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A packed audience of around 100 U3A members and guests attended ‘A Scottish Celebration’ in the Memorial Hall on 17th January. The show opened with a rousing rendition of traditional and contemporary folk music from the Ukulele Group led by musical director, Ian Murray.

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Author and storyteller, Alison Galbraith, told a tale from Lanarkshire about the ‘Fairies of Melvin’s Craig’. Hilary Spoun then assembled a set from her Scottish Country Dancing Group to dance ‘The Rose of the West’ and the ‘Indian River of Strathspey’. The audience then joined in, and Hilary had everyone ‘twizzling’ (twists and turns!)

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Tom Barrie, who accompanied the Ukulele Group gave two solo performances ending with an appreciation of our national Bard, Robert Burns, and ‘Rantin Rovin Robin’ which, Alison led us to believe, was an autobiographical song in the form of a prophecy by the palm-reading midwife who attended Burns' birth.

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Live comedy then took to the floor with a tribute to ‘The Big Yin’, Billy Connolly. Messrs Price, Crooks and Weston, comedians, who allegedly hail from a garden suburb of Glasgow provided a moving interpretation of 'Three Men fae Carntyne' on their way to 'sign on' or otherwise euphemistically referred to as, 'join the parish'. Marie Christine Glancy was the unfortunate lassie Senga from the dairy, who sustained lifechanging injuries following an altercation with a breadboard. Awful, yet brilliant.

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The celebration ended with a vote of thanks to all participants, and particularly Bill Toy, who has been instrumental in bringing on aspirational ukulele musicians and is now retiring as a Group leader. The closing song ‘Tak a Dram (Afore Ye Go)’ was appropriate Scottish symbolism for hospitality to finish an outstanding performance by Lanark and District U3A.

Aimed at anyone who is retired or semi-retired and those on the young side of the ‘third age’ of life, who are no longer in employment, Lanark and District U3A runs a host of groups and activities. To find out more or sign up visit;www.ldu3a.com

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Dr Jill Murie