Irish and Scottish music
I find traditional Irish and Scottish music to be appealing however they both are similar. Both musics share the sprightly 6/8 jig, 2/4 hornpipe and stately 4/4 reel, the Scottish repertoire also has strathspeys, a 4/4 cousin to the reel, and fiery marches not commonly found in Irish music.
My favorite instruments are the fiddles, flutes and the bagpipes. With a heavy nod to the drums as I am fond of percussion. The fiddles and the flutes are fun while the bagpipes are just so interesting to watch and listen too. The initial cacophony of the initial tuning and loading with air gives way to a warm and haunting timbre. It is intresting as to how many types and styles of bagpipes that are available. The Scottish bagpipes typically had an extra drone and were more harmonic than the Irish bagpipes which started out as war pipes with only two drones. The other interesting thing that I find about the traditional music especially Scottish is the timing and cadence is found in early American folk music which makes sense as many Irish and Scottish immigrants came to America. And it certainly is difficult to listen to without wanting to tap your foot and or dance. After listening to the top 10 songs about Scotland which none were appealing to me except for Auld Ang Syne. I guess I am a traditionalist Scottish contemporary music seems to be to sappy and “Celine Dion-ish”.
Highland sword dance:
in the video below the sword dance starts at 1:30.
This is the first time that I actually watched a Highland sword dance in actually knew what the heck I was watching. This is a pretty cool dance that requires great stamina and precision in order to perform it properly. Knowing that it originated after a battle or a victory when the victor would lay down his sword and cross it with the opponents and then dance around it and or in it as a way to celebrate the victory and to foreshadow the outcome of the upcoming battle. If the dancer touches the swords it is considered bad luck and denotes a negative outcome of the next battle. It is also interesting that once the dancer enters the swords they are always facing the swords as it is bad luck to turn your back on a weapon. Its pretty awesome to watch a group of dancers do it together as in the video above.
Also this dance is much more gracefully performed by slender lightweight people.
The kilt
kilt is a practical and comfortable garment as it can be donned in many ways depending on the user’s needs. You can make pockets, a hood, where it over the shoulder, where his cloak, where long or short the options seem endless.
A tartan pattern emerges out of a single list of coloured threads called a thread count. It was interesting to watch the gentleman that was demonstrating how to put pleats in the kilt. I don’t think I ever realized that the pleats were just in the back of the kilt and they certainly didn’t realize it could take a long time to get dressed in the morning if you are wearing a kilt. I was in the impression that he just slipped it on and went about your business. I can only imagine sitting on the floor naked trying to put the kilt on this if you are putting on an old cloth diaper just as someone walks in on you..lol.
The Tartan
According to:
http://www.tartans.scotland.net/reading_tartan/index.cfm.htm
Reading a tartan requires a little practice and involves finding two unique points within the pattern called the pivots.Tartans consist of broader bands of colour called the under check which are often decorated or embellished with narrower lines of colour called the over check. Once the basic possibilities are understood, one can better appreciate designs that combine and extend the simple ideas. The largest group of tartan uses the three-colour design of Black. My tartan is the one pictued above. its called the Heart of Scotland.
Scottish country dancing
Im glad Scottish country dancing was one of the styles chosen as it is one of the easier styles to learn the basic step as it is akin to skipping. However don’t be fooled this is definitely a cardiovascular workout and the steps can get more difficult. The Scottish country dance is kinda fun and not as demanding as the riverdance. I felt like I was doing a cross between a german polka and a square dance.
The Riverdance
Here is the link to my attempt at the River Dance.
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&feature=vm&video_id=LGVuRXvjcpw
All I can say is thank goodness tha
t these guys dumbed down the Riverdance. They must’ve realized that there are a lot of people out there with two left feet. And all I have to say is that I hope my final grade doesn’t hinge on my ability to perform this crazy dance. I’ve watched the Riverdance on TV and it’s definitely harder than it looks and it looks hard. I didn’t think I would be fond of having to keep my arms down at my sides but it helps you to focus on your feet.
Conan O’Brien
This guy is hilarious he is a caricature in flesh and blood and to watch him kick that girl in the face was even more hilarious. She was lucky as he only gave her a flesh wound. It was cool of him to have the Trinity dancers on the show and to acknowledge her and apologized to her for kicking her.
Making Malt Whiskey
Single malt Scotch is single malt whisky made in Scotland. To be a single malt whisky, the whisky must have been distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process, from a mash of malted grain. In Scotland, the only grain allowed to be used in a single malt whisky is barley. As with any Scotch whisky, a single malt Scotch must be distilled in Scotland and matured in oak casks in Scotland for at least three years. (Most single malts are matured longer.)
- “Malt” indicates that the whisky is distilled from a “malted” grain. Several types of grains can be malted (for example, barley, rye and wheat are all grains which can be malted); however, in the case of single malt Scotch, barley is always the only grain used.
- “Single” indicates that all the spirits in the bottle come from a single distillery. Bottlings containing malt whisky from multiple distilleries are called “blendedmalt“.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_malt_Scotch
Single malt is hard to make it taste the same consistantly. If a batch comes off substandard then it is usually blended. The standards that have to be met to be able to leagally call the product a single malt scotch help to increase the costs. The oak casks are all imported and are already used already by burbon distillers in America. Then they have to age for three years or more, distilled at least twice and only malted barley can be used. Also, only so much can be produced which helps to add to its exclusivity. I have tasted Glenlivit single malt and it is very smooth but it is whiskey and I like to have the first glass over Ice and then move to having it neat. Occasionally when the girlfriend is not going to be around and Im hanging with the guys we may pair it with a nice mild cigar.
Scottish Cuisine
Haggis
A savoury pudding containing sheep’s pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, traditionally encased in the animal’s stomach[1] and nowadays often in an artificial casing.
Neeps
mashed swede (turnip in Scotland), especially when served with tatties (potatoes) and haggis.
Tatties
Are potato’s
Cock-a-leekie soup
Is a Scottish soup dish of leeks and chicken stock, often thickened with rice, or sometimes barley. The original recipe added prunes during cooking, and traditionalists still garnish with a julienne of prunes.
Kippers
A kipper is a whole herring, a small, oily fish, that has been split in butterfly fashion from tail to head along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold-smoked over smouldering woodchips
Bannock
A variety of flat quick bread or any large, round article baked or cooked from grain. usually unleavened flat bread or biscuit made with oatmeal or barley meal; When a round bannock is cut into wedges, the wedges are often called scones
Cullen skink
A thick Scottish soup made of smoked haddock, potatoes and onions. An authentic Cullen skink will use finnan haddie, but it may be prepared with any other undyed smoked haddock.
Cranachan
A traditional Scottish dessert. In modern times it is usually made from a mixture of whipped cream, whisky, honey and fresh raspberries, with toasted oatmeal soaked overnight in a little bit of whisky
Irish Cuisine
Colcannon
is a traditional Irish dish mainly consisting of mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage. It is also the name of a song about the dish.
Black pudding
A type of blood sausage commonly eaten in Britain, Slovenia, Italy, Finland, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Sweden, Estonia, Spain, Portugal and Latvia. It is generally made from pork blood and a relatively high proportion of oatmeal.
Soda bread
A variety of quick bread traditionally made in a variety of cuisines in which sodium bicarbonate is used as a leavening agent instead of the more common yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour, bread soda, salt, and buttermilk. The buttermilk in the dough contains lactic acid, which reacts with the baking soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide. Other ingredients can be added such as butter, egg, raisins, or nuts. In Ireland, the flour is typically made from soft wheat; so soda bread is best made with a cake or pastry flour (made from soft wheat), which has lower levels of gluten than a bread flour. In some recipes, the buttermilk is replaced by live yogurt or even stout. Bakers recommend the minimum amount of mixing of the ingredients before baking; the dough should not be kneaded.
Crubeens
Irish dish made of boiled pigs’ feet which are then typically battered and fried. They are traditionally eaten by hand.
Irish stew
Any variety of meat-and-root vegetables stew native to Ireland. As in all traditional folk dishes, the exact recipe is not consistent from time or place to place.
Stout
A dark beer made using roasted malt or roasted barley, hops, water and yeast. Stouts were traditionally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest porters, typically 7% or 8%, produced by a brewery.
I have to say that I love Guinness beer, and I believe that it was pure evil of our professor to make his watch that knowing that there was a high probability that we would not be able to procure such an amazing beverage in the immediate future since we would most likely be not at a pub while doing this assignment… LOL. Fergal Murray the Guinness master brewer is also a master wordsmith as listening to him describe the perfect way to poor Guinness beer left me reeling for a frosty mug of that velvety smooth deliciousness. He described six steps pouring a draught beer and three steps if using one of their special cans with a nitrogen widget.
Pouring a draught Guinness:
- use a clean glass.
- Angle glass at 45° angle and aim the stream at the harp
- allow liquid to bounce off the back of harp and slowly straighten glass once the liquid level reaches the bottom of the harp once the glasses vertical stop the poor once a liquid reaches the top of the harp.
- Set the glass on a flat surface let it surge the nitrogen bubbles coming away from the beer in a beautiful cascading effect.
- Top the beer off
- now the most important part look off to the horizon and savor the beverage as you draw the liquid underneath the head of the beer.
Pouring a can of Guinness:
- please to can on a flat surface open the can and allow the widget to start working
- angle the glass of 45° angle in the stream of liquid at the harp and straighten the glass vertically and finish the poor once the liquid reaches the harp.
- Enjoy the pint of Guinness
Planning a menu of Scottish and Irish food.
For my “feast” the menu would be as follows:
Appetizers
A Pint of Guinness
Soda bread with honey as a condiment
Crubeens
Black Pudding
First Course
A Pint of Guinness
Chock-a-leekie soup
Main Course
A Pint of Guinness
Colcannon
Haggis
Dessert
A Pint of Guinness
Cranachan
Aperitif
Bushmills
and A Pint Of Guinness!!
Here is a picture of my home made Cranachan with a link to the recipie that i used. I wasnt able to have a real feast but I always have room for dessert!!
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8785/raspberry-cranachan-trifle
In summary this class was a whirlwind of information. We were immursed in Scottish and Irish Culture from beginning to end with no time for a break. It was difficult to get deep into the culture because of the amount of information however I feel that the points of interest that were chosen for study were critical ones in understanding the rich culture, history and tradition of these two magical places. The amazing castles and majestic countryside. The trials and tribulations of the socttish and Irish countrymen controled by vikings, normans and the english and the religious persecution. The vast numbers of sculptures and churches not to mention all of the ancient burial and worship sites. The artifacts like the Book of Kells, The Stone of Scone and the Blarney Stone. I certainly have a new appreciation for Ireland and Scottland and this class has prompted me to want to learn more about them and visit there.
