Scottish country dance in Sisters

The squall of the bagpipes made the rafters ring at The Belfry on Saturday night, as piper Steve Allely led the Grand March that kicked off an evening of Scottish country dancing.

The evening was sponsored by the High Desert Celtic Society, which preserves and celebrates the culture of the Celtic peoples, many of whom emigrated to North America in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Ann Marland of Sisters is of Scottish heritage.

"My great-grandparents emigrated to the area around Burns and John Day - which was nothing like Scotland, of course, but it was free land," she said.

Marland has been dancing for some 30 years, and came out to Saturday's event replete with a sash representing her family tartan.

She told The Nugget that Scottish country dancing was deliberately preserved as a cultural heritage.

"There were two women in the 1930s who were afraid that the old dances would be lost," she explained.

The women traveled around Scotland "collecting" and documenting the traditional dances, some of which date back as far as the 15th century. They formed the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, and published a manual on the dances. That means that anyone, anywhere, can learn and reproduce the dances just as they were done centuries ago.

And people all over the world have done just that. Scottish country dance societies exist from Sisters to San Francisco, from Hoboken to Hong Kong.

"There are branches all over the world," Marland confirmed.

The tradition is not trapped like a dragonfly in amber, however.

"Dances are continually being written now," Marland said, "so there are modern dances, too."

Many participants are, of course, of Scottish lineage. Others simply enjoy folk dancing and for others, "it just looked like fun," Marland said. And fun it is. The High Desert Celtic Country Dancers get together each Monday night from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sons of Norway Hall in Bend to learn new dances and practice ones they know. The cost is $3 and beginners are welcome. You don't need a partner. For more information visit www.hdccd.com. For more information on the High Desert Celtic Society visit www.hdcs.net.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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