Step in to the pub

Well friends, come with me on a wee journey to a nice pub down yonder. We've frequented a few but this one tonight is of note because Sunday evenings are live music nights. Here, come through the door and order yourself a pint at the bar. It's quite the nice atmosphere in here isn't it? Dark wood, small tables and cozy booths. Well, it would be quite nice to stay in here but once you've got your Guinness, follow me to the back room....



Here, have a seat at the big wooden tables. How fun to join 12 other strangers at your table isn't it? The music is mellow and folkish. A couple is singing and harmonizing and you'd swear it was in the English language but the lilt in their accent is so strong that you can't recognize all of the words. The candles provide the majority of the light in the room, save a few lights along the wall and shining onto some paintings.

The Scottish men sitting next to you proceed to down two pints, two bottles of beer and three shots of whiskey without seeming affected at all. I know if I had that, I'd be crawling out of this place on my hands and knees! But the Scots are known for their liquor intake and subsequent tolerance. I will just take my time with my Guinness and have no need for something else, because it truly is like drinking a loaf of bread.

The music is lovely isn't it? Although it seems as though "unrequited love" is the theme for the night. I guess that provides material for the most emotionally charged lyrics doesn't it? Thankfully the man with the bagpipes or the banjo player will jump in with a lovely Scottish tune that makes you feel like getting up and dancing a jig. The mandolin and the fiddles fill in the gap as well. In between those songs, it's almost like a library as people huddle and whisper to each other or carry on conversation in low tones out of respect for the music. The white-haired men pipe in with an occasional acapella tune about a bonnie lassie they once knew that broke their heart. Death Cab for Cutie even made it on the repertoire this evening.



Well, that was fun. On the way out we stop and I give my compliments to the banjo player and he leans in so close his nose almost touches my face. He smells of cigarettes and whiskey but seems a nice enough fellow. I have to ask him to repeat himself a few times because his of thick accent and within the next five minutes he's invited us to every gig he's doing up and down the west coast the next month. We'll be seeing you Mick! We really must go. It was a great experience, maybe we'll see you another time soon.