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Skye News I =
hope you all had a very successful Christmas and I am sure you will enjoy y=
our dancing during 2006. Unfortunately, the RSCDS Skye Branch began the N=
ew Year badly for no one had thought about heating the Hall before we arriv=
ed and we froze! My feet were=
like blocks of ice, they became warm in the car on the way home. Our instructor, Ann, said she was cold=
all day Friday too. A bit of a tall story but we knew what she meant. Boxing Day and for a few days afterwards, we had=
some glorious weather, Kathie always tells me to make the most of any suns=
hine so, I took off – ‘Just go, Olive.’ I say to myself, =
have I my mobile with me? Yes, O.K. then……off I go. Trumpan was my first port of call. The little ch=
urch is a ruin but in 1578, the McDonalds burnt alive the congregation of M=
cLeod’s in a revenge attack. I then walked along a muddy track toward=
s the headland and stopped to speak to two walkers. It wasn’t long before one said ‘You must=
be Olive. You are like Kathie.’ When I remarked that everyone knows =
everyone, she said well, there are only about 200 of us round about. Greshornish of Ellen MacArthur fame was my secon=
d port of call. I have passed=
the little track on several occasions but this time I didn’t. There were very few passing places =
but my luck was in for I didn’t see another vehicle until I came to t=
he hotel. I couldn̵=
7;t go forward for there were builders’ vehicles all over the place.<=
span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> I was told the hotel wo=
uld be closed until the end of March for renovation. So instead of a nice cup of you know what, one of t=
he vehicles moved and I had to retrace my steps. Ellen is having a house built near the water and I shou=
ld think the owners of the hotel are expecting an influx of visitors. Neist Lighthouse next. I was very pleased with myself for, although I had bee=
n before, this time I was on my own and had to find my own way, which I did=
. One track road again, up an=
d down and round and round – no good trying to admire the view while =
on the move. The real Atlantic was here and it blew. In the New Year, I mad=
e my way to Illinish and Talisker. Enough of my travels. Kathie, Steve and I went t=
o the New Year Ceilidh in the Waternish Village Hall. Not what I expected. A hall full but only two kilts! Lots of youngsters, nothing against youngsters, b=
ut there was a lot of pop music and, at least three Strip the Willows done =
in very fast tempo – no food just drink. I would have liked more of our country dancing. However, I enjoyed the experienc=
e. I felt I wasn’t progressing very well when=
playing Indoor Bowls since Christmas although folk had not given up on me.=
I was delighted last evening=
for we played with the same partner all evening. My partner and I were in the semi-final and then we WO=
N. I must add that, Peter, my=
partner, was a very good player but then he would have to be wouldn’=
t he? I will end with the news that my granny flat has=
been started – well, a post has been hammered into the ground to mar=
k a boundary, the digger is parked over the road and scaffolding has been d=
elivered. But two cable=
s have to be moved first. I miss you all. Olive. |
Dem News
The season of =
Burns Suppers and haggis is almost over and most of the dem team’s ou=
tings have involved one or the other or both. At one Burns Supper we attend=
ed, the chef had never cooked haggis before. They all split and ‘disg=
orged their entrails bright‘ into the cooking water. All the flavour =
was last seen disappearing down the sink as the solids were strained throug=
h a large sieve before being moulded and wrapped in cling film to be piped =
in and addressed. (Hint – wrap your haggis in foil before cooking and=
bring slowly to the boil) For most of our recent dems participation =
seems to be the name of the game. If some of our experiences are anything t=
o go by we should perhaps be insisting on a few Health and Safety rules suc=
h as · Participating audience must remove shoes when dancing. (Doc Martens and high heels can be b****y painful and not necessarily=
for the wearer.) · Extra tall ladies should stand up when approached by a potential p=
artner, giving him time to change direction. (5ft 7in man dancing the Gay Gordons with 6ft 3in lady can lead to ru=
ined hairstyle for the lady and a dislocated collarbone for the man.) · Enthusiastic and slightly inebriated young men should dance in a s=
traightjacket. (Arms that windmill uncont=
rollably do not mix with the Cumberland Reel and tables with bottles and gl=
asses on.) In spite of these trials and tribulations =
we believe our hosts enjoyed their experience of Scottish Country Dance and=
we have repeat bookings to prove it. Colin Headley |
|
WHERE AND HOW DID YOU START SCOTTISH DANCING? Seeing her art=
icle from the Evington News in September’s edition of the newsletter =
prompted Heather Mc Dairmid to reminisce on her early Scottish dancing days=
I began Scottish dancing when I was a student at Liverpool University=
. In those days there were lu=
nchtime activities, ‘hops’ and concerts in the Students’ =
Union. One new enterprising P=
E lecturer, who had been taught by Miss Milligan (founder member of SCDS, o=
r as we irreverently described her, the inventor of Scottish dancing) offer=
ed to teach Scottish dancing in the gym.&n=
bsp; Four girls responded and danced in heavy white pumps (gym shoes=
to you!) We were told to bri=
ng boyfriends for week two. That wasn’t difficult in those days, when=
boys outnumbered girls by 10 to 1. =
By the end of term we had 80 of us and Miss Milligan was invited to =
come to teach us. We were soon into kilts and white dresses and entering inter-universi=
ty competitions.
In this picture taken in 1951, Dr Tom Flett, a maths lecturer and aut=
hor of an authoritative work on the history of Scottish dancing, is on the =
extreme right. I am in front of him and the chap kneeling in the middle wen=
t up to Edinburgh with us with his strong Liverpool accent and returned pur=
e Scots. Do any of you have comparable memories? |
|
THE BEGINNER I joined a Scottish Dancing Class, We started last September. I’m trying hard - I really am - There's so much to remember. I know the experienced dancers, It's very easy to spot 'em. They gaily stand at the top of the set And I slink down to the bottom. I keep one eye=
on the teacher And one on the=
rest of the set - I try to watch=
my partner as well, But haven't su=
cceeded yet. It's very impo=
rtant to know the start Of the dance a=
bout to be done. If you're not =
quite sure of the first eight bars You are bound =
to be number one. Everyone is helpful And tells me what to do - But I get mixed up with my sexes - When ladies are men, wouldn't you? And when it's reels we are doing I'm soon a total loss, There's reels of four and reels of three, Reels down and=
reels across. There even are=
diagonal reels! - But when our t=
eacher said "Don't do=
an eight bar reel in six" My brain reele=
d in my head! But I'm going =
to keep on trying - The music is l=
ovely to hear, And maybe I'll=
know which corner is which At the end of =
the dancing year. |
|
I’ve just been reading through the October edition of ‘Box a=
nd Fiddle’. Not the 2005 edition that is currently on Doris’s desk for=
you to peruse. No, this one is dated October 1989. It has changed a little=
since then. In those days there were no colour photos and it was in newspa=
per format, probably ahead of its time as it is the same size as the Guardi=
an newspaper has just adopted. The article th=
at caught my eye was a long feature on Bill Wilkie. This is how it starts -=
It is a summer's evening in th=
e early '30's and "Pole Hill", four and a half miles out of Perth=
, sports one big bell tent, the combined base and quarters of a cub-scout s=
ummer camp. One ten year old cub returning with milk from a nearby farm is =
passing the bothy and is drawn like a magnet by the lilting music emanating=
from this 'howf’. It is irresistible, and in he goes to find one of =
the traditional combinations of those times, a farm servant and a melodeon.=
Up to this point he has been more ac=
quainted with the sound of fiddle and mouth organ, being no mean performer =
himself on the latter. This is his first real live encounter with a member =
of the accordion family, and he is completely hooked by the clear tone of t=
he instrument and the lift in the music. Such is his enthusiasm that he joi=
ns the player in a box/"moothie" duet and even manages to borrow =
the instrument to practice in his tent. He takes to it "like a duck to=
water". The accordion bug has got him, never to let go. 12 years later and in stark contrast=
to that chance encounter in the fine Perthshire countryside we find our &q=
uot;scout" now in the R.A.F. and a talented piano accordion player to =
boot, entertaining the troops in North India, on the borders of Kashmir and=
what is now Pakistan, at an altitude of at least ten times that of the afo=
rementioned 945ft Pole Hill. Now coming rig=
ht up to date, in fact, slightly ahead, to the evening of Saturday 28th Oct=
ober 1989. Perth City Hall is packed to capacity and our mouth organ playin=
g cub, now resplendent in silver dinner jacket, breezes onto centre stage a=
t a pace that would make a light infantry march look like a geriatrics' out=
ing — raises his baton, the thirty piece orchestra launches into its =
signature tune "El Relicario" and the annual Perth Accordion and =
Fiddle Festival Concert is under way. But this year's event has a special s=
ignificance — yes, the one and only Bill Wilkie has made it "40 =
not out". A tremendous a=
chievement by any standard. Come to think of it, he should have been wearin=
g a ruby jacket. Why should thi=
s piece interest me so much? Have a look at the photo, taken a little earli=
er in Bill’s orchestral career. In particular,=
the young lady seated fourth from the left in the front row. Does it remin=
d you of anyone? Who do you know hails from Perth? That’s right, it&#=
8217;s Doris. It may come as=
a surprise to some of you to discover that Doris is an accomplished box pl=
ayer and toured with the Bill Wilke Band for several years. The orchestra has always been recrui=
ted from Bill's pupils and staff and is renowned for its versatility and st=
andard. When working up to a =
show B.W. doesn't take time to breathe, he works like fury with the adrenal=
in pumping and he wants, and gets, perfection. He quoted an instance in a f=
inal rehearsal where he took the orchestra off stage in the middle of "=
;Alexander's Ragtime Band" and I quote, "It was murder! Polis! Bu=
t they were playing it by night, I can tell you". |
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