Universal Hall, Findhorn, 24 November 2012

FINDHORN’S Universal Hall was the settingfor Gaelic ‘supergroup’ Dàimh’s to launch their Ho ho ho-ro Gheallaidh’s tour.

DESCRIBED as bringing “seasonal cheer with Hymns, Carols, songs and tunes connected with Christmas, New year and Midwinter” it was certainly a night to warm the oncoming cold winter months.

Dàimh

The band – Ross Martin (guitar), Damian Helliwell (banjo and mandolin), Gabe McVarrish (fiddle) and Angus MacKenzie (pipes and whistle) – were welcomed onstage with a couple of special guests for the evening; renowned Gaelic singer Margaret Stewart and Malinky’s very own Steve Byrne. Future gigs promise guests from an equally impressive list; Kathleen MacInnes, Arthur Cormack & Griogair Ladhruibh, Calum Alex and Seonaidh MacMillan and Griogair Ladhruibh.

One of the problems of focusing on Christmas and the winter holidays, as Dàimh noted, is that there is very little traditional Scottish Christmas songs. As Christmas was generally treated as a working day the songs tended to focus more on the New Year celebrations. Equally, Scottish tunes are known to focus on the darker side of life, so stories of dead wrens and cheating lovers seemed to feature heavily throughout the set but that didn’t stop the boys finding some beautifully festive jigs and reels.

The gig started off with a spirited version of the English Carol ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ before settling into a number of Irish reels, including ‘Christmas Eve’ and ‘New Year’s Day’ before Steve joined them with some East Coast tracks, including an atmospheric rendition of the 16th century song ‘Balulalow’ as collected by Dundee’s Wedderburn brothers.

A few feisty polkas followed before Margaret joined the group for the evocative ‘Tha Sneachd’ Air Druim Uachdair’ (‘Snow on Drumochter’). The first half concluded with a fine set of Shetland tunes; the gentle ‘Christmas Day Ida Morning’ was followed by a pacey ‘Da Cold Nights of Winter’ before setting on an almost rocky tune inspired by the island’s tradition of the Skekklers.

Maybe it was because it was still relatively early in the festive season, but the Findhorn audience were a little subdued during the first half, and Dàimh as a band a little reserved (only Steve was game to wear the Christmas paper hat) but after a short break Margaret took the stage for a solo spot delivering a moving Gaelic version of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ which firmly established a festive spirit and the boys relaxed with some humorous banter.

The set list returned to Ireland for ‘The Mummers Jig’ which incorporated a number of tunes including ‘Robin’s Nest’, ‘Drops of Brandy’ and ‘The Humours of Whiskey’ before heading of to Northumberland for the reflective ‘The Midwinter Waltz’. Steve delivered a beautiful bothy ballad solo of Kirriemuir poet Violet Jacob’s ‘Hogmanay’ before joining the boys on a lively version of ‘Queen Mary’s Men’ and a set of warming strathspeys. The night wouldn’t be complete without it and the group came back on stage for an encore of the ‘Auld Lang Syne and a pipe-led version of ‘Ding Dong Merrily on High’.

‘Ho ho ho-ro Gheallaidh’ is still to tour Banchory, Skye, Stornoway, Peebles and Castle Douglas so if you are looking for a night of festive tunes and good craic then there is still time to catch the boys and their guests in the run up to Christmas.

© Billy Rough, 2012

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