Editing Cèilidh (section)

==History==
Originally, a {{lang|gd|cèilidh}} was a social gathering of any sort, and did not necessarily involve dancing:
{{blockquote|
The 'ceilidh' is a literary entertainment where stories and tales, poems and ballads, are rehearsed and recited, and songs are sung, conundrums are put, proverbs are quoted, and many other literary matters are related and discussed|[[Alexander Carmichael|Carmichael, Alexander]]|''[[Carmina Gadelica]]'', 1900, tome I, p. xxviii.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1002.htm|title=Carmina Gadelica Vol. 1: Introduction|website=sacred-texts.com}}</ref>
}}

{{blockquote|
The ceilidh of the Western Hebrides corresponds to the {{lang|br|veillée}} of [[Lower Brittany]]&nbsp;... and to similar story-telling festivals which formerly flourished among all the Celtic peoples|Wentz, W. Y. Evans|The Fairy-faith in Celtic countries, Oxford University Press, 1911, p. 32.
}}

{{blockquote|
On long, dark winter nights it is still the custom in small villages for friends to collect in a house and hold what they call a "ceilidh" (pronounced kay'lee). Young and old are entertained by the reciters of old poems and legendary stories which deal with ancient beliefs, the doings of traditional heroes and heroines, and so on. Some sing old and new songs set to old music or new music composed in the manner of the old.| [[Donald Alexander Mackenzie|Mackenzie, Donald A.]] | Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth and Legend, 1917, p. 14.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/stream/wondertalesfroms00mack#page/14| title=Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth & Legend| publisher=London : Blackie and Son| year=1917}}</ref>
}}

In recent decades, the dancing portion of the event has usurped the older meanings of the term, though the tradition of guests performing music, songs, storytelling, and poetry still persists in some areas.

{{lang|ga|Céilithe}}/''Cèilidhean'' were originally hosted by a {{lang|ga|fear-an-tigh}} (or, in contemporary Scottish Gaelic orthography, ''fear-an-taighe''), meaning 'man of the house'. The Scottish Gaelic feminine and gender-neutral equivalents are ''bean-an-taighe'' (woman of the house) and ''duine-an-taighe'' (person of the house), respectively. The use of these or similar terms is still the form in much of Ireland and Hebridean Scotland, and at gatherings elsewhere at which either Irish or Scottish Gaelic is the predominant social language. In modern events at which English predominates, the host is usually instead referred to as simply the "host" or "master of ceremonies".<ref>{{cite web | title=Gaelic-English Dictionary| url=http://www.translationdirectory.com/dictionaries/dictionary026_f.htm| website=TranslationDictionary| access-date=2 July 2014}}</ref>