Ceilidh

If you go to Scotland or Ireland, you might be invited to a ceilidh, a traditional dance. A band plays traditional music, and people dance traditional dances all night long. You might see men wearing kilts and women in traditional Scottish clothes. As the evening continues, the dancing gets faster so you’ll have to be quite fit.

Ceilidh (pronounced kei-li) is not an English word; in fact, it’s Gaelic. Gaelic was the original language of Scotland and Ireland. Nowadays, you’ll hear Irish Gaelic spoken in Ireland, but you won’t hear Scottish Gaelic spoken much in Scotland. In fact, they only speak it in the Highlands.

Here is a well-known, traditional Scottish song, called Loch [1] Lomond:

By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes,

Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond,

Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae,

On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.

Oh, you tak’ the high road and I’ll tak’ the low road,

And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye,

But me and my true love will never meet again,

on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.

At the end of the evening, you can join in with everyone when they sing Auld Lang Syne, written by Robert Burns, Scotland’s most famous poet:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

And days of Auld Lang Syne?

For Auld Lang Syne, my dear

For Auld Lang Syne

We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet

For the sake of Auld Lang Syne.

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[1] lake