite such prestigious company!

Surprise birthday party near Crieff

Community hall ceilidh

Tonight we we out playing at a surprise 50th birthday party ceilidh in a wee place called Madderty near Crieff. As we unloaded the car outside the hall, we came across a lovely sculpture of a man sitting on a bench reading a book. We’d love to know the story behind him being there!

Madderty Hall is a lovely place for a ceilidh. It’s a recently built community Hall, with a light airy feel and great acoustics. The band loved it – we’re hoping we’ll be invited back to play there again some time!

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Family ceilidh at Stewarts Melville School

Edinburgh school family ceilidh

We were out playing for a family ceilidh at Stewart’s Melville school in Edinburgh tonight. It was another fun gig – it’s always a delight to play for a group who are up on the floor for the next dance almost before you’ve announced it. And the kids were all jumping about – full of energy, and great wee dancers, too.

We’ve been playing ceilidhs at the school for a number of years now. It started with a fundraising event for the school pipe band, and we’ve been asked back every year since. I love getting to see the pipe bands performing at those gigs. They’re impressively well drilled. We’re looking forward to the next gig with the school in November!

Fiddle and accordion — Photo ©Ros Gasson

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Aberdour festival ceilidh

Da Hooley ceilidh band play at Aberdour festival

We had a wee jaunt out across the Forth bridge tonight, playing for the annual Aberdour festival ceilidh. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed being the band for their Saturday evening ceilidh over the last few years.

I’m sure their marquee gets bigger every year!

Ceilidh at St Bride’s Centre

Fundraising ceilidh

Just sometimes, we get a little carried away. Last night was one of those nights. We were playing at one of the regular monthly ceilidhs run by the Scots Music Group, in St Bride’s in Edinburgh. It’s a great venue for dancing….and also a great space for taking photos! So we arranged to go along a wee bit earlier than usual, and took some band photos for the website before we set up for the evening’s gig.

Of course the conversation got round to tennis, and Andy Murray playing in today’s Wimbledon final. For just a wee moment, Denise and Ros forgot they were fiddle players…

tennis-playing fiddlers

Good luck today Andy!!

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Edinburgh ceilidh for graduating students

Ceilidh at Prestonfield House, Edinburgh

At the weekend we played our last ceilidh for the Edinburgh University vet students who graduate this year. This one was a big final dinner dance, held at the Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh. We’ve played a number of Edinburgh ceilidhs for them throughout their years of studying, which have always been high energy evenings, and loads of fun for the band to play.

Fiddle

Wishing you all good luck for the future!

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Wedding ceilidhs in East Lothian

Marquee wedding ceilidh

We’ve had a couple more trips out to East Lothian for a birthday and a wedding ceilidh over the last week. We played for a lovely 21st birthday party in the village hall in Gullane last weekend. Last night we were at a venue we’ve not been to before – Harvest Moon Holidays near Tyninghame. It’s a fairly new venue on a farm, just along the coast from the cabin at Ravensheugh. It certainly makes for an unusual venue for a wedding reception.

The farm has diversified, and put up a number of ‘glamping’ tents in one of the fields near the sea. They’ve also left a few farm artifacts around, including a beautiful old wooden cart.

There was a big marque up for the wedding ceilidh. After what had been a grey and windy day, the sun came out as we were setting up for the night. The couple had also hired a bouncy castle to entertain the kids (or so we thought!).

It turned out they had decided to forgo the usual ‘first dance’ for the night, and went for a ‘first bounce’ instead, followed by a tug of war. It was a fantastic night for us as a band, with an exuberant crowd who were definitely up for a good ceilidh.

Congratulations to Mhairi and Harry – what a lovely way to start your married life together!

More ceilidhs

We’ll be back playing ceilidhs in Edinburgh over the next couple of weekends. We have a public event on Saturday 7th July, In the St Bride’s Centre. These ceilidhs usually sell out, so we’re looking forward to an energetic evening! Tickets are available from the Scots Music Group website

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Wedding ceilidh at Tyninghame log cabin

Wedding ceilidh at Ravensheugh

We were back at Ravensheugh log cabin, playing at another wedding ceilidh this weekend. We were treated to a novel dance display from some of the guests at the start of the reception. It was a great start to the evening.

The log cabin is a popular venue for weddings in East Lothian. Generally, the couple have a marquee on the site for the reception and wedding ceilidh in the evening. There were some wee decorations in this marquee which were particularly effective:

And the beach at Tyninghame was looking stunning again as the sun went down. There’s a beautiful view to the west, overlooking the Bass rock and the coast of Fife.

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