Moody Food Music

Ashbourne, Empire Ballroom

2012-02-03T11:38:00.000Z

Our annual Moody Food jaunt down to Ashbourne for their Pipe Band's Highland Fling. Luckily it was on the Friday as the heavy snow on Saturday would almost certainly kept us at home and we would have missed the fab tatties and neaps. Thanks to Rob from No Left Ear for being a roadie for the night.

The ballroom is one of my favourite halls and walking into it always feels like you are stepping back into another age with its dark wallpaper and art nouveau chandeliers dripping down from the domed ceiling. It first opened in 1912 as a cinéariety (a new word to me) where live variety acts would perform between the films and then converted to a ballroom in 1960.

The programme for the night.

The Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers

Cutting Bracken Strathspey (fiddle solo)

Ashbourne and District Pipe Band

The Gay Gordons

A Highland Welcome

Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna

The Dashing White Sergeant

The Eightsome Reel

St Bernard's Waltz

Ashbourne and District Pipe Band

Address to the Haggis

Supper of haggis, neaps and tatties accompanied by Jonathan and Jessica Whilock on Uileann and Small Pipes

The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair

The Ashbourne Fling

Pipe Major James Dungavel (pipe solo)

Prize Draw

Drops of Brandy

The Cumberland Reel

The Dashing White Sergeant

Auld Lang Syne

Awa Hame


Empire Wallpaper.

Betley Village Hall, New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T11:51:00.000Z

Happy New Year!

A new venue for our new year celebration and it was wonderful to see so many people from our Brown Edge ceilis. The Betley bell-ringers left early to ring in the New Year and we all went out to listen after singing Auld Lang Syne but couldn't hear a single chime – apparently the wind was blowing in the wrong direction! We'll be back at Betley for New Year's Eve 2013 (no, that's not a typo) – see you then.

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Circle Mixer
Daniel's Delight
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Strip the Willow
Shebeg an Shemor / Give me your Hand
Elsie's Dance
The Humours of Scariff / Some Say the Devil is Dead
A Simple Longways Set
The Seige of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Circle Waltz
The Dashing White Sergeant
Jack's Alive
Clopton Bridge
Keswick Square Eight
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's Reels
The Gay Gordons
Ashokan Farewell
The Chimes of Big Ben
Auld Lang Syne
Polka Off
Circassian Circle
Turkey in the Straw

Girls just want to have fun!

The Old Brown Jug, Newcastle-under-Lyme

2011-12-10T11:50:00.000Z

It's time to put on your festive dancing shoes, mark up your dance card and get ready to get jiggy as Christmas starts on Saturday 10 December when The Moody Food Ceili Band and caller Collin Higgs play their annual Christmas Ceili at The Old Brown Jug, 41 Bridge Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 2RY. Admission is £2 (free before 9pm) and the ceili chaos starts at 9.00pm.

Grappenhall Community Centre

2011-11-25T13:55:00.000Z

Happy Birthday Fiona!

Moody Food travelled up to Grappenhall – the posh end of Warrington – to celebrate Fiona's birthday. This was a bit of a re-match as we also played at Fiona's wedding back in 2003. The hall was filled with a forest of balloons and the children seemed to be having their own private backstage party when they weren't dancing. A great night with great food and we only managed to trip the noise meter three times.

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Patsy Geary's / Colman's Cross Jigs

The Flying Scot

The Snowball

Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie

Goatland Square Eight

The Gravel Walk / Crowley's Reel

Sylvia's Simple Longways Set

Clopton Bridge

Happy Birthday Fiona

The Siege of Delhi

The Gay Gordons

The Old Swan Gallop

Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna

Dorchester Caper

Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's Reels

Circassian Circle

Happy Birthday Fiona!

The usual suspects.

Backstage in the VIP lounge.

May I have this dance?

Meir Heath Village Hall

2011-11-19T11:06:00.000Z

Happy Birthday Dave!

After yesterday's trip to Ashbourne Moody Food were back on home territory at Meir Heath for another birthday ceili. Autumn seemed finally to have arrieved with the street lamps bathed in mist giving the journey to the hall an eery, Dickensian atmosphere.

The poster reads:

60 years of Dave. From young innocence to questionable style, an array of dodgy haircuts and tash choices, through fatherhood, fancy dress and one too many whiskeys ...

Collin's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Patsy Geary's / Colman's Cross Jigs
The Snowball
Thady U Ganda
Collin's Big Set
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Scatter Promenade
Happy Birthday Dave
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
The Gay Gordon's
Drops of Brandy
Virginaia Reel
The Gravel Walk / Crowley's Reel
Cumberland Square Eight
The Foula Reel
Cicassian Circle
The Cock o' the North

Happy Birthday Dave!

Ashbourne, Empire Ballroom

2011-11-18T09:35:00.000Z

Happy Birthday David!

This was our third trip to Ashbourne this year with Moody Food and it's beginning to feel like our second home. We've been playing at the annual Burns night bash at Ashbourne for a few years now along with the Ashbourne and District Pipe Band. David plays the bagpipes with the ADPB which explains the Saltire, tartan, and bagpipes on his cake but not the er... tractor.

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna
Shebeg an Shemor / Give Me Your Hand
The Humours of Scarrif / Some Say The Devil is Dead
Cutting Bracken Strathspey and Jig / The Connaughtman's Rambles, Love in the Morning
The Glasgow Gallop
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Canadian Barndance
Goatland Square Eight
The Flying Scot
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's Reels
The Gay Gordons
Fly Away / Turkey in the Straw / Seneca Square Dance
Waltz
Oxo Reel
The Lark in the Morning / Langstern's Pony
Circassian Circle
Auld Lang Syne

Happy Birthday David!

Holy Trinity Hall, Newcastle-under-Lyme

2011-10-22T09:55:00.000+01:00

Happy Birthday Karen!

Well this was a first – a town crier to read out a birthday eulogy – but then the hall was full of thespians. Over the years we've built up a little a ceili community and it's great when we see a familiar face amongst the dancers.Karen had been to two Moody Food birthday ceilis before and liked what she saw and decided to celebrate her 50th in the same way – great cake by the way!

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Dorchester Caper
Oxo Reel
Goatland Square Eight
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Circle Mixer
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
The Snowball
Clopton Bridge
The Gravel Walk / Crowley's Reel
Polka Off
Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle
Cock o' the North

Birthday Cake.

Thalia and Melpomene.

Food arranged for James to stage dive into.

Relax – you're only 50!

Leek Cricket Club

2011-10-15T15:17:00.000+01:00

Congratulations Sue and Brian on your Ruby Wedding Anniversary – 40 years of marriage – an achievement made all the more impressive to me as I haven't even managed one. Typically, I remembered to bring the camera but not the all important battery so we were unable unable to record the celebrations in their entirety. All was not lost as Sue came to the rescue with her iphone. Her pics are a bit lo-rez, but the grainy, arty look gives them a charm or their own. There were more, but as with the way of things, they appear to have fallen into Internet limbo.

We had a guest caller for the evening – Jason Hill from the band Alf Alfa and the Wild Oats – who calls my favourite comedy ceili dance, Salutation Square Dance. Here's Jason's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

The Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Circle Mixer
Flying Scot
Salutation Square Dance
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Caerphilly March
Cumberland Square Eight
Stoke Golding Country Dance
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Old Swan Gallop
Circassian Circle

Barlaston

2011-10-01T11:44:00.000+01:00

Happy Birthday Sam!

I suppose this must have been a barn dance rather than a ceiliwhat with all the checked shirts and cowboy hats. We had another great night of dancing and food (I'm so grateful when there's a vegetarian option to the hog roast), individual cakes for everyone, and champagne to toast the good health of the birthday girl. I even managed to persuade Mike and Sylvia to do my favourite dance – Rosa (which they call 'the cuddle dance').

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Oxo Reel
Goatland Square Eight
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Circle Hornpipe
The Flying Scot
Rosa
Happy Birthday Samantha
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Old Swan Gallop
Postman's Knock
Nordal Rumba
Strip the Willow
The Gravel Walk / Crowley's Reels
Polka Off
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's Reels
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle
Cock o' the North

A Cake for Everyone

It must have been a Barn Dance

The Old Brown Jug, Newcastle-under-Lyme

2011-09-24T08:03:00.000+01:00

Another great night with the Moody Food Ceili Band down at the Old Brown Jug in Newcastle – we had girls on a Hen Night and birthday boys all adding to the ceili chaos.

Collin's dances for your Moody Food Dance card:

Big Maggie's Set
The Snowball
Doxey Marches
Thady U Ganda
The Gravel Walks / Crowley's Reel
Falling Masonry
Virginia Reel
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Boston Tea Party
Clopton Bridge
Nordal Rumba
Cumberland Square Eight
Foula Reel
Circassian Circle
Southern Flavor


Still haven't learnt how to use a camera.

The Basket!

The Westlands, Newcastle-under-Lyme

2011-09-17T09:14:00.000+01:00

Happy Birthday Helen!

A riot of balloons, little ones doing their own thing, an epic quiz based around the number 40 and the year 1971, curry for tea and back home to hear the chimes at midnight – top!

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Circassian Circle
The Flying Scot
Goatland Square Eight
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Simple Longways Set
The Humours of Scariff / Some Say the Devil is
DeadLucky 7
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Happy Birthday Helen
The Snowball
Circle Hornpipe
Caerphilly March
Circassian Circle
Patsy Geary's Jig

New Mills, Muriel and Fred

2011-09-10T10:11:00.046+01:00

Congratulations Muriel and Fred on 50 years of marriage. It was only last year that we celebrating their son's silver wedding anniversary (you can see photos of Tim and Tracey's celebration here).

I was pleased to see that Muriel and Fred kept up the family tradition of documenting their life together through the medium of cake and that granddaughter Lucy still has the energy to skip the light fandango and turn cartwheels across the floor throughout the night.

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

The Flying Scot
Circle Hornpipe
Goatland Square Eight
Waltz (Midnight on the Water)
Old Swan Gallop
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Polka Off
Oxo Reel
Circle Waltz
Caerphilly March
Shebag and Shemor
Circassian Circle
Cock 'o the North

Whiston, Bob and Graham

2011-08-20T10:58:00.000+01:00

The end of the wedding season saw Moody Food celebrating the civil partnership of Bob and Graham at Whiston. No Mike, no Emma – so no photos. However, I did manage to get one of the cake.

Collin's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock 'o the North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Doxie Marches
Thady U Ganda
Scatter Promenade
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Boston Tea Party
Old Swan Gallop
Virginia Reel
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle

JCB Lakeside Club, Aine and Peter

2011-08-12T10:26:00.000+01:00

Ceili-disco-tastic! Moody Food travelled down to the JCB Lakeside Club and back in time to the 70s – mirror balls, disco lights, a DJ and stage lights so hot and bright that you couldn't see the dancers.

Here, just for for little Louise (who danced all night long), are Sylvia's dances for her Moody Food Dance Card:

Aine and Peter's first dance (True by Spandau Ballet)
Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Glasgow Gallop
The Snowball
Goatland Square Eight
Shebeg an Shemor / Give me your Hand
Simple Longways Set
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's Reel
The Flying Scot
Pattercake Polka
Circassan Circle

Filling in their dance cards.

Aine and Peter's wedding cake.

Long Buckby, Issy and Ian

2011-08-06T12:21:00.014+01:00

We don't usually like to travel far from home, especially when we have to use a map, but we made an exception for Issy and Ian and set off down the motorway to Long Buckby. The 'dance hall' was a little marquee in a beautiful garden – I much prefer these small, intimate, home made celebrations where everyone seems to actually know one another.

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Issy and Ian's first dance (Midnight on the Water)
The Snowball
Goatland Square Eight
The Humours of Scariff / Some Say the Devil is Dead
Strip the Willow
Clopton Bridge
Polka Off
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Circle Mixer
Waterloo Dance
Simple Longways Set
Boston Tea Party
The Gravel walks / Crowley's Reel
Lucky 7
Postman's Knock
Shebeg an Shemor / Give me your Hand
Keswick Square Eight
Cicassian Circle
Cock o' North / 100 Pipers

Issy and Ian's First Dance.

Ashbourne, Lizzy and Jimbo

2011-07-30T10:50:00.005+01:00

Another great evening in Ashbourne with Moody Food celebrating the wedding of Lizzy to Jimbo. A hot air balloon floating above the town guided us on our journey there, but it didn't stop us from getting lost once we arrived. We went around the outskirts about three times before we found the secret lane up to the Bowling Club high on the hill above the town – a perfect spot to watch the sun set. Thanks to everyone who danced through the night in spite of the heat and sorry about the Les Dawson moment at the end – Sue broke a string.

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

The Snowball
Goatland Square Eight

Strip the Willow

Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie

Polka Off

Circle Waltz

Postman's Knock

The Siege of Ennis

The Gravel Walks / Crowley's Reel

Waterloo Dance

The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair

Old Swan Gallop

Circassian Circle

The Cock 'o the North / 100 Pipers

Who caught the bouquet?

Only phenomenal self-control prevented me from helping myself to the top cake.

Checkley Community Centre

2011-07-16T09:29:00.065+01:00

This was our first time at Checkley with Moody Food and in spite of the power cuts we had a great time. The dance floor was packed right up until the witching hour and we also had some impromptu line dancing and a freestyle version of the Gay Gordons to top and tail the evening. No ceili seems to be complete without a hog roast these days – someone needs to create a vegetarian version for me. The auction raised around £1400 for the charity Breakthough Breast Cancer.

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock 'o the North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Circle Dance
The Holly Bush
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
The Siege of Ennis
Goatland Square Eight
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Polka Off
The Dashing White Sergeant
Cornish Six Hand Reel
Swedish Masquerade
The Willow Tree
Circle Waltz
The Old Swan Gallop
Circassian Circle
Cock 'o the North / 100 Pipers

Aim High, Breakthough Breast Cancer.

St Peter's Methodist Hall, Newcastle

2011-07-09T12:15:00.018+01:00

Back on home territory for a retirement party after last night's fun up in Manchester – great dancing, great food, and back home before midnight – perfect!

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock 'o the North / 100 Pipers
Dorchester Caper
Circle mixer
The Siege of Ennis
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Strip the Willow
Goatland Square Eight
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Circle Waltz
Waterloo Dance
Old Swan Gallop
The Willow Tree
Circssian Circle
Southern Flavor

English Martyr's Parish Centre, Manchester

2011-07-08T12:13:00.000+01:00

Happy Birthday Sharon!

You never really know what to expect when you turn up for a gig. As this was at the local Irish centre we were expecting an evening of Riverdance but found ourselves in the the middle of the OK Corral – pistols, cowboy hats and straw bales everywhere.

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
The Flying Scot
Sylvia's Simple Longways Set
The Oxo reel
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Happy Birthday Sharon
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Circle Dance
Caerphilly March
The Snowball
The Gravel Walks / Crowley's Reel
Heel and Toe Polka
Circassian Circle
Big Maggie's Set

The Moathouse, Stephanie and Richard

2011-07-02T10:55:00.049+01:00

A ceili to celebrate the wedding of Stephanie to Richard at the Moathouse on Festival Park in Stoke. This was the site of the old Garden Festival back in 1986 where I was one of the musicians – I wonder how many are still performing. It makes a change to have a decent sized dance floor in a hotel – they're usually just big enough for a couple of bridesmaids to shuffle around their handbags and despite it being a very hot evening we all danced the night away under a starry ceiling.

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Glasgow Gallop
The Snowball
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Goatland Square Eight
Clopton Bridge
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Sylvia's Simple Longways Set
Circle Waltz
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle

Goostrey Rose Festival

2011-06-25T09:17:00.147+01:00

Summer finally arrived on Saturday just in time for the Goostrey Rose Festival, which is like Glastonbury, but without the mud. The whole village seemed to be involved judging by the amount of bunting along the street leading us to the festival field with its marquee and maypole.

As it was such a glorious sunny evening we took time to enjoy some of the excellent food on offer – I skipped the hog roast and went straight for the pudding of chocolate gateau, strawberries and cream – before getting down to some serious dancing.

Goostrey is twinned with Elizabethfontein school in South Africa and had invited over a group of children on an exchange trip to share in the festivities. I don't know what they thought of the ceili but they seemed to be having a good time and even managed to add a few moves of their own to the dancing. Sylvia's going to use them at our next gig – perhaps not.

It was a great night and a nice surprise to meet up again with Sarah and Martin. We played for Sarah's birthday dance last year, just up the road in Marthall.

Here's Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

The Promenade
Nordal Rumba
Lake Arthur Stomp / Empty Bottle Stomp
Big Maggie's Set
The Flying Scot
The Oxo Reel
Goatland Square Eight
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Circle Hornpipe
The Snowball
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Old Swan Gallop
Circassian Circle
Southern Flavor

Marquee and maypole

Mmmmm – pudding!

The Old Brown Jug, Newcastle-under-Lyme

2011-06-18T09:58:00.012+01:00

Another night of ceili chaos down at The Old Brown Jug, including a rather literal interpretation of the Flying Scot – he ended up in Arthur's drum kit.

The Holy Inadequate, Etruria

2011-06-05T18:13:00.000+01:00

StringFing completed their June mini Etruscan tour with a gig at The Holy Inadequate. One of the most striking things about the pub (apart from the great beer and friendly staff, of course) is the huge mural painting. I thought that it looked familiar and that's because it's a copy of the album cover 'A Storyteller's Night' by Magnum.

We will be playing here regularly, so look out for dates on the StringFing facebook page.

Etruria Canal Festival

2011-06-04T16:53:00.048+01:00

StringFing were back camping in a marquee at the Etruria Canal Festival again this year. Much better weather and a scorching sun meant that I was reluctantly persuaded to leave my woolly jumper at home.

During a break in playing I bumped into Mike Fisher who takes many of the photos at my Moody Food gigs and bought a mug with one of his canal pictures. It shows Cherry Eye Bridge on the Caldon canal and the horse Badger who used to haul a narrow boat on passenger trips from Froghall Wharf during the 1980s.

Knighton Social Club Marquee

2011-05-21T11:12:00.001+01:00

A jolly jaunt for Moody Food down to Knighton to take part in the centenary celebrations of Premier Foods. The proceeds of the week-long festival of events went to worthy causes and were shared between the Midlands Air Ambulance and Help For Heroes.

Dancing was held in a marquee, with the wind doing its bets to uproot it, and with the poshest dance floor we've ever seen. The light is always interesting in marquees for it slowly fades as the evening melts into night.

We're often asked what the difference is between a ceili and a barn dance – well this was definitely a barn dance what with the straw bales, cowboy hats and checked shirts and even some impromptu line dancing. We don't need much excuse to play Bill Monroe's Southern Flavor, but tonight it felt just right.

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Behind the Haystack / Merrily Danced the Quaker's Wife
The Snowball
Goatland Square Eight
Circle Mixer
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Strip the Willow
Circle Waltz
Boston Tea Party
The Gravel Walks / Crowley's Reel
Waterloo Dance
The Willow Tree
Southern Flavor
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle
Cock o' the North

Victoria On The Square, Hanley

2011-05-07T08:15:00.001+01:00

Happy Birthday Sylvia!

This was probably the smallest dance floor that we've ever held a ceili on – we had dancers galloping up the corridors trying to find a little more space. It was so cramped that we had to do some of the dances in relays. There's an Irish tune called Round the House and Mind the Dresser which refers to the days when dances were held in homes rather than halls. We've renamed it Round the Pub and Mind the Speakers in honour of the Victoria on the Square. Thanks to Mike who was much in demand to make up the numbers and still found time to take the photos and to Tom (bass) and Arthur (drums) for halving the average age of the band.

Here are Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
The Flying Scot
Behind the Haystack / Merrily Danced the Quakers Wife
The Snowball
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Goatland Square Eight (1)
The Humours of Scariff / Some Say the Devil is Dead
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Simple Longways Set
Clopton Bridge
The Gravel Walks / Crowley's Reel
Goatland Square Eight (2)
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle
Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers

Happy Birthday Sylvia. 59 + 1 = 60.

Consall Hall, Helen and Stephen

2011-04-30T10:48:00.001+01:00

Congratulations Helen and Stephen on your wedding.

I didn't have time to look around the wonderful gardens at Consall Hall but the young crowd who came to share the day with Helen and Stephen made up for that loss with some lively and 'enthusiastic' dancing throughout the night (piggybacks in Clopton Bridge). For the man who wanted to know the names of the waltzes that we played, they were Sheebeg and Sheemore by the blind Irish harper Turlough O' Carolan (1670 – 1738) and Give me your Hand by Ruairi 'Dall' O' Cathain (c.1570 – c.1650).

Here are Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Helen and Stephen's first dance (Waltz)
The Snowball
Goatland Square Eight
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Circle Hornpipe
Orcadian Strip the Willow
Sheebeg and Sheemore / Give me your Hand
Waterloo Dance
The Willow Tree
The Cock 'o the North / 100 Pipers
Clopton Bridge
Circassian Circle
Southern Flavor

Hannah and Daniel, Rudyard

2011-04-23T10:27:00.003+01:00

Congratulations Hannah and Daniel. We remember a very little Hannah having violin lessons from Sue – how time flies. This is a very pretty venue for a wedding, looking out onto Rudyard lake (even though the drive down to it is a bit scary!)

Here are Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

The Snowball
Circle Mixer
The Siege of Ennis
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Strip the Willow
The Gravel Walks
Polka Off
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Waterloo Dance
Postman's Knock
Circle Waltz
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's Reels
The Willow Tree
Old Swan Gallop
Circassian Circle

Cossack Dancing!

This was also Emma's last gig with Moody Food before she sets off to travel around the world – good luck Em, we'll miss you. You can see what she's up to by following her blog, Roo and Emma's excellent adventure – awesome!

The Smithfield, Hanley

2011-04-16T09:11:00.053+01:00

Moody Food played at Roo and Emma's fundraising / leaving party before they leave to travel around the world volunteering on community projects in Argentina, Peru, India, Nepal and just about everywhere in between. The evening raised around £400 to give to the charities they visit. You can follow their progress across the world on their blog, Roo and Emma's awfully big adventure. Good luck to the both of you.

Northwood Parish Hall

2011-04-15T07:18:00.085+01:00

A magical evening with the Growing Hearts and Minds Project at Northwood Parish Hall celebrating the turning of the seasons and the arrival of spring.

It all started with a lantern procession through Northwood park and ended up at the parish hall which was decorated with banners and lanterns. Here we had some wonderful food and were entertained with a shadow story, a rather strange ritual involving banging a nail into a man's head (don't try that at home), and the arrival of the snow bear to sweep away the winter – and everyone went home with a vegetable patch box of seeds.

Music was provided by a scratch band comprised of guitar, bass, ukulele, mandolin, fiddle, harmonica, percussion and vocals which performed songs written at a series of songwriting workshops run by Aidan and Steve.Two songs were written by young people from the Changes music group – Rattle, Hum and Strum! – which is how I became involved. We wrote down things we liked about living in Stoke and Aidan knocked them into shape to produce a song. This is what we came up with – Aidan's version was sung to a three chord rockabilly chugalug beat whilst Mary's was slow and dreamy.

It's No Joke, Living In Stoke (Aiden's version)

Morning duck, your dog's looking funny

Can you spare a bit of cash can you give a bit of money
For a big issue seller who's down on her luck
Thanks a million, morning duck
It's no joke when you're living in Stoke
And you can't pay the bills when you're stony . . . broke

The smog has gone, the jobs have too
We import china for the loo
Armitage Shanks isn't quite so flush
Doulton's winged it and Wedgewood's dust
Canals have dried up there ain't no barges
We just keep paying the community . . . charges

Chorus:
Do we recognise the faces, do we recognise the names?
Does the story change or does it stay the same?
Does the story change?
Or do we let it stay the same?

Stanley Matthews is smiling down
On the square with no fountain in the middle of the town
The Reginald Mitchell makes a pretty penny
Never was so much drunk by so many
The statues in the streets look pretty flash
But where is Lemmy and where is . . . Slash?

Chorus

If you ever plan to cycle west
Go round Forest Park, that's the best
Down the Trent and Mersey and the Caldon Canal
Cycle real quick or cruise dead slow
Eat those butties when you're rolling back
But don't get knackered . . . with a flat

Chorus

It's No Joke, Living In Stoke (Mary's version)

Memories all around in this great town
Which turns our frowns upside down
From Sir Stanley Matthews to the pits
From the past to the present and the other bits

It's not a joke living in Stoke
All the people are full of hope
Some are happy some are chatty
Some are funny some have money

From pubs to clubs
From parties to outings
Stoke is great
Even with all the shouting

Big issue man outside M&S
Sentinel man with his little nest
Loss of jobs, loss of money
But at least in Stoke it's always homely

It's not a joke . . .

Keele University

2011-04-13T11:15:00.007+01:00

Ceili Crystallographers! Another conference gig at Keele, this time for the British Crystallographic Association. Funny that it always seems to be scientists who book us – doesn't anyone in the humanities like to have a bit of a bop?

Here are Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Glasgow Gallop
Goatland Square Eight
Strip the Willow
The Siege of Ennis
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Postman's Knock
Polka Off
Circle Waltz
Old Swan Gallop
Circassian Circle

Whitmore Village Hall

2011-04-02T12:13:00.012+01:00

Happy Birthday Margaret!

We haven't played at Whitmore for some time so it was nice to be back, especially on such a beautiful spring evening, with blossom everywhere. You really know that the season is turning when you turn up to a gig in daylight. Hog roasts seem to be very popular these days – I wonder if anyone does a vegetarian option :-)

Here are Collin's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Thady U Ganda
La Russe
The Humours of Scariff / Some Say the Devil is Dead
Oxo Reel
The Siege of Delhi / The Earls's Chair
Bill's Polka
The Bridge of Athlone
Old Swan Gallop
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Virginaia Reel
Boston Tea Party
The Foula Reel
Cumberlnd Square Eight
Happy Birthday Margaret
Circassian Circle

Happy Birthday Margaret

The Old Brown Jug, Newcastle-under-Lyme

2011-03-26T07:23:00.000Z

Thankfully everyone had recovered from their St Patrick's Night hangovers just in time to put on their dancing shoes, mark up their dance cards and to jig-a-jig the night away with Moody Food – and we had four birthdays to celebrate as well. See you all again in June.

Collin's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Big Maggie's Set
The Snowball
Thady U Ganda
Uncle Albert's
The Gravel Walk / Crowley's Reel
Oxo Reel
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's Reels
Nova Scotia
Old Swan Gallop
Virginia Reel
Cumberland Square Eight
Happy Birthday Ann Marie /Sean / Emma / Marion
Circassian Circle
Southern Flavor

Keele Postgraduate Association, St Patrick's Night Eve

2011-03-16T11:15:00.003Z

StringFing's Eve of St. Patrick’s Hootenanny at the KPA at Keele. We were otherwise engaged at our regular monthly gig at the New Inn in Hanley so Spike decided to inaugurate a new festival into the ritual calendar – long may it remain.

Gradbach Mill, Natalie and Nick

2011-03-12T08:57:00.013Z

This Saturday saw us up at Gradbach Mill in the Staffordshire Moorlands for the belated wedding celebrations of Natalie and Nick. This was all supposed to take place in December last year, but due to heavy snow the narrow lanes became impassable and it all had to be cancelled at the very last minute.

Nevertheless, it was a brilliant idea to hire the youth hostel at Gradbach and to celebrate their wedding by having a bit of a jig with their friends. These intimate dances always seem to have a special quality that's often missing in larger, more formal celebrations – there's a real feeling that you are among friends and that everyone actually knows each other!

Natalie and Nick will be off soon to Fiji for three years which explains all the grass skirts, Hawian shirts and garlands of flowers. Emma will be there later on this year, so perhaps you will all meet up again!

Here are Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Natalie and Nick's first dance (Midnight on the Water)
The Snowball
Goatland Square Eight
Strip the Willow
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Circle Mixer
Postman's Knock
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Waterloo Dance
The Willow Tree
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's Reels
Polka Off
Old Swan Gallop
Clopton Bridge
Circassian Circle
Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers

Free-form ceili chaos!

Cauldon Village Hall

2011-03-05T04:57:00.002Z

The next Moody Food Ceili will be at Cauldon Village Hall on Saturday 5 March to raise funds for First Responders who deal with 999 calls and the amblance service.

Tickets are £10 (under 10's £3) and include a pie and pea supper and will be available on the door. For further information contact Tim Batey 07545 501895 or email wcfrevents@gmail.c3

Caverswall Castle, Anouska and Tim

2011-02-21T13:51:00.002Z

Unfortunately this was probably our last wedding dance at Caverswall Castle which is a pity as it was a great venue even though the dance floor was very small. Roaming around the rooms upstairs provided a pleasant diversion between dances, although they didn't always offer jenga and twister!

Here are Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Anouska and Tim's first dance (Let's Stay Together)
Oxo Reel
Goatland Square Eight
The Humours of Scarrif
The Snowball
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Circle Hornpipe
Circle Waltz
Waterloo Dance
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Postman's Knock
Stoke Golding Country Dance
Shebag an Shemor / Give me your Hand
Simple Longways Set
The Gravel Walks / Crowley's Reel
Polka Off
Circassian Circle

Jenga!

Ashbourne, Empire Ballroom

2011-02-11T12:18:00.003Z

Bagpipes, kilts, haggis, neaps and tatties – it must be the annual Burns Night bash in Ashbourne again.

The programme for the night.

Behind the Haystack / Merrily Danced the Quaker's Wife

The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair

Cutting Bracken / The Connaughtman's Rambles / My Love in the Morning

Ashbourne and District Pipe Band

The Gay Gordons

A Highland Welcome

Ashbourne Scottish Dance Club

The Dashing White Sergeant

Eightsome Reel

Ashbourne and District Pipe Band

Address to the Haggis (Warwick Adams)

Supper accompanied by Jonathan and Jessica Whilock on Uileann and Small Pipes

Drum Salute

Ashbourne Fling

Robert Burns' poetry (Warwick Adams)

The Dashing White Sergeant

Pipe Major James Dungavel

Prize Draw

Cumberland Reel

Drops of Brandy

Auld Lang Syne

Awa Hame

Great chieftan o' the pudin-race!

Keele University

2011-02-04T14:55:00.010Z

A little jaunt down memory lane for most of the band as we returned to Keele for the retirement ceili of Prof Peter Croft (I've no idea as to the significance of the number 7). The food was fantastic and the the old Horwood refectory, or the Ballroom as it's now known, unrecognisable to the alumni in the band (I'm sure Keele is only too pleased to know that I've made such a success of my life).

Here's Collin's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Behind the Haystack / Merrily Danced the Quaker's Wife
The Snowball
Thady U Ganda
The Gay Gordons
Lucky 7
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Nova Scotia
Clopton Bridge
Virginia Reel
Old Swan Gallop
Foula Reel
Cumberland Square Eight
Circasian Circle
The Cock o' the North

Haughton Village Hall

2011-01-29T12:27:00.001Z

This is turning into quite a regular dance for us which we like as we always get looked after well with great food. It also mysteriously seems to always coincide with a birthday – so Happy Birthday Ken!
Nice to see some proper waltzing for a change, rather than the usual aimless shuffling around the dance floor :-)

Here are Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Haddenham Square Eight
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Strip the Willow
Circle Waltz
Oxo Reel
Happy Birthday Ken
The Siege of Delhi / The Earls Chair
Boston Tea Party
Swedish Masquerade
The Barley Reel
Waterloo Dance
Shebag an Shemore / Give me your Hand
Cornish Six Hand Reel
Polka Off
Southern Flavor
The Gay Gordons
Old Swan Gallop
The Circassian Circle
Patsy Geary's Jig

Happy Birthday Ken!

Gorton Monastery, Manchester

2011-01-09T12:52:00.008Z

A little Sunday jaunt for StringFing up to the magnificent Pugin designed Gorton Monastery in Manchester. We were there for the annual poetry competition arranged by Adoption Matters Northwest. As this year's theme was of 'belonging' we performed a song of Terry's commissioned for the event – We Belong Together. We also played a set of traditional English tunes which made a pleasant change from the frantic Irish and bluegrass tunes I normally play. It was a joy to play in such beautiful surroundings with a huge natural reverb (makes a change from the pub).

The photo above shows StringFing (honest!) sitting behind a curtain of poets ready to launch into an encore of 'We Belong Together'.

New Year's Eve, Brown Edge Village Hall

2010-12-31T16:13:00.006Z

Happy New Year!

Thanks to everyone who came to see in the New Year with Moody Food, especially Neil from Jigsmith for coming all the way from Shropshire for a bit of a bop. You all helped us to raise £400 for the Douglas Macmillan Hospice.

We all had a great time (I especially liked the ceili conga at the end) and even managed to fix the raffle so that Emma won first prize – a first for the band. We were also treated to Victoria dancing a solo Irish reel with Sue playing the Nine Points of Roguery, otherwise known as The Nine Pints of Pedigree which is what we usually have to drink before attempting to play it. Also, thanks to Mike and Warren for taking the photos and to Roo and Indie for guarding the door by being cute.

It looks like this will be our last time at Brown Edge for some time as we will be seeing in the next new year at Betley – see you all there!

Here are Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Sylvia's Simple Longways Set
Drops of Brandy
Dorchester Caper
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Haddenham Square Set
Old Swan Gallop
The Barley Reel
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's Reels
The Dashing White Sergeant
The Siege of Ennis
Jack's Alive
The Weaving Dance
Polka Off
Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna
The Gay Gordons
The Chimes of Big Ben
Auld Lang Syne
The Circassian Circle
The Siege of Delhi / The Earls Chair

Fix!

Indie, the Zen guard dog.

Thanks for raising £400 for the DMH.

The Old Brown Jug, Newcastle-under-Lyme

2010-12-11T14:25:00.002Z

Christmas started early at Moody Food Towers when Wendy and the Lost Boys came down for a Christmas Ceili The Old Brown Jug. Look out for more Moody Food gigs at the jug in the new year!

Here's Collin's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Big Maggie's Set
The Snowball
Thady U Ganda
Uncle Albert's
Boston Tea Party
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's Reels
Nova Scotia
Clopton Bridge
Virginia Reel
Old Swan Gallop
Falling Masonry
The Foula Reel
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair

Betley Village Hall

2010-11-20T12:06:00.024Z

Another sell-out show at Betley, this time with added morris dancing! Thanks again to Tom for taking time off from rioting in London to play bass for us whilst James was knob-twiddling for Peter Pan at the New Vic in Newcastle (it's fantastic by the way). Looks like we will be celebrating New Year's Eve 2011 here in Betley, so put it in your diary now.


Clean Round the Bend Morris Side

The Ashes, Angela and Andrew

2010-11-07T11:25:00.061Z

Congratulations Angela and Andrew from the Moody Food Ceili Band.

An autumn day meant that we arrived in darkness so that the beautiful stone work of the old farm buildings and the lake below were hidden from view, but it's a pity that the dance floor is so out of character with the rest of the buildings. The strings of fairy lights on the trees outside made up for this, reminding me that Christmas is not far away and we had a very enthusiastic and lively set of dancers – nice to see so many young men sufficiently in touch with their feminine side.

Here are Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card.

Angela and Andrew's first dance (Heaven by Bryan Adams)
The Snowball
Circle Hornpipe
Cumberland Square Eight
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
The Flying Scot
Lucky 7
The Oxo Reel
Strip the Willow
Postman's Knock
Circassian Circle
Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers

The main hall taken from the gallery and bar above the dancing area.

Keele Postgraduate Association, Ghoulies Ball

2010-10-29T12:48:00.240+01:00

'When the full moon shines

On the village green
And ancient chimes
Strike thirteen . . .'

It was a bit early, I know, but I celebrated Halloween performing with StringFing at the Ghoulies Ball in the KPA up at Keele University. There were lots of pumpkins, witches and skeletons abroad and Terry and Emily got into the spirit of things by blowing the gig money on face paints from the Pound Shop. Emily changed into a witchy thing whilst Terry resurrected his Heymaker persona. For some reason neither of them thought that I required any modifying to get into character and that a cheap suit and a general demeanour of melancholia was horrific enough. The lack of a camera protects us all from the judgment of posterity.

Spike was AWOL as his son Doug had a play, Life Support, being staged at the Royal Theatre in York and, unaccountably, Spike preferred to be up there with him rather than with us. If York is too far away, you can catch the play at the KPA on Wednesday 10 November.

These days Halloween is not so much a Celtic festival when 'the summer goes to its rest' but a triumph of consumerism as it is has become the third biggest money-spinning festival after Christmas and Easter. For a gigging musician the ritual year can be both a blessing and a curse – bookings on these feast days, like buses, tend to come in threes. Only a musician can truly understand the trauma of refusing a gig, and thus money, because you are already booked.

It was well past the witching hour when I got home but the weird sisters were nowhere to be seen.

Moreton Millennium Centre, Shropshire

2010-10-16T15:35:00.209+01:00

We set off westwards into a beautiful autumn sunset which made the whole world look like a watercolour painting. I love travelling to gigs in the country at this time of the year. You can feel your consciousness shifting as you leave the town behind you; the light darkens and the lanes become narrower and narrower an everything becomes mysterious and exciting as if you are in a Samuel Palmer painting.

This was our second gig with Cate calling and she brought along lots of new dances again, mostly written by Cate herself, except for 'Wits Alive' which was by Hilda Evans. 'Turntable' was fantastic, with a great spinning figure for the couples and there were some new moves I've not heard of before such as the Californian twist, Becket's formation and the pousette which is posh for pushing and pulling your partner about.

It was a great night but I think a special mention should be made of Chris who organised the dance for STAG and spent most of the night in the kitchen sorting out the food whilst her husband danced the night away. Oh, did I mention – it was also their Wedding Anniversary! He doesn't deserve you Chris ;-)

Here are Cate's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Ceili Cate's Circle Mixer
Cate's No.2
Great Western Four Step
Discouraging Waltz
Turntable
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Yarmouth Long Set
Goatland Square Eight
Stoke Golding
Wits Awake
Circassian Circle

Are you sure this is right?

The curse of the sound meter strikes again.

Meerbrook Village Hall

2010-10-09T10:44:00.035+01:00

Happy Birthday Wendy!

I have a little confession to make. I nearly made a terrible faux pas during the evening. After we had set up for the gig I noticed an artfully constructed pyramid of pretty cup cakes by the entrance. How considerate of Wendy and Maria to provide a little snack for their guests as they arrived I thought. Well you know how awkward that period between tea and supper can be, when only something sweet will do. I was about to help myself to one or three when I remembered that treacle sponge and custard was on offer later and so with heroic self control I refrained. I was very glad that I did because during the singing of Happy Birthday I realised that the pyramid was the birthday cake as it was ceremoniously brought into the hall for Wendy to blow out her candles. Sorry about that.

Anyway, moving swiftly on, here's Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Circle Mixer
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Siege at the OK Corral
Great Western
Southern Flavor
Old Swan Gallop
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Circle Waltz
Oxo Reel
Shebag an Shemor / Give me your Hand
Barndance
Strip the Willow
Circassian Circle
Happy Birthday Wendy

The Old Brown Jug, Newcastle-under-Lyme

2010-09-18T09:16:00.001+01:00

Eeek! I think I've gone deaf after standing in front of James' wall of sound for three hours (he was on eleven all night). Still, it make a change to play The Gravel Walks without the worry of being asked to turn down. Thanks to everyone who put on their glad rags and dancing shoes to get jiggy at another night of ceili chaos at the Jug. We even got a few bemused clubbers dancing. Thanks to Soo for taking all the photos.

Here's Collin's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Big Maggie's Set
The Snowball
Thady U Ganda
Up the Sides and Down the Middle
The Gravel Walks / Crowley's Reel
La Russe
Clopton Bridge
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Nova Scotia
Collin's Alcoholic Haze no.1
Collin's Alcoholic Haze no.2
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Falling Masonry
Strip the Willow
Circassian Circle

Coven Memorial Hall

2010-09-11T17:28:00.105+01:00

Congratulations Tim and Tracey on your Silver Wedding Anniversary. What better way to celebrate twenty-five years together than with family and friends? As there were so many 'little ones' in the hall Sylvia decided top and tail the night with the Circassian Circle so that all the children could have a go at a really easy dance early in the night.

Emma brought along her new puppy, Indiana Bones, as the Moody Food mascot. He quickly made friends with everyone and was a very well behaved boy even though he did somehow manage to blag a bit of hog roast (don't expect that every gig, Indie). I on the other hand went straight for the cakes and after an eternity of dithering finally selected a Victoria sponge – bliss. Speaking of cakes, we get to see quite a few at gigs but this one takes some beating. It was too nice to cut other than a single slice for the photos of Tim and Tracy.

Here's a list of Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

The Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
The Circassian Circle
The Flying Scot
The Siege of Ennis
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Circle Hornpipe
Oxo Reel
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Orcadian Strip the Willow
Sylvia's New Invention Hornpipe
Waterloo Dance
Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna
The Willow Tree
The Circassian Circle

2010-09-02T12:39:00.000+01:00


StringFing at Neston Library.

A jolly jaunt with StringFing up to Neston library on the Wirral for a bit culture amongst the books. We usually play in pubs, so it makes a nice change playing for people who are actually listening.

We were supported on the night by the rather wonderful, and frighteningly young, Red Voix – a family band formed especially for a GMTV competition.

According to the poster in the library this was a "toe-tapping fusion of traditional Celtic, English rural, classical, blues and rock and pop to get you going on a late summer evening" – so pretty much all tastes covered there! Anyway, this was the set list for the night:

Champion of the World
Down on Poison Farm
Winsford Town
Ram Yer Spike
Ballad of Francis Adams
Sad Song (Something Wrong)
Priest and the Witch
Exile’s Song
On A New Years Day
That Love of Mine
I Want You
Pity the Poor, Poor Pig
Talking Revolution
Big Pearl

Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival

2010-08-28T11:57:00.027+01:00

Woke up this morning and it was pouring with rain. StringFing back on the street at the Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival. We haven't played on the street since our busking days but we've moved on up in the world and now have a nice green gazebo thing to keep us dry. Thanks to everyone who braved the showers to listen to us. We're going to be inside next year!

NORSACA, Hanley

2010-08-09T12:51:00.126+01:00

A short set from StringFing at the North Staffs African Caribbean Association (NORSACA) in Hanley as part of the artists' collective No Left Ear which promotes artistic and cultural projects between the cities of Stoke-on-Trent, Gdansk and Le Havre.

Our rather surprising link with Gdansk goes back to 1995 when an early incarnation of StringFing (then called 'Set The Milkmaids Free') went to Gdansk for a week of gigs. As far as I can recall we were paid in goldwasser (Polish vodka with little bits of gold floating in it), so memories are a little hazy but I do remember playing at The Bohemian Club. To gain access you had to go up some narrow stairs and knock on the door at the top at which point the gate master would peer through a spyhole and if he thought you looked sufficiently 'bohemian' would let you in.

I don't remember playing on Radio Arnet during the 1995 election but the photo below says that we did. In spite of our best efforts Lech Walesa lost the election – probably because of this broadcast.

Rosehill Manor, Claire and Paul

2010-08-07T10:51:00.163+01:00

Congratulations Claire and Paul from all in the Moody Food Ceili Band.

We had another guest caller tonight to guide everyone through the dances, Jeff – an old pal and alumnus from the New Victoria Theatre – who brought with him a few new dances and a couple of different versions of some old favourites. I especially liked Jeff's instruction to 'clap, leap, and whoop with joy' in the Circassian Circle, which is how I think it should be done. There was also a determined effort from the floor to morph the Holmfirth Square Eight into the Hokey Cokey – probably from the same group who were to later give an impromptu and 'enthusiastic' acapella version of 'I Will Survive'.

As there was no stage and the band was so close to the dancing we had the unusual sense of being in amongst the dancers which probably explains why Sue's bow and assorted mic stands feature so heavily in the photos. It also allowed me to overhear one young lad emphatically rationing his mum to a single dance – bless. The girls, of course, needed no excuse to get up and dance the night away.

Here are Jeff's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

The Muffin Man
Caledonian Gallop
Cumberland Gallopede
Jeff's Virginia Reel
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Buffalo Girls
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Holmfirth Square Eight
Buttered Peas
Maggie's Mixer
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's reels
Circassian Circle

The Mohican is back!
Those of you who have been following the fortunes of Tom's Mohican haircut will be gladdened to know that reports of its demise last week have been greatly exaggerated and that it has now been restored to its former glory. We're all waiting for you to dye it shocking pink now.

Sandbach, Sophie and Gary

2010-07-31T09:51:00.108+01:00

Congratulations Sophie and Gary from all in the Moody Food Ceili Band.

We had a new guest caller tonight – Mo Waddington – who was very sweet and brought along with her some new dances. I had never heard of 'The Road to the Aisle' which had a wedding story to go with it, and it was lovely that Mo chose Rosa, a beautiful couple dance, for Sophie and Gary's first dance together.

Highlight of the night was Sophie stepping up to the mike with her tin whistle to rip through a blistering set of reels, The Mason's Apron and Drowsy Maggie, whilst the band struggled to keep up with her (well, it is bad form to upstage the bride).

Here's a list of Mo's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

The Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers

Rosa

The Road to the Aisle

Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie

Blaydon Races

Gallopede

The Gay Gordons

The Humours of Scarrif / Some Say The Devil is Dead

The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair

The Barley Reel

Yankee Doodle Dandy

The Mason's Apron / Drowsy Maggie

Circassian Circle

The Grosvenor Centre, Gnosall

2010-07-17T15:32:00.092+01:00

Congratulations Storm on 'twenty-five wonderful years'.

Another gig, another guest caller. Tonight it was Jason who was wearing a very snazzy shirt which he bought in Nashville, which seems a very long way to go for a shirt. Anyway, we like Jason calling as we get to do the Salutation Square Dance which we think really ought to be danced to the Benny Hill theme tune Yakety Sax – we'll get around to learning it one day.

In fact there's more than a little of Benny Hill in Jason's style of calling. This is how he checks that the top and bottom couples know which is which – 'Hands up tops' followed inevitably by 'Hands up bottoms' – no sniggering at back please.

In spite of that it was another top night with lots of banter from the dancers, loads of posh nosh for the band and a hog roast which seems to be present at nearly every gig we do these days. There was also a very sweet moment whilst we eating together in an empty side room before the gig; a little boy came in looking worried and asked us in a very concerned way if we were feeling lonely eating on our own. We assured him that we were all OK, but it was nice of him to ask.

Here's a list of Jason's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Behind the Haystack / Merrily Danced the Quaker's Wife
Jason's Big Set
Flying Scot
Salutation Square Dance
Barley Reel
Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna
Cumberland Square Eight
Stoke Golding Country Dance
Old Swan Gallop
Circassian Circle

On a sadder note, Gnosall is where our friend, the guitarist and singer, John Clifton came from; he wrote a lot of fine songs and we all miss him very much.

Quixhill Lodge Farm

2010-07-16T13:31:00.065+01:00

There are barns and then there are really BIG barns. In fact everything about the night was big from the barn to the tractor and trailer that acted as our stage. Besides the dancing we had a hog roast and a charity auction and raffle with the money raised going to the 'Reaching Out to Children in Staffordshire' appeal. This will be used to build a centre in Stafford to help vulnerable young people at risk of cruelty. The building will be an environmentally-friendly, purpose built centre that will offer all of the NSPCC's specialist services under one roof and will be accessible to every young person across Staffordshire.

Here are Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Oxo Reel
Goatland Square Eight
Clopton Bridge
Postman's Knock
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Old Swan Gallop
Orcadian Strip the Willow
Polka Off
Circassian Circle

Here's a bit of LoFi video of the Goatland Square Eight,

and a big yellow tractor for Finn.

Marthall Village Hall

2010-07-03T10:37:00.068+01:00

Happy Birthday Sarah and well done Martin for arranging such a fun evening. The food was great and everyone danced even though it was a very hot evening. By the time we arrived the kids seemed to be experiencing a sugar rush – they were obviously having a good time and the huge dancing ballon man was very popular. Tonight was also the first outing with the Moody Food Ceili Band of Tom's Mohican – keep up the good work Tom, you're only young once.

Here's a list of Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food dance card.

Behind the Haystack / Merrily Danced the Quaker's Wife
Glasgow Gallop
The Snowball
Happy Birthday Sarah
Circle Hornpipe
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Orcadian Strip the Willow
Goatland Square Eight
Postman's Knock
Polka Off
Midnight on the Water / Valse Vienna
Old Swan Gallop
Cock o' the North

Tittensor, Anthea and Mike

2010-06-28T15:05:00.000+01:00

Congratulations Anthea and Mike. What a wonderful way to celebrate your wedding – set up a marquee in a hayfield on a beautiful summer's evening and dance the night away – your very own Glastonbury. When we arrived Anthea mentioned that she might be the only one dancing, but she needn't have worried as we had a good crowd for every dance even though one chap insisted on clinging onto his beer throughout them all. As the light thickened and the shadows lengthend the 'polka dot sisters' and their friends shouted for more at every break whilst their mums and dads chilled out on the grass outside. Children just love to dance. We left happy and content under a yellow moon and with the sweet smell of newly cut hay lingering in the night air.

Here's a list of Steve's dances for those of you who kept your dance cards and would like to fill them in as a keepsake.

Behind the Haystack / Merrily Danced the Quaker's Wife
Lovers' Knot
Cumberland Long Eight
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Lucky 7
Circle Waltz
Ashokan Farewell
Happy Birthday
Square Set
Southern Flavor
Drops of Brandy
Shebag an Shemor / Give me your Hand
Barndance
Circassian Circle
Cock o' the North

Wolstanton, Barbara and Steve

2010-06-19T14:36:00.057+01:00

Happy Birthday Barbara and Steve. Was it really 10 years ago that we all met here to celebrate your 50th birthday? How time flies.

This time around we came to help you 'strut your stuff at 60', Victoria sang about her big knickers and we all sang along to Delilah and Leaning on a Lamp Post to the gentle strum of a ukulele. In between dances we ate Hazel's amazing choclate cakes whilst the young at heart blew bubbles. Thanks to everyone for making it such a great night, and well done the little girl with a butterfly in her hair for dancing so enthusiastically all night long. Thanks also to Mike for taking the photos and a special thanks to Richard for depping for 'super drums' aka Emma.

Here's Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Southern Flavor
The Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Oxo Reel
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Circle Mixer
Clopton Bridge
Waltz Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna
Orcadian Strip the Willow
Siege of Ennis
Happy Birthday
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Dave Hunt's Gallop Dance
Sicilian Circle Hornpipe
The Willow Tree
Waltz Shebag an Shemor / Give Me Your Hand
Keswick Square Eight
Circassian Circle

Etruria Canal Festival

2010-06-06T15:52:00.012+01:00

Two days for StringFing in a marquee at the Etruria Canal Festival along with fellow musicians Andy Casserley and Michelle Martin. I love playing in marquees in summer – it's a bit like camping, what with the smell of grass and canvas, but without all the fuss of putting up a tent. A heavy shower on the Sunday afternoon ensured that we got a good audience for the last set as the entire festival sought shelter.

Caverswall Castle, Sarah and Geoff

2010-06-04T14:42:00.057+01:00

Congratulations to Sarah and Geoff on your wedding.

After Sarah and Geoff danced their first dance to 'Gin Soaked Boy' by The Divine Comedy we had a short and sweet set of ceili dances. It was fierce hot inside and we were not allowed to open the windows – well you know how loud and raucous these ceili bands can be. Thanks to Martin D'Arcy for depping on fiddle for Sue – it was the first time Milly had played a gig without Sue in twenty-five years.

Here's Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Oxo Reel
Goatland Square Eight
Orcadian Strip the Willow
Circle Mixer (Blaydon Races)
Waterloo Dance
Old Swan Gallop

The Old Brown Jug, Newcastle-under-Lyme

2010-05-22T10:21:00.011+01:00

Thanks to everyone who came along and made our first gig at the Jug such a great night. See you all again in September.

Here's a list of Collin's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Big Maggie's Set

The Snowball

The Gravel Walks / Crowley's Reels

Strip The Willow

Thady U Ganda

The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair

Doxie Marches

Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie

Nova Scotia

Cumberland Square Eight

Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter's / Cooley's Reel

Circassian Circle

Cock o' the North /100 Pipers

Great Bridgeford Village Hall

2010-05-15T11:30:00.089+01:00

Happy birthday Sam – we hope your party wasn't too much of a surprise.

It's always fun to play with a new caller and tonight we had Cate Bannister who brought along lots of new dances and fancy moves like 'threading the needle' and the 'star lady's chain' (same old tunes though). My favourite was Billy's Hornpipe with its 'reel of four' but we also had a fantastic and spotaneous reworking of Circassian Circle with a little girl at the centre of the circle and the women rushing in to tickle her and the men roaring like monsters. She probably had nightmares that night. Other than that all I can remeber is a lot of balloons and a mysteriously floating coke can. Bishy Barnabee is a southern name for a ladybird by the way.

Here are Cate's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Falling Masonry
Holmfirth Square Eight
The Snowball
Wooly Jumper
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Billy's Hornpipe
Drops of Brandy
Happy Birthday
Bishy Barnabee
Square Dance
Boston Tea Party
Wring Out The Dishrag
Circassian Circle

Brown Edge Village Hall, June and John

2010-05-01T20:26:00.001+01:00

Congratulations to June and John on your belated wedding party.

With a hall full of ceili virgins, some tottering around on vertigo inducing heels (swiftly abandoned), ceili chaos ruled the dance floor, but there was to be no supper until everyone had got up and danced. John confessed that although he'd been to many a barn dance he had never actually participated before – we hope it won't also be the last time! So, well done everybody for giving it a go and well done little Lewis for managing to dance The Snowball with his Dad.

Here's Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

The Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Glasgow Gallop
The Snowball
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Goatland Square Eight
Old Swan Gallop
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Clopton Bridge
Orcadian Strip the Willow
Waltz Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna
Simple Longways Set (Nova Scotia)
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's Reel
Circassian Circle

Lewis relaxes with a pint after mastering The Snowball.

Yes!

No!

Carden Park

2010-04-30T15:28:00.009+01:00

Another first for the Moody Food Ceili Band, this time to Carden Park in Cheshire for a Vertu Car Dealer Conference – the scrappage scheme obviously worked. We had a long wait from setting up to the first dance but the staff looked looked after us well with food and drink – pasta for the veggies and cottage pie for everyone else. The dance hall had a eerie indigo hue but it didn't stop everyone having a bit of a bop.

Collin finally came clean about the origins of the dance Nova Scotia which he had always claimed to have written whilst flying over Canada but, as Sue noticed last week, it is in fact the same as Sylvia's traditional simple longways set. Never believe anything Collin says.

And for those of you who did, here are Collin's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card.

The Cock o' the North / 100 pipers
The Snowball
Doxie Marches
Thady U Ganda
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Nova Scotia
Clopton Bridge
The Gay Gordons
Waltz Shebag an Shemor / Give Me Your Hand
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle

A beautiful bright moon shrouded in clouds to guide us home.

The Ashes, Rosie and Robbie

2010-04-25T14:10:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to Rosie and Robbie on their wedding at The Ashes.

We like playing here – the stone buildings of the old farm set on the side of the hill above the lake make for a very tranquil setting. The evening had a very Scottish flavour with kilts and bagpipes and as usual it was the little ones who kept dancing the whole night through whilst the adults were dropping like flies – where do they find the energy?

After Rosie and Robbie's first dance to Sharon Corr's It's Not a Dream, the company danced the night away to the Moody Food Ceili Band. Here's Sylvia's dances for your Dance Card:

Rosie and Robbie's first dance
Glasgow Gallop
Goatland Square Eight
Clopton Bridge
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Flying Scot
Waltz Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna
Barndance
Simple Longways Set
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
The Snowball
The Humours of Scariff / Some Say the Devil is Dead
Strip the Willow
Waltz Shebag an Shemor / Give me your Hand
The Gay Gordons
Circassian Circle

Here's a couple of photos of the inside of the barn taken by Mike. You can see some more fine pictures of Rosie and Robbie at JMK photography.

Genetix Gymnasium, Leek

2010-04-23T10:36:00.008+01:00

Happy Birthday Chris! Remember, it's been scientifically proved that the more birthdays you have the longer you live.

As we set off from Stoke we could see in the distance a hot air balloon floating over Leek – good to know that there's at least one form of air transport not affected by volcanic dust. We often see see balloons on the way to a gig and for us the first sighting of the year is like hearing the first cuckoo of spring – summer is surely on its way.

Around ninety people came to celebrate Chris's fiftieth birthday and just about everybody seemed to be sporting the very popular Daisy Duke look to dance to Collin and the Moody Food Ceili Band.

During the interval we were fed with a hog roast, admired the golfing birthday cake with the legend 'Don't Ask' – so we didn't, and were entertained by a David Brent style dance routine from Chris's work colleagues.

Sorry the photos all went a bit Pete Tong – we'll get around to reading the manual one day – but in case you can't see through the digital haze, this is what you danced.

The Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Doxie Marches
Thady U Ganda
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Nova Scotia
Boston Tea Party
Old Swan Gallop
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Foula Reel
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle

Caverswall Castle, Laura and Leo

2010-04-22T11:38:00.001+01:00

Congratulations to Laura and Leo on their wedding at Caverswall Castle. What wonderful friends you have to come all the way from America to share the day with you. This was our first time at Caverswall and whilst the room was a little smaller than we are used to it suited the assembly and there was no difficulty in filling the dance floor throughout the night.

During the interval we roamed around the castle and admired the fireplace with its tiles, the wooden panelling and wacky tapestries, potted the black on the full-size snooker table and rummaged through the books in the library.

Outside in the garden, amidst the chains of fairy lights, we watched as Chinese lanterns were released to bring good luck to one and all. They looked very pretty, rising slowly into the night sky until the wind caught them and they drifted ever higher out of sight (even though one did get caught in a tree – everyone denied responsibility for that one).

Back inside the dancing continued even wilder than before with one of the dancers cavorting with a helmet 'borrowed' from one of the household suits of armour to protect his head from the lights on the low ceiling. Unfortunately this image, a ceili first, has been lost to posterity as Mike, who took these pictures, was at the time making up the numbers dancing. Has anyone got a picture of this?

Later we overheard another one of the guests say that she had always wanted to go to a dance from a Jane Austen novel. I don't think Jane ever danced whilst wearing a metal bonnet but the elegant room, the posh frocks (daps excepted), the screams of laughter and the wild romping through the figures did remind me of a scene from Kilvert's Diary. You can read it here.

Anyway, I'm sure Jane always had a full dance card so here's a list of Sylvia's dances for you to fill in your own:

The Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Goatland Square Eight
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Clopton Bridge
Old Swan Gallop
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Circle Mixer
Strip the Willow
Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna
Waterloo Dance
Shebag and Shemor / Give me your Hand
Polka Off

And finally, can anyone explain Sylvia's cryptic comment made after after the spontaneous display of dancing during Ragtime Annie: `What a wonderful display of conkers'. I have no idea. Whilst you're all pondering that here are some pictures inside the castle.

Perkins Engines Sports and Social Club, Stafford

2010-03-26T12:47:00.003Z

Happy Birthday Marie and Sean. What a great way to celebrate your fortieth birthday – find a mate with a birthday close to yours and have a joint party. Well done all the little ones for dancing all night long, where do they get their energy from? And a special mention of little Erin who entertained the band with her bubbles and happy nature. Keep playing the fiddle Erin.

Here's a list of Sylvia's dances for your Dance Card.

Cock O' The North / 100 Pipers
Glasgow Gallop
Goatland Square Eight
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
The Snowball

The Gravel Walks / Crowley's Reel

Old Swan Gallop

The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Postman's Knock

Circle Waltz
The Humours of Scarrif / Some Say The Devil is Dead

Orcadian Strip the Willow
Siege of Ennis

Shebag an Shemor / Give Me Your Hand

Polka Off

Oxo Reel

Circassian Circle

Erin's first fiddle lesson.

Keele Postgraduate Association, St Patrick's Night

2010-03-17T16:57:00.029Z

StringFing plus a leprechaun – it can only be St Patrick's Night at the KPA up at Keele University. Back in my day it was called the KRA when much of the 'research' took place in the bar, so it's very reassuring to see that in spite of a name change a fine tradition continues.The leprechaun, by the way, is some local critic Spike brought in to review our performance and ensure the correct ratio of trad / WT Fox songs on St Pat's.

Longsdon Memorial Hall

2010-03-06T09:41:00.039Z

Dr Jimmy's retirement party.

Here's a list of Sylvia's dances for your Dance Card.

The Snowball

Goatland Square Eight

Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie

Simple Longways Set

Circle Hornpipe

Old Swan Gallop

The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair

Circle Waltz

Orcadian Strip the Willow

Shebag an Shemor / Give Me Your Hand

The Humours of Scarrif / Some Say The Devil is Dead

Polka Off

The Willow Tree

Circassian Circle

Psychogeographical Trivia.

I love these old fashioned village hall stages with their rickety steps and vertigo inducing height. They provide a panoramic view of the ceili chaos below. Longsdon competes in height with Endon Village Hall and so merits a stage diving rating of Awesome.

For reasons I'm not entirely clear about Longsdon proudly displays a framed photograph of former Bond girl, star of the Wicker Man, and occasional Fairy Godmother, Britt Ekland. What a trouper. I suppose we can all gain comfort from the the thought that no matter how far you climb up the slippery pole of success we all end up in Panto.

Eccleshall Village Hall

2010-02-27T15:50:00.012Z

Happy birthday Peter and Josephine. No photos this gig due to a catastrophic camera failure (left the battery at home). However Emma did take a few on her iPhone – whatever that is – which might make an appearance one day. In the meantime here's a picture of Lou Bega's Dance Card so that you can fill in your own.

Whiston Village Hall

2010-02-13T15:14:00.005Z

Ashbourne, Empire Ballroom

2010-02-10T16:22:00.004Z

Another great night up at Ashbourne – I love it when everyone dresses up – and James won the raffle!

The programme for the night.

Behind the Haystack / Merrily Danced the Quaker's Wife

Cutting Bracken / The Connaughtman's Rambles / My Love in the Morning

Ashbourne and District Pipe Band

A Highland Welcome

The Gay Gordons

Ashbourne Scottish Dance Club

The Dashing White Sergeant

Ashbourne and District Pipe Band

Address to the Haggis (Warwick Adams)

Supper accompanied by Jonathan Whilock on Uileann and Small Pipes

Drum Salute

Ashbourne Fling

Highland Dancing (Alex Lowe)

Robert Burns' poetry (Warwick Adams)

The Dashing White Sergeant

Pipe Major James Dungavel

Prize Draw

Cumberland Reel

Strip the Willow

Auld Lang Syne

Awa Hame

Haughton

2010-01-30T13:40:00.008Z

Are we having fun yet? It was great to be back at Haughton for our annual January gig – enthusiastic dancing, a double birthday celebration, top food, and it snowed as well! Thanks, as usual, to Mike for taking the photos. See you all again next year.

Here's a list of Sylvia's dances for your dance card.

Beccles Slide
Orcadian Strip the Willow
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Happy Birthday Boys
Sicilian Circle Hornpipe
The Gay Gordons
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
The Siege of Ennis
Circle Waltz
The Humours of Scarrif / Some Say The Devil is Dead
The Dashing White Sergeant
Shebag an Shemor / Give Me Your Hand
Swedish Masquerade
Circle Mixer
Circassian Circle

Brown Edge, New Year's Eve, 2009

2009-12-31T12:21:00.012Z

Happy New Year!

Thanks to everyone who came to share New Year's Eve with Moody Food and Sylvia and for dancing all night long. We managed ro raise £300 for the Douglas Macmillan Hospice.

I hope some of you used your dance cards even though Sylvia carefully avoided virtually every dance on your card. Just for the record, here is the programme for the evening.

Cock o' the North / 100 Pipers
Beccles Slide
A Simple Longways Set
Circle Waltz
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Orcadian Strip The Willow
The Humours of Scarrif / Some Say the Devil is Dead
The Cottagers
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
The Siege of Ennis
Happy Birthday Carol
Jack's Alive
Haddenham Square Eight
The Dashing White Sergeant
Shebag an Shemor / Give Me Your Hand
The Willow Tree
The Gay Gordons
The Chimes of Big Ben
Auld Lang Syne
Polka Off
Circassian Circle

If you were wondering about the account
in your dance card it was taken from the diary of the Revd Francis Kilvert for Tuesday 7 January 1873 whilst he was at Langley Burrell. Here's the extract in full:

At 8 o'clock Fanny, Dora and I went to a jolly party at Sir John Awdry's at Notton House. Almost everybody in the neighbourhood was there. There had been a children's party with a Christmas Tree at 5 o'clock, but when we drove up the harp and the fiddles were going. 'Bang went the drum, the ball opened immediately, and I knew not which dancer most to admire,' but I think it was – Francie Rooke. Dear little Francie Rooke. The dining room was turned into the ball room, beautifully lighted overhead, and the smooth polished oaken floor went magnificently, just like glass, but not a bit too slippery, though Eliza Styles came down with a crash full on her back in Sir Roger de Coverly, and there was a roar of laughter which, combined with Eliza's fall, shook the room.

I danced a Lancers with Harriet Awdry of Draycot Rectory, a quadrille with Sissy Awdry of Seagry Vicarage, a Lancers with Louise Awdry of Draycot Rectory, a Lancers with Mary Rooke of the Ivy, and Sir Roger with dear little Francie Rooke of the Ivy. How bright and pretty she looked, so merry, happy and full of fun. It was a grand Sir Roger. I never danced such a one.The room was quite full, two sets and such long lines, but the crush was all the more fun. `Here' said Francie Rooke to me quietly, with a wild, merry sparkle in her eye, and her face brilliant with excitement, 'let us go into the other set.' There was more fun going on there, Eliza Styles had just fallen prostrate. There were screams of laughter and the dance was quite wild. There was a struggle for the corners and everyone wanted to be at the top. In a few minutes all order was lost, and everyone was dancing wildly and promiscuously with whoever came to hand. The dance grew wilder and wilder. 'The pipers loud and louder blew, the dancers quick and quicker flew.' Madder and madder screamed the flying fiddle bows. Sir Roger became a wild romp till the fiddles suddenly stopped dead and there was a scream of laughter. Oh, it was such fun and Francie Rooke was brilliant. When shall I have another such partner as Francie Rooke?

An excellent supper and we got home about one o'clock, on a fine moonlit night.

Sir Roger de Coverley sounds like fun – lets do it next year.

Thanks for helping us raise £300.

Biddulph Moor Village Hall

2009-12-28T14:15:00.007Z

Happy Birthday Claire. Here's a list of our dances for your Moody Food Dance Card.

The Circassian Circle

The Flying Scot

Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie

Pattercake Polka

Goatland Square Eight

Lake Arthur Stomp / Empty Bottle Stomp

The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair

Clopton Bridge

Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna

The Oxo Reel

Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter's Reel / Cooley's Reel

The Gay Gordons

Shebag an Shemor / Give Me Your Hand

The Circassian Circle

Cock o' the North

Wye Road Community Centre, Clayton

2009-11-21T12:36:00.004Z

Happy birthday Norah! I'm afraid that no-one believes that you are really 50 — nice try though! We'll all meet up again in 10 years time for your real 50th birthday party. Good to see everyone getting into the spirit of a barn dance, especially all the little cowboys and cowgirls in their costumes. It's been a long time since we've seen anyone play pin the tail on the donkey. Thanks to James for depping on guitar — but where was your cowboy hat?.

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card.

The Flying Scot

Goatland Square Eight
Midnight on the Water / Waltz Vienna
The Snowball
Clopton Bridge
Happy Birthday Norah
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Glasgow Gallop
The Caerphilly March
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
A Simple Longways Dance
12345 / Seneca Square Dance
The Oxo Reel
Circassian Circle
Cock o' the North

Thanks again to Mike for his photos of the dancing.

Mosley Primary School, Anslow

2009-11-20T11:12:00.006Z

Another great night put on by the 'ladies who lunch' at Mosley – great dancing from everybody, including a salsa display by two couples during the Siege of Delhi (lets make it three next year), a ploughman's supper, and a wonderful community spirit that raised £490 by auction for St Giles Hospice.

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card.

Dorchester Caper

Circle Hornpipe
The Siege of Ennis
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Orcadian Strip the Willow
Old Swan Gallop
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Circle Mixer
Polka Off
Waltz
Postman's Knock
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle
Cock o' the North

Thanks again to Mike for his photos of the dancing and for these pictures from the school hall.

Stanford Hall, Lucy and Lloyd

2009-11-14T11:27:00.004Z

Rode Heath Village Hall, Robert's 50th

2009-11-07T13:40:00.000Z

Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card

The Cock of the North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Goatland Square Eight
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Orcadian Strip The Willow
The Gravel Walks / Crowley's Reel
Old Swan Gallop
Happy Birthday Robert
Circle Waltz
The Siege of Ennis
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Polka Off
The Circassian Circle

Eccleshall Community Centre

2009-10-24T12:11:00.005+01:00

Collin's Dances for your Moody Food Dance Card

Cock of the North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Old Swan Gallop
Thady U Ganda
Stoke Golding
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Doxie Marches
Lucky 7
Boston Tea Party
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Virginia Reel
La Russe
Foula Reel
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle

Dairy House, Di's Birthday Dance

2009-10-03T13:34:00.002+01:00

Happy Birthday Di and Sally.

Sylvia's Dances

Cock of the North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Goatland Square Eight
Clopton Bridge
Waltz
Old Swan Gallop
Happy Birthday Di and Sally
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Circle Waltz
Orkney Strip The Willow
The Gravel Walks / Crowley's Reel
Swedish Masquerade
Waltz
Postman's Knock
The Humours of Scarrif / Some Say The Devil is Dead
Polka Off
Circassian Circle

Brown Edge Village Hall

2009-10-02T14:07:00.008+01:00

Lots of old friends and some new dances made for another great night. Our next gig here is on New Year's Eve – see you all then!

Sylvia's Dances for your Moody Food Dance Card

Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie

Glasgow Gallop

Square Set Polka

Humours of Scariff

Orkney Strip the Willow

Waltz

Circle Hornpipe

The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair

The Siege of Ennis

Jack's Alive

The Gravel Walks / Crowley's Reel

The Maypole

Rosa

Old Swan Gallop

Cornish Six Hand Reel

The Willow Tree

Circassian Circle

Betley Village Hall

2009-09-26T11:34:00.007+01:00

Collin's Dances for your Moody Food Dance Card

Cock of The North / 100 Pipers
Collin's Big Set
Snowball
Thady U Ganda
The Gay Gordons
Boston Tea Party
Waltz
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Orcadian Strip The Willow
Clopton Bridge
Virginia Reel
Old Swan Gallop
Foula Reel
Circassian Circle

Shoals Hill Farm

2009-09-12T12:18:00.000+01:00

The Ashes, Ruth and Andrew

2009-08-15T18:22:00.009+01:00

Congratulations to Ruth and Andrew from the Moody Food Ceili Band. That was the first time we've seen an ice-cream van as part of the catering at a wedding. Sorry about all the pictures with mic stands in them – Emma claims she can't play drums and take photos at the same time. You can see some fantastic photos of the whole day, sans mic stands and in focus, taken by Raymond Lin on his website.

Collin's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

The Snowball
Collin's Big Set
Thady U Ganda
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Old Swan Gallop
The Foula Reel
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle

Here's a little extract of the Scottish dance The Foula Reel taken by Raymond:

Sandon Hall, Christiane and Phil

2009-08-01T14:07:00.042+01:00

Congratulations to Christiane and Phil on their wedding at Sandon Hall. I know that many of you were over from Germany so I hope that you didn't find the instructions for the dances too confusing. You seemed to be enjoying yourselves anyway. Every night has its special moments and we wont easily forget the chap who heroically fought his way through a bevy of bridesmaids to catch Christiane's bouquet—it's good to be in touch with your inner woman. His moment of triumph can be seen at the end of the slide show. On a more musical note we also enjoyed one of Christiane's cousins playing some jazz and finger pickin' solos during the interval—hot stuff!

This was our first time at Sandon Hall so we took the opportunity to look around away from the main hall with its impressive stair case. I particularly liked the library with its fine bindings—A Treatise on Aerial Locomotion took my eye—and also the charming orangery with its ornate metal work and water features.

Two more 'features'—Christ Church, Lord Sandon's faithful horse and a rather foppish bust—somebody didn't read the house rules. Here's a link to some more of Mike's photos of the evening with instructions on how to download them.

Finally, here for my new friend with the Foley bouzouki are Sylvia's dances and the tunes played by the Moody Food Ceili Band.

The Glasgow Gallop (The Kesh / Mist on the Mountain / The Blackthorn Stick)
The Snowball (Munster Buttermilk / Merrily Danced the Quaker's Wife)
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
The Goatland Square Eight (Cutting Bracken / The Connaught Man's Rambles / My Love in the Morning)
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Orcadian Strip the Willow (Waterloo Dance / Bluebell Polka / Atholl Highlanders)
Circle Waltz (Midnight On The Water)
Clopton Bridge (The Rehaired Boy / Off to California)
Waltz (Shebag an Shemor / Give me your Hand)
Circassian Circle (Patsy Geary's / Colman's Cross)
The Cock O' The North / 100 Pipers

Anslow

2009-06-20T12:14:00.000+01:00

Patricroft Working Men's Club

2009-06-05T16:48:00.011+01:00

A dance organised by Spurgeons Salford as part of the annual Volunteers' Week – a national celebration of volunteers and volunteering that takes place from 1–7 June every year. Volunteers, their families and staff danced the night away to the Moody Food Ceili Band with Collin Higgs. A prize raffle also raised more than £80 towards Spurgeons international work.

Peter Hook, quondam of Joy Division and New Order, presented the volunteers, who work with children and young people in Spurgeons projects across the city, with certificates acknowledging their dedication. Sadly Hooky didn't stay around to do-si-do but we all loosened our guitar straps by a couple of notches in honour of a Mancunian legend.

Collin's dances.

Cock of the North / 100 Pipers
The Dorset Reel
The Snowball
Doxie Marches
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Thady U Ganda
The Siege of Delhi / The Earls Chair
Nova Scotia Reel
Boston Tea Party
The Foula Reel
Cumberland Square Eight

Maer, Sharon and Garry

2009-05-30T11:20:00.028+01:00

Congratulations Sharon and Garry on your wedding. I think that this must have been one of the smallest venues that we have played in for a wedding reception. Venues often have their own particular charm and the village hall at Maer, small and square with its large windows letting in the evening sunlight, made quite an impression on me. The photos don't really show this but it was a lovely day and I'm glad that we were a part of it.

Here are Sylvia's dances for your Moody Food Dance Card:

Sharon and Gary's First Dance
The Cock O' The North
The Glasgow Gallop
Goatland Square Eight
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
The Snowball
Clopton Bridge
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
The Gay Gordons
Waltz (Midnight On The Water)
Lucky Seven
Polka Off
Circassian Circle
Patsy Geary's Jig

Sandhole, Kathryn and Chris

2009-05-24T15:04:00.001+01:00

Mount Pleasant

2009-05-08T12:22:00.009+01:00

The Moody Food Ceili Band with Sylvia Fisher.

Happy Birthday Wes and well done Helen for organising a fantastic night – the secret email accounts and clandestine phone calls finally paid off. Good to see the Black Dog Molly dancers again. We've played a number of gigs with the Mollys over the years. I think the first time was at the wedding of Annie and Doug, who started it all off, when we were known as Cut-Throat Jake. We also had a display of Appalachian dancing from Mind the Step with music from the Helsby All Stars.

Besides all the dancing we had some great interval music from Josh who played a stonking set on the banjo, Escher's Waltz and Black Jack before getting his Dad up to play bull fiddle on Nine Pound Hammer and Take Me Back To Tunstall.

If you like bluegrass come and see Plucked! at the Coachmaker's Arms in Hanley on the second Wednesday of every month.

Here's a link to some more of Mike's photos of the evening with instructions on how to download them.

The Dances

Happy Birthday Wes
The Cock O' The North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Circle Mixer
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Drops of Brandy
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Siege of Ennis
Boston Tea Party
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter's Reel / Cooley's Reel
The Willow Tree
Waltz (Midnight On The Water)
Circassian Circle

Dukes 92, Anna and Jim

2009-05-03T11:27:00.004+01:00

The wedding dance of Anna and Jim at Dukes 92 in Manchester. Nice daps Anna!

The Dances

Behind The Hatstack / Merrily Danced The Quaker's Wife
Anna and Jim's First Waltz (Midnight On The Water)
The Snowball
Oxo Reel
Orkney Strip The Willow
Thady U Ganda
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
The Gay Gordons
Shebag An Shemor / Give Me Your Hand
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Cumberland Square Eight
Circassian Circle
Cock Of The North / 100 Pipers

Eccleshall Community Centre

2009-04-25T12:29:00.001+01:00

A special fund-raising dance in support of the Katherine House Hospice. With a packed hall and a great crowd Collin kept everyone dancing throughout the night so not much time for tune sets. However we did get to play a new waltz, An Turas Fada (The Long Journey Home), composed by Fiona Dalgetty to celebrate the marriage of Richard and Keeley. In fact it was so good we played it twice.

The Dances

The Cock O' The North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Doxies March
Thady U Ganda
Oxo Reel
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Nova Scotia
Clopton Bridge
Boston Tea Party
Circle Waltz
Old Swan Gallop
Orkney Strip The Willow
Foula Reel
Cumberland Square Eight
Waltz An Turas Fada (The Long Journey Home)
Circassian Circle
The Gay Gordons

Audlem Public Hall, Sara's Birthday Dance

2009-04-18T12:28:00.002+01:00

Happy birthday Sara.

The Dances

The Cock O' The North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
The Siege of Ennis
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Goatland Square Eight
Old Swan Gallop
Happy Birthday Sara
Happy Birthday Sheila
Circle Waltz
Orkney Strip The Willow
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
Circle Hornpipe
Polka Off
Shebag an Shemor / Give Me Your Hand
The Willow Tree
Swedish Masquerade
Circassian Circle
The Gay Gordons

St Wulstan's Hall, Pete's Birthday Bash

2009-04-11T14:03:00.005+01:00

Happy birthday Pete.

The Dances

The Cock O' The North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Goatland Square Eight
Discouraging Waltz / Ragtime Annie
Circle Mixer
Humours of Scariff / Some Say The Devil Is Dead
Orkney Strip The Willow
Happy Birthday
The Siege of Delhi / The Earl's Chair
The Siege of Ennis
Waterloo Dance
Shebag an Shemor / Give Me Your Hand
Polka Off
Molloy's Favourite / The Foxhunter / Cooley's Reels
Oxo Reel
Circassian Circle
The Cock O' The North / 100 Pipers

Bishton Hall, Ruth and Joe

2009-04-04T20:38:00.018+01:00

The wedding of Ruth and Joe at Bishton Hall. Thanks again to Terry and Glen for depping on guitar and fiddle and to Mike for the photos.

The Dances

The Cock O' The North / 100 Pipers
Ruth and Joe's First Waltz (Ashokan Farewell)
The Snowball
Goatland Square Eight
Women of Ireland / The Tarboltan
Circle Mixer
Clopton Bridge
Old Swan Gallop
Patsy Geary's / Coleman's Cross
Orkney Strip The Willow
Pity The Poor Pig
Circle Hornpipe
Swedish Masquerade
Oxo Reel
Waltz (Midnight On The Water)
Circassian Circle
Cock of the North

Brown Edge

2009-04-03T11:32:00.005+01:00

Thanks to birthday boy Chris, Terry and Glen for depping on bass, guitar and fiddle and to Mike for the photos.

The Dances

The Cock O' The North / 100 Pipers
The Snowball
Goatland Square Eight
Orkney Strip The Willow
Circle Hornpipe
Postman's Knock
Patsy Geary's / Coleman's Cross
Circle Mixer
Cornish Six Hand Reel
Old Swan Gallop
Women of Ireland / The Tarboltan
Haddenham Square Eight
Shebag an Shemor / Give Me Your Hand
Circle Waltz
Polka Off
Circassian Circle
Cock of the North