Ceilidh Culture

Sourcing the art of story

If you visit Scotland today and see a "ceilidh" advertised it will be an evening of participative dancing with singing and music led by a "ceilidh band".

However, ceilidh originally means "visiting" a gathering of neighbours in a house. People would tell stories, sing and perhaps, but less often, dance if the evening went that way!

Photo: Douglas Robertson          Photo: Ian MacKenzie

Over the last decade the Scottish Storytelling network, based at its Centre in Edinburgh has revived ceilidhing in the old sense as a format for intimate storytelling events with a strong social dimension.

A leading example of this is Edinburgh's storytelling club -- The Guid Crack -- which meets in a room above The Waverley Bar in St Mary's Street just off the Royal Mile. In July 2004 the club hosted "Summer Nights -- Guid Crack", a series of three intimate ceilidhs.

The structure of these evenings follows tradition. There is a host or hostess for the evening who welcomes everyone and contributes the first story or song. There may also be a designated guest storyteller who contributes at a few points in the evening, but it is open to all those attending to contribute and it is the role of the host to draw people in if they wish. Socialising goes on around this central core.

Photos: Ian MacKenzie

People, of course, tell all kinds of stories and anecdotes and these are interspersed with a diversity of songs and live instrumental music. The variety depends on who is there on a given night. This again mirrors a traditional ceilidh which ranged from news, gossip and contemporary anecdote to comic folktales, to ancient stories of profound emotion and symbolism.

The key is that the evening grows organically as people react to each other; participation makes the art. In this way these ancient traditions underpin improvisation and informal creation in very modern but accessible ways.

Tradition, incidentally, extends to payment. There are no tickets or bookings -- a hat is passed round for contributions (£3 recommended) to pay the guest storyteller and support the organisation.

For more information visit the Scottish Storytelling Centre and Network, and our feature on the Scottish Storytelling Centre.