Ulster Scots dance programme gears up for winter

The dance classes, being held on Monday evenings in the village community centre, are being held as part of the Ulster Scots outreach programme in the village.

The Community Association said that a pilot scheme had proved extremely successful and it was hoped the new dance classes would build on the interest in Ulster Scots arts in the area.

The Association is also planning a number of other Ulster Scots initiatives over the next few months, and was pleased with the success of the first of a series of historical talks in the community centre last week.

Dr David Hume delivered a powerpoint presentation entitled ‘Lessons from the Landscape’ looking at historic sites, some of them not terribly well known, in the local area and at outside locations including Magheramorne, Ballyboley and Larne.

The talk examined local placenames and how they point to the history of an area as well as the history of locations such as Loughmourne near the village, which is the scene of a series of crannog, or lake, dwellings.

This gave the way, his audience heard, to the legend of a village at Loughmourne being flooded as the result of a curse.

The possibility of the pin well at Red Hall having its origins in belief in its healing powers, resulting in people going there to throw pins into the spring, or tie cloth nearby, was also suggested.

The talk was the first of a series planned for the next few months, the next of which will be that on James Orr by Dr Carol Baraniuk on November 30 in the community centre.