Coisir Lunnainn - the London Gaelic Choir (the oldest Gaelic choir in the world) held a ceilidh last Saturday at the London Welsh Centre in Gray's Inn Road, with well over a hundred people attending. The London Welsh Centre hosts many of the London Scots' meetings, both of the Coisir Lunnainn and the Highlands and Islands Society of London.
Coisir Lunnainn will also be appearing at Boisdale of Belgravia on 21 May (next weekend) singing songs of South Uist and Eriskay at a fundraiser to help the Community of the islands of Benbecula, South Uist, and Eriskay to buy their land from the current landowners South Uist Estates Ltd and a company, Storas Uibhist , has been formed to manage the community land.
Last Saturday's ceilidh had the choir singing Gaelic songs, a piper playing
piobaireachds, and lots of dancing (and drinking, too - it was a ceilidh after all).
Here're some photographs of the occasion. Not being the world's greatest photographer, these are only the pictures I managed to take from my table showing the bits going on under my nose, as it were. First, the piper showing his skills:
Ewen Pinkerton solo singing the North American lament, Aignish:
The choir getting ready to sing Robbie Burns' song Ca' the Yows in its Gaelic translation. The choirmaster is telling the assembled throng about the translator:
And then the dancing:
Eightsome Reel:
A good time was had by all, as they say. Let's hope next weekend will be as well attended and just as jolly.
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