I arose at 9h to a rainy day, warm, but with gusty winds. After catching up on the news, I headed north towards Chéticamp. As I was passing by Big Cove in West Mabou, I missed a great shot of a rainbow over the Mabou River—I was just past the turn when I noticed it and there was traffic behind. I turned off into the Marina in Mabou, but the rainbow was gone when I got there. The colours were still good to excellent all the way north, even along the Shore Road, but definitely past their peak. It had turned into a nicer day by the time I got to Margaree Harbour, where some blue sky was visible and the sun was brightening up spots of the landscape where it penetrated the clouds. I continued on to the Doryman, where I had a bowl of chowder and a salad, both excellent, before the cèilidh started.
This afternoon’s cèilidh was a CD release party for Kyle MacDonald’s new self-titled CD, which I had obtained at the dance at Creignish earlier in my stay. Hilda Chiasson on keyboard accompanied Kyle’s fiddle, enhancing his playing with grace and beauty (Howie MacDonald does the honours on the CD). It was not a big crowd—about forty at the height of the afternoon—and there were no dancers, neither square dancers nor step dancers, so the fine sets of jigs went without takers, as did the call for step dancers at the end of the afternoon. I heard a number of my favourite tunes and was impressed again with Kyle’s fine playing during some grand sets, both of jigs and march/strathspey/reels, as well as during a lovely slow air I thoroughly enjoyed. Sales of the CD were brisk, as well they should have been.
After the cèilidh, I drove back to West Mabou. It was raining in Chéticamp when I left and continued off and on during the drive south; puddles in the road and some wet leaves required caution—fallen leaves can be as slippery as ice. I stopped off at the Freshmart in Mabou for another bottle of Buckleys and some supplies for the road. My eyes were very tired when I got to West Mabou Hall, not helped by the cold I was fighting.
The dance tonight featured Shelly Campbell on fiddle and Joël Chiasson on (real) piano. There was no quorum at 21h, so Shelly and Joël played cèilidh tunes while waiting for the dancers to arrive. The first square set got under way at 21h27 with four couples; the magnificent jigs drew two more couples for the second figure and another for the third. The second square set was a bit bigger, with nine couples in its third figure. My notes read “perfect tempos—no better dance music!” Enough people had arrived by 22h that the third square set, the largest of the night, had at least three groups, with 17 couples in its third set. It was followed by a waltz that was new to me. Two more square sets followed, each with from 12-14 couples, and then Sarah MacInnis and Amanda MacDonald answered the call for the step dance sequence. The next set of jigs had no takers nor did the following one, so Shelly gave us a fantastic Johnny Cope, followed by reels to finish out the evening. It was amazing playing by both from start to end and, in spite of my cold, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I drove back to Port Hood, had a dose of Buckleys, and was asleep in a flash.
