The Gaels celebrated their culture not in huge buildings or sculptures but in their songs. Their songs told the stories of the people, the land, good times and bad, love’s lost and yearned for. These songs travelled with them to a new land and new stories found their way into the songs sung to this day.

Hoireann ó Rathill iù ó (Traditional)

Mary Jane Lamond plays accordion and sings “Hoireann ó Rathill iù ó” with bandmates Wendy MacIsaac on mandolin, Cathy Porter on percussion, and Seph Peters on guitar during the Celtic Cabaret Too concert at Membertou Trade and Convention Centre (10/13/14). Wendy and Cathy sing along on the chorus and in the heat of the moment, Mary Jane actually reversed some of the lyrics, but that took nothing away from their stirring performance.

Featuring: Mary Jane Lamond and Wendy MacIsaac

 A’Bhirlinn Bharraich (Traditional, arranged by Karen Matheson and Donald Shaw)

Multi-instrumentalist Donald Shaw and singer Karen Matheson performed at the first Celtic Colours in 1997 with Scottish group Capercaillie. They returned in 2018 with Fraser Fifield on sax, Hannah Fisher on fiddle, and Sorren MacLean on guitar, enthralling the audience with their arrangement of the traditional Gaelic song “A’Bhirlinn Bharraich” during the Saturday Night at the Savoy concert at The Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay (10/6/18).

Featuring: Karen Matheson and Donald Shaw

The Puirt Set: Che Tèid e Leam a Dhannsa / Tha Bean Agam / Dòmhnall a Tighinn Gam Iarraidh (Traditional, arranged by Josie Duncan, Robbie Mackenzie, Bernadette Kellermann, Rufus Huggan, Robyn McKay, Conal McDonagh, and Jenn Butterworth)

Josie Duncan, from the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, sings a medley of traditional Gaelic songs, arranged with her Ùr: The Future of our Past bandmates during Belle Côte: The Musical Coast at the Cape Breton Highlands Academy (10/13/16). A hand-picked group of students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s traditional music degree course in Glasgow, this was the first year that Ùr featured at the Festival.

Featuring: Josie Duncan and Ùr: The Future of our Past