Highland Ball 2011

Tis the luk of the Irish that the Scottish Ball would be hed in the Irish club.  All that drunkin Guiness and other cultural traditions putting money in those irish coffers.  We did though have a parading and addressing of a Haggas and bag pipes.






Bag pipes.  You can understand why this instrument was developed with a grant from the military.  It would have scared the #^I^%$ out of the opposition.  Especially in the confines of this room it is loud and powerful.  If ever you were to think of men in skirts as somewhat wussy then check these guys out for an unabashed demonstration of testosterone and strength.








Pre dinner drinks at the Hilton.  Quiet, gentile and very expensive.  I fortified myself for the night ahead with a coffee.

Here we are in our formal splendour.











We were seated with the band at stage left (That would be to the right on this picture).  One can philosophise on whether we were at the top table or out with the hired help.  But for musical Megan it was certainly a highlight and she got a personal lesson in a 'Bodrahn'  This is a sort of drum.  Actually for the non musical among us it is best described as a large tamborine with out the jangly bits or the salvation army chick.

There was community Dancing.  Starting with the Cumberland Reel.  A bit like bush dancing but Scottish.  I established that it is more important to keep the than to be in synch with the other people.  At one stage our set added in a bit that was not quite right and got behind.  I was all for just speeding up just a little until we were back in time with the rest of them.  However doing 5 steps in response to 4 beats was not considered right.

 Frank is a winner.  A winner!.  He won 206780th prize in the raffle and was having trouble deciding what to pick.  The genuine old band drum was gone.  So was the Bunnings voucher.  We were left with two bottles of white wine or a couple of wisky glasses.