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Many of the finest and most distinctive Reels, Jigs and Strathspeys played today by Scottish dance bands today actually originate as Puirt a Beul tunes. They have been arranged for instruments, and have had extra parts written for them. In some cases they have also been renamed and their original Gaelic character obscured. Instrumental dance music is known in Gaelic tradition as Ceol Beag which means "The lesser music", pipers sometimes refer to it as "light music". Ceol Beag is found all over the Highlands and Northern Isles, but now also in the Lowlands as well. Although the Scottish Gaelic song tradition shows more variety and development than the Irish, the Irish instrumental tradition is more developed than that in Scotland, with more adventurous rhythms and themes.
We know from historical documentary evidence that Scottish Ceol Beag originated in the Highlands and not the Lowlands to which it latter spread. There are two theories as to its origin. Firstly, that it originated in the vocal Puirt a Beul tradition and radiated outwards. Secondly, that this type of music was of Norse origin and was influenced by native Gaelic music. There is strong evidence for this second view, which would explain the music's presence in the Northern Isles and Ireland and also its similarity to some elements of Scandinavian folkmusic.
Hebridean Ceol Beag is very distinctive, it uses Gaelic melodic structures and like Puirt a Beul presents strong themes in only a few notes. Some of the greatest composers of Ceol Beag have lived in the Gaelic West during the 20th century including: Donald MacLeod, Peter MacLeod and Iain Crichton of Lewis, Ronald MacLean of South Uist, the MacDonalds of Glenuig, Fergie MacDonald and many others.
Instrumental playing (quite apart from pipes and harp) has always been popular in the Hebrides (Martin reported fine fiddle playing), but waned somewhat in the Protestant islands under assault from the church, who considered it "The Devil's Music". Indeed there is a story on Lewis that when a minister encouraged all his perisoners to burn their musical instruments, an old man was heard to mutter "ach cha loisg thu Puirt" (but you can't burn the tunes) meaning that whatever the church did, it couldn't destroy the music, because that was locked up in peoples heads. Religious zeal distroyed the fiddles and pipes, but in the early 20th century the one and two row melodeon became particularly popular, especially for playing at "danns an rathaid", which were dances held on roads at night (usually at cross-roads or bridges). The peculiarities of the note layout on the melodeon may have actually influenced the melodic structure of tunes composed at this time. Nowadays, all the old instruments are making a comeback and there are many talented players of a younger generation on the islands.
The Hebrides and Gaelic West Highlands also have a distinctive Ceol Beag playing style which is quite gentle and lilting (in contrast with East Coast and Lowland players) and may be heard on CDs of good players.
Ceol beag seems to export particularly well into other cultures as is evident from the thousands of pipebands around the world. It also had an influence on the development of American fiddle music, which in turn is a component of modern "Country Music".
One particularly interesting form is the highly accented style of fiddle music from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Gaelic origins of Cape Breton have already been discussed on another page and it is unique in having inherited some old traditions which have died out in Scotland - particularly Highland step dancing. This is similar to the Irish form but with different steps and freer use of the arms. The fiddle playing tradition is closely bound up with the dancing. The actual compositions used are Ceol Beag standards. There in no particular evidence to suggest that the style is an export from Scotland - it is quite different from the traditional Ceol Beag styles of the Hebrides and seems to have evolved in Canada, possibly under the influence of other forms - Orain Luaidh may have had an influence, being a highly accented style itself. The traditions of other cultures may also have played a part, Cape Breton has a strong French and Irish influence as well as the native Mic Mac Indians (American Indian music has several similarities to Gaelic music). Both the music and the step dancing have successfully been re-imported to Scotland. One of the leading exponents of the style is the fiddler Natalie MacMaster.
The individually of this particular style, together with several other interesting survivals in Cape Breton has led some (many from outside the Gaelic tradition) to declare that Cape Breton is a kind of musical Shangri-La - the only place to discover the "real" playing or singing tradition of Gaelic Scotland. This is simply complete nonsense. The Hebridean Ceol Beag playing styles (there are at least two, and possibly three distinct native playing styles, equally as beautiful, if not as interesting as the Cape Breton style) are a living tradition on the islands. So, although the Cape Breton traditions are unique and interesting, they lack both the depth and breadth of the Gaelic style from even a single Scottish Island.
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