Since we've been talking about work and labor of the ha...

Since we've been talking about work and labor of the hands, I've chosen a trio of Gaelic waulking songs this week, all recorded in Scotland for the Highland Sessions. Waulking songs were sung as part of the traditional process of "waulking" homespun cloth (particularly tweeds): beating it against a board or trampling it underfoot to soften it. This task was often done by a group of women together, and the songs drove the work with their beat.

In the video above, the lead waulk singer is Kathleen MacInnes. Below, it is Margaret Stewart.

And last:

Karen Matheson (of Capercaille) sings a waulking song from Skye: "Chuir m'Athair Mise Dha'n Taigh Charraideach (My
Father Sent Me to the House of Sorrow)."