Struan Lodge Beauly
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Music has always held an important part
Music has always held an important part in the life of the Gaidhealtachd, holiday accommodation highlands and the rich variety of Gaelic music includes instrumental music such as harp-playing, or clàrsach and piping, as well as a vast store of Gaelic songs.
The clàrsach has a very well-established place in Gaelic and Celtic culture. holiday accommodation highlands Centuries ago, most celebrated harpists either travelled round, playing in great houses to earn their keep, or were part of the household of a chief or dignitary such as a bishop, in pre-Reformation times. Harpists both entertained their patrons and also composed laments and tunes to celebrate specific events. Some accompanied their chiefs into battle. However, in t his and other respects, their role began to be taken over by pipers and the last recorded harpist retained in a chief’s home was in 1755. Harp playing has enjoyed a revival in recent years, with a new generation of harpists not only carrying on the tradition of the clàrsach but extending its repertoire.
Piping is divided into two types: ceòl mòr (great music) and ceòl beag (light, or little music). The latter consists of dance tunes, including Strathspeys and reels, jigs and marches, whereas ceòl mòr, as the name suggests, is pipe music on a much grander scale. In the old days, bagpipes were used in battle as a substitute for trumpets, as well as to encourage the warriors. Pipers were often maintained by clan chiefs, as harpists had been, to entertain the household and also to play at funerals and other important events. Piping colleges were established by great players like the MacCrimmons of Skye, to pass on their knowledge to young pipers. However, piping went into decline for a time after the failure of the Jacobite rising of 1745, not only because piping was banned but because of the breakup of the clan system left pipers with patronage. Today the army provides one of the main centres of training for pipers, while life public performances of pipe music are usually in t he form of competitions organized by piping societies and Highland Games committees.
Perhaps the most important element of Gaelic musical tradition is its songs. Some experts divide these into two categories: òrain mhòra (great songs) and the folk tradition. The òrain mhòra mainly come from the bardic tradition of songs composed in the chiefs’ households up until the nineteenth century and include many examples of elegies, songs in praise of particular chiefs, and laments for losses in battle. Songs from the folk tradition, on the other hand, are often those of the ordinary people and reflect their concerns. They include work songs, such as the waulking songs, sung by women as they worked on tweed, milking songs and rowing songs. Other distinctive strands in the Gaelic repertoire include puirt-a-beul (mouth music), lullabies, fairy songs and songs about the homeland sung in exile. Gaelic songs also take in all the universal subjects such as love, death and the beauties of nature.
Gaelic songs are now becoming known to a wider audience through recordings and broadcasting. There are many gifted performers of traditional songs and groups such as Runrig and Capercaillie have also made extensive use of traditional material, thus ensuring that the old songs are passed on to new generations.
Capercaillie, whose name derives from the Gaelic word capall-coille, a type of wood grouse, are one of the foremost bands on the Scottish folk/rock music scene. The group’s roots are in Argyll, and it was on the strength of a number of performances in places like Taynuilt that the band got their first big break, appearing on Radio Scotland.