I can’t always be about bagpipes on this blog, although I’ve rarely been to a Cape Breton (or Antigonish) ceilidh without them.
So, here’s a taste of what a great Cape Breton house square set can be like. And this one looks like a doozy back in 2005.
Raymond and Sara Beaton have a great room for a square dance, and as you can see below, it’s well used.  Howie MacDonald (one of the fiddlers in the Rankin Family band, for all non-Maritimer’s who don’t know who he is) and Mac Morin (a respected and popular Cape Breton piano player and accompanist) provide the tunes and the rest you can see for yourself.
This is the second figure (jig) and third figure (reel) of an Inverness style square set. In Cape Breton this style is the most popular, but there are others. Cheticamp, Sydney and even Big Ponder’s have a different set (in Big Pond, the men don’t hold hands). This is a classic Inverness set. You can see the older gentlemen huffing and puffing at the final reel – as it should be. I know a few people in these sets, and I wish I was there for the square sets, the fun, the craic and not for the clean up.
Enjoy!
p.s. If you’re a Cape Bretoner, I’d love to hear from you.