Isle of Eigg, Scotland

Wednesday, August 04 2004 @ 07:45 am EDT

When I was in Baltimore, Ireland, I was sitting alone at a table outside and, because all the tables were full, a Scottish band called Harem Scarem sat with me. They had played at McCarthy's Fiddle Fair on the opening night, and were just relaxing and enjoying the remainder of their time there before they left the following day to go back to Scotland. They got me into the show that night and we had a great night of partying and music. I kept in touch with them throughout my travels in Ireland and met up with a couple of the members in Belfast. One of them invited me to an all-weekend party on the Isle of Eigg, off the West coast of Scotland. How could I refuse such an invitation?

I took the ferry from Belfast over to Stranraer, Scotland and then a bus up to Glasgow where I was to meet Eilidh, a member of Harem Scarem. I arrived in Glasgow in the early afternoon and called Eilidh, who was coming from Edinburgh, to find out where and when to meet. I walked down to The Victoria Pub so I knew where it was, and then wandered around downtown a bit. When I got back to 'The Vicky', I set my pack down and settled in for a drink. It is a fairly small pub, and doesn't look like much from the outside, but it is quite nice inside - my kind of pub. I got a number of odd looks from some patrons, but everyone seemed friendly enough. After I'd finished about half my pint, some musicians showed up and started a session on the other side of the bar. A little while later [the other half of my pint - plus one], Eilidh showed up with Tam and Kris and had a drink before we set out to pick up one more person. Sarah was playing with a band called Aberfeldy at a bar called Stereo, so we caught the final couple of songs and then piled into the car for the drive to Loch Awe where we were staying at Eilidh's parents's house that night.

On the way there, we stopped in at a pub in Inverary for a quick drink. It was closed, but Eilidh sweet-talked the barman into letting us have just one drink. While we were there, a older gentleman, perhaps 70 years old, took a glass of brandy, placed it on his head, and without touching it, prostrated himself on the floor. He got back up, without spilling a drop, and did a little dance before downing the drink, much to the enjoyment of everyone at the bar. Still commenting on this spectacle, we left the bar and drove the rest of the way to Loch Awe.

The next morning I awoke to an amazing view of the loch, which, of course, I couldn't see the night before when we'd arrived. We had a great little breakfast and then set out a bit late to try to make it to the ferry in time. With Eilidh driving like Michael Schumacher, we made it to the port at Mallaig, bought some supplies, and boarded the ferry to Eigg. It was quite a nice trip over and upon arrival the ferry was piped in by Donna, one of the organizers of the weekend.

The islanders, with the support of the government, bought Eigg from its owner in 1997. They celebrate its 'Independence' every year with a ceilidh, inviting several Scottish bands to come and play all night. There seems to be different versions of the events which led to the buyout and most of what I heard was from islanders, but I did read a bit in a book by a man who sailed around the Hebrides. He tells the story of a Rolls Royce that the owner had on the island that was mysteriously torched one night. None of the islanders mentioned it, though I'm sure, given the size of the island, everyone knows who did it.

Including the musicians and islanders, there were maybe a hundred or a hundred and twenty people there to join in the celebrations. Most of the people stayed in tents at a campsite set up across the bay from the pier. The weekend's main venue was a metal barn next to the tea shop, which itself was the primary spot for hot food for the weekend. Fortunately, Eilidh had arranged a place for me in a caravan [mobile-home] next to the party, so I didn't have to stay in a tent. The weather was not great - it rained a fair bit - so it was nice to have a proper roof over my head even though the party seemed to gravitate towards the caravan for some reason.

The first night almost everyone got up to dance and Sarah taught me how to 'Strip the Willow' - Orkney style. Even though it was quite fun, that was the extent of my ceilidh dancing that night. The music was great and everyone had a really good time. DJ Dolphin Boy finished the evening off with his beats, starting about 6 or 7 AM. I went to bed at some point - I know because I was asleep - only to be woken up by the party which had moved into the caravan. I got up for a little while, but eventually found a quiet spot to sleep some more.

The next afternoon there was a BBQ, which a lot of people missed because they were still sleeping. Fortunately, I got there in time for a couple of burgers followed by coffee in the tea room. Since the weather hadn't improved, the afternoon consisted of sitting in the tea room and socialising as well as seeing people off on the ferries, instead of wandering around the island in the rain. That evening, the party was in the tea room, which had converted into a little bar. Occasionally, a local poet named Aidan, who'd had one or two drinks, got up on a table to regale us with a poem or a 'joke'. The music lasted all night and again everyone had a great time.

On Monday afternoon, we took the ferry back to the mainland and Eilidh drove Tam and me back to her parents's place on Loch Awe where we stayed for the night. It was a quiet evening to say the least. Tuesday afternoon, we drove to Edinburgh, where I stayed at Eilidh's place for a few days and wandered about the city. I went to a session at The Central bar [which is now closed] with Eilidh, Tam, Kris, Sarah, and some others I'd met on Eigg. At the Central I met Michael, a well-known musician, who told me a bit about the Cambridge Folk Festival, which Inge and Martin [more musicians] had mentioned to me on Eigg. [Eventually I went to the Cambridge Folk Festival too, courtesy of Inge and Martin. Micheal was surprised to see me backstage.]

Later on in the week I met up with Inge at the refugee centre in Edinburgh to hear some Kurdish music, as well as several other bands and dancers from around the world. I then went to Pathhead, just South of Edinburgh, to stay at Inge and Martin's for a few days where I met their housemate, a guitar player named Sandy, and had a very relaxing time [and a great haggis!]. I was planning to go from there up to the Orkney Islands for a week or so, but unfortunately I had to go back to Switzerland to deal with some business. The Orkney and Shetland Islands will have to wait until the next time I'm in Scotland.

People often ask me if I get lonely while traveling alone. Sure, sometimes it's not easy, but, if you're open to it, you do meet a lot of people. I had this whole experience and met these wonderful people because I was sitting alone at a table in Baltimore, Ireland!

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