About this time 23 years ago, Alison and I were preparing for our wedding. We were to be married in the Registry Office in Edinburgh’s Victoria Street. “Bring some music with you on the day,” said the lady at the Registry Office when we saw her about the arrangements. “A couple of cassettes. We’ll play them before and after the ceremony.” After we left Victoria Street, we went into a bookshop on South Bridge, looking for music. Alison chose a Strauss cassette, while I opted for some traditional Irish fiddle tunes, both good background music in their different ways. While we were there, we also selected a few of those new-fangled Compact Discs: more Strauss and a Mozart one for Alison, and a Great Irish Tenors one for me. We didn’t have a CD player at the time, but we resolved to buy one at the next opportunity. The sniffy assistant in the shop sniffed loudly when she realised that two oiks were actually going to purchase some of those rather expensive Compact Discs. She sniffed even louder and sneered when she saw the classical music choices. Anyway, come the big day at the Registry Office, sure enough the Strauss cassette was played while our guests (and there were a lot of them) seated themselves in the appointed room. I stood at the top of the room, waiting for Alison and the Registrar to appear. I waited. And waited. And waited. Strauss came to an end and the fiddle music began, by which time our guests, who had been chatty and cheerful to begin with, had grown sullen and impatient. So to entertain them I performed a little Irish jig – and that was long before Michael Flatley became famous!
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