Waulking song
Waulking songs (
Scots Gaelic:
Orain Luaidh) are pieces of Scottish folk music, traditionally sung by women while
waulking. This practice involved beating newly woven tweed rhythmically to soften it, and so simple, beat-driven songs were used to coordinate the work. The song would usually start off slowly, speeding up as the cloth dried and the waulkers warmed up. Lyrics were not strictly kept to; often words from other songs would be imported, depending on the length needed for the particular length and size of tweed. While waulking is a common practice across the world, it is only in Scotland that music has become so strongly associated with it to the point of being an important
cultural feature.
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Long Èireannach
