Well, the ‘Scottish Entertainment’ took place yesterday – attended by sixty to seventy people, if you include our [small] choir. A great time was had by all. There was lots of community singing, along with a couple of choir items, and a smattering of solo items (two spoken, two sung solos, and the concertina.) And, of course, haggis, neeps and tatties in the middle of the entertainment. Our pastoral care committee organised the whole event – I just coordinated the entertainment bit!
It wasn’t a research event, and I can’t exactly call it public engagement – it wasn’t in any sense designed for, or linked with, my research. (Although, as I’ve mentioned, my little introductions were informed by my research!) So, I don’t think I can call this autoethnographical or practice-based research, but I can certainly reflect upon the whole experience.
Timing
I planned two equal ‘halves’ for either side of the meal. It wasn’t a full-scale meal, as such, but I underestimated how much time we’d spend eating. The first half of the entertainment was almost spot-on: we only had to leave one item until after the meal. However, the second ‘half’ had to be significantly cut back (mostly by omitting verses) – so I could really have made it a good bit shorter.
Feedback
The feedback was gratifying. Our repertoire went down well, as did the solos. I shall respect the soloists’ privacy, so I won’t elaborate further on that point.
My own debut as a soloist surprised me as much as everyone else, though. ‘I didn’t know you sang’, someone said. ‘Nor did I – I’ve never sung a solo in public before!’
I chose a song within my range, and the concertina piece was likewise as simple as I could find! Considering that I took up the concertina during lockdown, with the deliberate aim of having a ‘folk’ instrument for just such an occasion, it was gratifying to be able to play to an appreciative audience.
People were still talking about the event today, which was lovely to hear.
Repertoire
Remember that I did a BBC Scotland radio interview 13 months ago, discussing the top ten Scottish songs of nowadays, the results of a Visit Scotland survey? I didn’t even consult that list for our own afternoon entertainment. There was some, but not a lot of overlap – but I’m happy that the songs chosen by myself and the choir, went down well with our audience. We had a few Burns songs, a few from the early 20th century, some from the middle and a couple from towards the end of it.
And if we were to do another event, well, there’s still that Visit Scotland list to draw on! There is bound to be variation, depending on the sample of people surveyed – whether they are young or old, whether they had children or taught children in schools, and so on.
Karen McAulay, Musicologist 