Music & Dance

There is a range of music and dance traditions associated with Ulster-Scots culture and heritage. Highland dancing is popular in Ulster-Scots communities and the music tradition includes fiddle, fife, drum as well as highland and lowland pipes.

Ulster-Scots emigrants took these traditions with them, and over time these influenced other musical genres including American country music, and even rock and roll.

ULSTER-SCOTS WORD

Dotter

Example:

He's taen eneuch drink - he's stairtin tae dotter.

Meaning: Stagger

Example: He has taken enough drink - he is staring to stagger.

MUSIC & DANCE RESOURCES

  • Fife

    Fife

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  • Lambeg Drum

    Lambeg Drum

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  • folk music

    Musical Influence

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  • bag pipes

    Pipes & Piping

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  • pipes & drums

    The Music Service for Pipes and Drums

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  • Did you know?

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  • Ulster-Scots Music Traditions banner

    Ulster-Scots Music Traditions

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RHYTHMS OF ULSTER

Anyone experiencing a Lambeg drum for the first time at close quarters is immediately struck by its intense, penetrating sound. The distinctive tone of the drum and the rhythms played on it are as unique as the drum itself.

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Rhythms of Ulster

‘DIRIGO’, THE MAINE DRUM – A LAMBEG DRUM IN AMERICA

The State of Maine, USA celebrated its bicentennial in 2020 and in recognition of the close partnership the Ulster-Scots Agency has with our friends in the Maine Ulster-Scots Project we commissioned an instrument unique to Ulster – a Lambeg drum.

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‘Dirigo’, The Maine Drum – A lambeg drum in America