Ceilidh Dancing

The Gay Gordons Coreography

Ceilidh dance is performed in some Irish and Scottish social gatherings. It is the ocassion of playing and dancing along to traditional Gaelic Folk music. This ritual is originated in Scotland and Ireland but nowadays it has been spread throughout the world because of the scottish and irish diasporas.

In my Scottish Culture and Society module we had the opportunity of performing Ceilidh dance.It as a really fun expereince. We danced (tried) to dance sme of the most common coreographies like The Gay Gordons (see video above) and The Waverley among others. There was a band with man dressed in kilts, there was even a man who was playing the bagpipe. Dancing along to the music was dificult at first, the pase seemed very fast, and it was quite dificult to get used to the coreography. Despite this I noticed that everyone was smiling and having such a good time! It was really fun, an experience that I will never forget.

Kilts

The kilt is a traditional garment first worn by scottish men and boys in the 16th century. 

Nowadays it is worn on special occasions like marriages, parades (The military Tattoo   festival), etc. I have been speaking to a lot of scottish men and they are very proud of sticking to their tradition by wearing this garment.

 When I first arrived in Edinburgh I noticed that most of the men wearing kilts were in the old town playing the bagpipe. It is kind of a touristic attraction. Therefore the old town has a very interesting atmosphere. When you hear the bagpipes you realize that you are in Scotland!

And for the record: it is true that scottish men in kilt do not wear undrewear! Yeah... do not ask me how I knew this. 

Haggis

Haggis is the Scottish national dish. It is made by several lamb parts like lungs, hearts and liver among others. It is all mixed with oatmeal, onions, stock, and pepper, and then it is encased on the animal's stomach. It is cooked for approximately three hours.

This dish was a meal for the pour, because the fact of being so cheap. But the it spread in every social class becming a national dish of which scottish are very proud of. 

It may sound like a very weird when people tell you the ingredients of the dish fr the first time. But I have tried some haggis in good restaurants and it is very tasty! (Even if the texture is a little bit odd)