On New Year’s Day (called Hogmanay here), we decided to drive over to Pitlochry and attend what was advertised as a street party, complete with live music. Given this description, I was expecting something involving booths with goods for sale and a pop band, or maybe a ceilidh band, playing music in the background.

What we found when we arrived was a crowd of several hundred people being entertained by the Vale of Atholl pipe band and munching on pies and soup provided by the local butcher. As the pipers paraded out, an emcee introduced the next entertainers, a ceilidh band. But this was no background music—the bandleader stepped up to the microphone and announced, “Now, let’s have everyone take the floor for a Gay Gordons.