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Ceilidh Culture is an annual festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland which incorporates folk music, song, dance and storytelling. [1] There is currently a month-long programme of events which take place around Easter time. [2] The current format first took place in 2003, although Edinburgh has had a festival with traditional ceilidh music also involving all the traditional arts since 1951.
Hamish Henderson was instrumental in creating the first People's Festival in 1951, with funding from the British Council, The Communist Party and the Scottish TUC, this was revived in 2002 by the Scottish Socialist Party MSP Colin Fox. This saw a performance of Ewan MacColl's play "Uranium 235" and Gaelic singing by Flora MacNeil and others. In 1952 it ran for three weeks. Almost all the major funders withdrew in 1952. In a reduced programme the Ceilidh became the chief event. In 1953 it was the further reduced, but both Jeannie Robertson and Jean Ritchie made memorable appearances. The 1954 People's Festival was the last.
In 1964 there was an Edinburgh Folk Festival, with appearances by The Corries, The Dubliners, the Ian Campbell Folk Group and Robin Hall and Jimmie Macgregor. Evidence is fragmentary, but there were probably other years in which it took place. From 1979 to 1999 there was an annual Edinburgh Folk Festival with all the major Celtic music bands represented - Planxty, The Boys of the Lough, the Battlefield Band, and so on. Financial problems caused its collapse in 1999, but in 2003 saw the launch of a new event, called Ceilidh Culture. [2]
Scotland is internationally known for its traditional music, often known as Scottish folk music, which remained vibrant throughout the 20th century and into the 21st when many traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music. Traditional Scottish music comprises a variety of different styles such as ballads, reels, jigs and airs. Traditional Scottish music is closely associated with the bagpipes which is credited as having a prominent role in traditional music originating from the country. The bagpipes are considered to an "iconic Scottish instrument" with a history dating back to the 15th century. Other notable Scottish instruments include the tin whistle, the accordion and the fiddle.
Scottish folk music is a genre of folk music that uses forms that are identified as part of the Scottish musical tradition. There is evidence that there was a flourishing culture of popular music in Scotland during the late Middle Ages, but the only song with a melody to survive from this period is the "Pleugh Song". After the Reformation, the secular popular tradition of music continued, despite attempts by the Kirk, particularly in the Lowlands, to suppress dancing and events like penny weddings. The first clear reference to the use of the Highland bagpipes mentions their use at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547. The Highlands in the early seventeenth century saw the development of piping families including the MacCrimmons, MacArthurs, MacGregors and the Mackays of Gairloch. There is also evidence of adoption of the fiddle in the Highlands. Well-known musicians included the fiddler Pattie Birnie and the piper Habbie Simpson. This tradition continued into the nineteenth century, with major figures such as the fiddlers Niel and his son Nathaniel Gow. There is evidence of ballads from this period. Some may date back to the late Medieval era and deal with events and people that can be traced back as far as the thirteenth century. They remained an oral tradition until they were collected as folk songs in the eighteenth century.
A cèilidh or céilí is a traditional Scottish and Irish social gathering. In its most basic form, it simply means a social visit. In contemporary usage, it usually involves dancing and playing Gaelic folk music, either at a home or a larger concert at a social hall or other community gathering place.
(James) Hamish Scott Henderson was a Scottish poet, songwriter, communist, intellectual and soldier. He was a catalyst for the folk revival in Scotland. He was also an accomplished folk song collector and discovered such notable performers as Jeannie Robertson, Flora MacNeil and Calum Johnston. Born in Blairgowrie, Perthshire on the first Armistice Day 11 November 1919, to a single mother, Janet Henderson, a Queen's Nurse who had served in France, and was then working in the war hospital at Blair Castle. His name was recorded at registration as James but he preferred the Scots form Hamish.
Runrig were a Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. From its inception, the band's line-up included brothers and songwriters Rory MacDonald and Calum MacDonald (percussion). The line-up during most of the 1980s and 1990s, which was the band's most successful period commercially, also included Donnie Munro (vocals), Malcolm Jones (guitar), Iain Bayne (drums), and Pete Wishart (keyboards). Munro left the band in 1997 to pursue a career in politics and was replaced by Bruce Guthro. Wishart left in 2001, also to pursue a career in politics, and was replaced by Brian Hurren. The band released fourteen studio albums, with a number of their songs sung in Scottish Gaelic. At the height of their success during the 1980s and 1990s, Runrig were described by Billboard as one of the "most celebrated" Gaelic language bands in Scotland.
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and international military bands, and artistic performance teams on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle in the capital of Scotland. The event is held each August as one of the Edinburgh Festivals.
A mòd is a festival of Scottish Gaelic song, arts and culture. Historically, the Gaelic word mòd, which came from Old Norse mót, refers to a Viking Age Thing or a similar kind of assembly. There are both local mòds, and an annual national mòd, the Royal National Mòd. Mòds are run under the auspices of An Comunn Gàidhealach. The term comes from a Gaelic word for a parliament or congress in common use during the Lordship of the Isles.
The Royal National Mòd is an Eisteddfod-inspired international Celtic festival focusing upon Scottish Gaelic literature, traditional music, and culture which is held annually in Scotland. It is the largest of several major Scottish Mòds and is often referred to simply as the Mòd.
Greentrax Recordings are a Scottish record label that specialises in Scottish traditional music.
Martyn Bennett was a Canadian-Scottish musician who was influential in the evolution of modern Celtic fusion, a blending of traditional Celtic and modern music. He was a piper, violinist, composer and producer. Diagnosis of serious illness at the age of thirty curtailed his live performances, although he completed a further two albums in the studio. He died from cancer in 2005, fifteen months after the release of his fifth album Grit.
Anne Lorne Gillies MA, PhD, LRAM, PGCE, Dr h.c. is a Scottish singer, writer, and activist.
The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of traditional Scottish music and also features international folk, roots and world music artists. The festival is produced and promoted by Glasgow Life. Donald Shaw, a founding member of Capercaillie, was appointed Celtic Connections Artistic Director in 2006.
The Scots Trad Music Awards or Na Trads were founded in 2003 by Simon Thoumire to celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media and public attention. Nominations are made by the public and in 2019 over 100,000 public votes were expected across 18 categories.
Blazin' Fiddles are a contemporary Scottish fiddle band from the Highlands and Islands. They formed in 1998 to showcase Scotland's distinct regional fiddle styles. The band have a number of awards, including; the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards Live Act of the Year, Album of the Year and Folk Band of the Year. Their records are released on their own indie Blazin' Records label. They have been described as "...the Led Zeppelin of the Folk World."
Mairi Campbell is a Scottish folk singer and musician. Campbell's songs and music range from the everyday to the universal, both in sound and subject matter.
Flora MacNeil, MBE was a Scottish Gaelic Traditional singer. MacNeil gained prominence after meeting Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson during the early 1950s, and continued to perform into her later years.
Skipinnish is a traditional Scottish band from the Gàidhealtachd, singing primarily in English. Both the band and brand Skipinnish was created by Angus MacPhail and Andrew Stevenson in 1999 who were both studying at the time at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow.
The Piping Live! Festival is an annual bagpiping event held in Glasgow by the National Piping Centre. The festival was created in 2003 and occurs on the run-up to the World Pipe Band Championships. It is estimated that the festival alone adds £12 million to Scotland's tourism revenue and it is the largest bagpipe festival in the world.
The Leith Festival is an arts festival held in the Leith area of Edinburgh and takes place mainly in the EH6 and EH7 postcodes of Edinburgh which cover the old burgh of Leith. It is a community based festival that takes place annually. It is run by the Leith Festival Association. It had been previously run by Leith Festival Club. The Edinburgh Short Film Festival, LeithLate and Leith Jazz and Blues Festival also run along the same time as the Leith Festival.
Roderick Morison, known as An Clàrsair Dall, was a Scottish Gaelic poet and harpist. He was born around 1646 in Bragar, Lewis and educated in Inverness, but he also learned to play the clàrsach as a profession. Later on, he moved to the Isle of Skye where he died around 1713. Morison is best known for his songs of praise for Gaelic aristocrats, for example MacLeod of Dunvegan and Iain Breac, MacLeod of Lewis.
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