Hi there Ceilidh dancers. Well the new booking a ticket to the Ceilidh dance proved popular. We chose to allocate 80 tickets on line leaving 80 more for purchase at the door. The tickets went on sale online on the Monday before the dance and were “sold” out by Wednesday evening. A few then, for one reason or another, cancelled and were offered tickets for the March dance or a refund.
On the night many people turned up to but tickets at the door and when the 120 limit for the class was reached a queue was formed both of online ticket holders and others all of which bot in at 7:45 when the class ended. The maximum attendance was reached shortly thereafter alowing for the online ticketholders who had not arrived. A new queue was formed. Some online ticket holders were admitted when they arrived and the queue of roughly 24 all were admitted when people left around 9. We ended the night selling 194 tickets.
We will put 80 tickets for sale online – https://rscdsvancouver.org/events/vancouver-ceilidh-2026-mar/- at 9 am on Monday March 23. The other 80 tickets wil be sold at the door starting 6:45 on March 27. The class will likely be sold out and a queue will be formed. Going by last month most of that queue were admitted at 7:45 then a secong queue will be formed. A number of people leave before 9 pm – approximately 25 last month.
Stewart reminded me that I had missed the music from the last newsletter
Happiness is Scottish Country Dancing Bobby Brown & the Flying Scotsmen H.I.S.C.D.
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The weather has been very nice this past week or more which has allowed me to get into the garden and do some winter clean up. I have bought soil to spread aroung the yard but I first must get the area cleared So far I have filled 7 large green bins with sticks and debris from out 20 large cedar trees as well as overloading our manure pile with leaves from our neighbours large plane tree.
I am slow and after 2/3 hours I have had enough but luckily the weather cooperates. I am OK at raking it is the picking up and cutting back all the ferns that takes its toll. I am seriously considering hiring some teenagers to help me get all the soil from the large bags to the garden!!
Please pass along the website to your friends and maybe they will subscribe – www.vancouverceilidh.org
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If anyone has any suggestions or complaints regarding the newsletter please let me know – ceilidh@rscdsvancouver.org ==============================================================
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A medley
Happy Rovers Gordon Shand Cherry Blossom
Please see “Coming Events” tab for all information.
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The next Ceilidh Dance is Friday, March 27, 2026. You still have some time to spread the word about all the Ceilidh Dances as that is the best (and cheapest) form of advertising. It is great exercise and fun, for all ages, too. Note the new price – $20 (students $15)
The format for all of the regular monthly Ceilidh Dances will be the same with the class from 7 — 7:45 pm and the dance from 8 — 11 p.m. and all dances will be walked and talked through. The price is only – $20 or $15 for students which, for what you get is a super bargain — everyone is welcome. No partner is required and you should wear FLAT, comfy shoes and loose clothing. Children are also welcome but should be prepared to dance with other people as some of the dances require a change of partner. Come early as we have set maximums for the class 120 and the dance 160.
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Most seniors never get enough exercise. In His wisdom God decreed that seniors become forgetful so they would have to search for their glasses, keys and other things thus doing more walking. And God looked down and saw that it was good.
Then God saw there was another need. In His wisdom He made seniors lose coordination so they would drop things requiring them to bend, reach & stretch. And God looked down and saw that it was good.
Then God considered the function of bladders and decided seniors would have additional calls of nature requiring more trips to the bathroom, thus providing more exercise. God looked down and saw that it was good.
So if you find as you age, you are getting up and down more, remember it’s God’s will. It is all in your best interest even though you mutter under your breath.
Nine Important Facts To Remember As We Grow Older
#9 Death is the number 1 killer in the world.
#8 Life is sexually transmitted.
#7 Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
#6 Men have 2 motivations: hunger and hanky panky, and they can’t tell them apart. If you see a gleam in his eyes, make him a sandwich.
#5 Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to use the Internet and they won’t bother you for weeks, months, maybe years.
4 Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in the hospital, dying of nothing.
#3 All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
#2 In the 60’s, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird, and people take Prozac to make it normal.
#1 Life is like a jar of jalapeño peppers. What you do today may be a burning issue tomorrow.
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New-College-Quad-at-the-University-of-Edinburgh.
Thanks to Belinda we now have a presence on Instagram so you can follow us on instagram.com/vancouver.ceilidhs
https://www.instagram.com/vancouver.ceilidhs?utm_source=qr
Please check it out and make Belinda very happy!!
Glasgow accent is the sexiest!! —
And here we were thinking the American’s love of the British accent was down to the likes of Hugh Grant and Prince William.
But according to a new survey it is not the dulcet, shuffling tones of the home counties that makes the Yanks weak at the knees, but rather the gravelly melodies of the Glaswegian tongue.
British Airways polled 1,000 Americans and 1,000 Britons on their opinions on different regional accents, as well as asking them to identify varying twangs from their opposite country, and one of the resulting headlines was that a quarter of American respondents found the Scottish dialect the sexiest (this despite a fifth thinking it was actually scouse). Cockney came second, with 16 per cent of votes.
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It really is never too late to come along and join in one of many Scottish Country Dance (SCD) classes and even though all classes have started up again you will still be made welcome. Many classes have a policy that the first night is FREE! Plan to come along to try out a class next week. There are classes all around and on different nights so
GIVE IT A GO!
Go to either www.rscdsvancouver.org or www,vancouverceilidh.org for a list of class locations and times.
For those who don’t know SCD is a fabulous pastime which is super exercise for body and mind. SCD is, naturally, rooted in Scotland but there are groups in almost every country so you can learn here and then dance with other groups when you vacation or travel. SCD is not to be confused with Highland Dancing which is more solo dancing. SCD is usually done with a partner in groups or sets however you do not need to come with a partner. It is more akin to Square Dancing. It takes a year or two of classes, workshops, etc. to get the basics learnt then you can hone your skills in advanced classes. You start by learning the steps and formations. Dances (of which there are over 13,000) are made up of these formations so a good grounding will give you the ability to learn a new dance fairly quickly. SCD has its HQ in Scotland and is known as the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (RSCDS) and there is a Vancouver Branch of the RSCDS under which there are many clubs throughout the Province (there also are Branches in Victoria and Seattle). There are a great many classes and the ones in the Vancouver area are listed below. Come along — check us out — the first night is usually free and thereafter it will average about $10 a night and that’s for a 2 hour class! You will find many friendly people who will be eager to help you and welcome you to their club. You never know you actually might like it!!
Check the list of classes at either at www.vancouverceilidh.org or www.rscdsvancouver.org. Note that the latter website has the latest updates to temporary changes to times and locations
as well there are classes all up and down Vancouver Island, a number of the Gulf Islands, the Cariboo, Okanagan, etc. etc. and there are various groups all over this great Province, Country, World and who knows where else! Check the Branch website for all these details – www.rscdsvancouver.org
A painter by the name of Murphy, while not a brilliant scholar, was a gifted portrait artist.
Over a short number of years, his fame grew and soon people from all over Ireland were coming to the town of Doolin in County Clare, to get him to paint their likenesses.
One day, a beautiful young English woman arrived at his house in a stretch limo and asked if he would paint her in the nude.
This being the first time anyone had made such a request he was a bit perturbed, particularly when the woman told him that money was no object; in fact she was willing to pay up to £10,000.
Not wanting to get into any marital strife, he asked her to wait while he went into the house to confer with Mary, his wife.
In a few minutes he returned
“T’would be me pleasure to paint yer portrait, missus,” he said “The wife says it’s okay. “I’ll paint you in the nude all right; but I have to at least leave me socks on, so I have a place to wipe me brushes.”
Got to love the Irish!!
More music
Gaelic Waltzes John Ellis & his Highland Country Band A Reel Kick
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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For upcoming events see www.vancouverceilidh.org and www.rscdsvancouver.org.
Other announcements etc:
Seattle Branch – info at www.rscds-seattle.org
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The next regular monthly Ceilidh Dance will be held Friday, March 27, 2026 in the Scottish Cultural Centre, 8886 Hudson Street, (73rd & Hudson which is between Oak & Granville), Vancouver. The Ceilidh Dances are a great way to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Invite all your friends along. Contact me if you will have a group of 12 or more and we can give them a discount but only if we know in advance and they all come before 7:30!!!
What a great way to celebrate and have fun. It really is good exercise so tell all your frends to come to the next dance AND to bring their other friends, spouses, partners, etc. It only costs $20 – it is worth so much more in fun, exercise and camaraderie. Suggestions to improve our advertising are always welcome. Don’t forget to tell them about the website www.vancouverceilidh.org and get them to “subscribe” to the newsletter. Tell them to come early or boy tickets online for it is popular! Online tickets go on sale at 9 am Monday March 23 — https://rscdsvancouver.org/events/vancouver-ceilidh-2026-mar/-
We always need your support both by coming along and by helping us to advertise these dances by whatever means you use to communicate with your friends be it e-mail, Face-Book, Twitter, Text or even telephone! Most of you have been to at least one Ceilidh Dance so you know how it goes. You don’t need a partner; you don’t need any experience; you should wear FLAT soft soled shoes; we walk, talk, and call every dance and you should come to have fun and have a good evening on exercise and entertainment and maybe even to learn!
There is a FREE class from 7 — 7:45 p.m. and the dance from 8 — 10:30 p.m. with live music by Calanais.
The schedule for the 2026 season shapes up as follows:
All on Fridays of course —
2026
March 27
April 24
September 25
October 23
November 27
4th contribution
Bonnie Dundee Blackthorn Singing the Travels
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You should check the website – www.vancouverceilidh.org – from time to time as you can find various pages listing “Ceilidhs and Events;” Classes:” Duncan’s List;” etc. On these pages you can check all the upcoming events, where all the classes are located, times, etc. You should also have a look at the Vancouver Branch website from time to time – www.rscdsvancouver.org – as there is always useful information on it and it is a very good looking site.
If you have any questions regarding the Ceilidh Dances send them to me at ceilidh@rscdsvancouver.org
Please check the website – www.rscdsvancouver.org for updates, pictures and news.
Dance — it is good for your health.
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Keep sending jokes, pictures and info you wish to have included. Don’t forget to look at our web pages at www.vancouverceilidh.org
If you know of anyone who would like to be on the mailing list please send them the web address – www.vancouverceilidh.org and ask them to subscribe. If anyone has good pictures from the Ceilidh Dances please send them to me so I can put them on the web page.
Enjoy yourselves – come Scottish Country Dancing – for it is good for your health and you never know you just might …..!
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May your troubles be l, may your blessings be more,
and may nothing but happiness come through your door.
Duncan ceilidh@rscdsvancouver.org