Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
NZ-made haggis has ‘the right stuff’
Have you ever wanted to say ‘‘sla´ inte mhath’’ as you have a wee dram? If so, a ceilidh might be for you.
The Blenheim & Districts Highland Pipe Band is putting on a ceilidh (prounced kay-lee), a traditional Scottish gathering, which will include dancing, bagpipes, and of course, haggis.
Band pipe major Neil MacDonald said that although an event such as this would traditionally be held ‘‘at the end of harvest’’ back in his native home of Scotland, the band had organised an end-of-winter ceilidh to be held in the town of Renwick for the second year running.
‘‘All those who were involved [last year] had a great time,’’ MacDonald said.
A Scottish phrase he said you might hear at the ceilidh was ‘‘sla´inte mhath’’ (pronounced slanj-a-va), which in Scottish Gaelic meant ‘‘good health’’, and would usually be said before having a ‘‘dram’’, another Scottish term for a ‘‘nip of whiskey’’.
The biggest feature of the ceilidh would be the ceilidh dancing, which MacDonald said was a form of dancing that differed from Scottish highland dancing and Scottish country dancing.
‘‘They’re designed for audience participation, so people can get up, and you can learn them on the spot.
‘‘They’re actually quite easy and lots of fun,’’ he said.
MacDonald said his first experience with ceilidh dancing was while he was still at school in Scotland.
He said children were taught how to do it as part of their physical education.
‘‘It was just all part of the traditions, and through the high school years at Christmastime, we’d always have a Christmas dance, and that always had ceilidh music and dancing,’’ he said.
The event in Renwick would also feature a ‘‘haggis ceremony’’.
MacDonald said the ceremony was a demonstration where a famous poem called Address to the Haggis by Scottish poet Robert Burns would be read before the haggis was shared out to ‘‘anyone that’s brave enough to try it’’.
MacDonald said the haggis – a traditional savoury dish made from a sheep’s organs and minced with onion, spices, and other ingredients – was being made for the event by a butcher in Invercargill, but he said the Kiwi-made haggis would have ‘‘all the right stuff in there’’.
MacDonald said there would also be buffet going all night for those who didn’t fancy the haggis.
The ceilidh will be held at Renwick Community Memorial Hall tonight at 6.30pm, and tickets can be bought online at Eventbrite, at Seumus’ Irish Bar in Picton, Mitchell Sports in Blenheim and Woodbourne Tavern in Renwick.