Out & About: Fort Ligonier hosts Colonial-style Twelfth Night Celebration

Shirley McMarlin, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
·2 min read

Jan. 15—Imagine a Colonial-era dance party.

Fortified by a cup of rum punch, revelers kick up their heels in a few rounds of English country dancing. After that, they raise their voices to sing some popular tunes of the day.

At least that's the way it was for the Twelfth Night Celebration, held

Jan. 7 at Fort Ligonier.

The annual event bids adieu to the holiday season by offering modern-day revelers a taste of an 18th-century wintertime gala.

Many guests get into the spirit of the event by dressing in historical garb.

Matt Gault, the fort's director of education — in his best breeches, waistcoat and tricorn hat — led them out to the dance floor.

"I'll be trying to cut a rug like George Washington," he said.

English country dance caller Peg Patterson of the Country Dance and Song Society of Pittsburgh gave attendees instruction in popular period dances. The Wayward Companions, a Pittsburgh-based ensemble of

classically trained musicians, played the tunes.

The musicians then led a sing-along including the traditional sea shanty, "What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor," and the English folk song, "The Wild Rover."

In Western Christian tradition, Twelfth Night marks the end of the Christmas season. Also called Epiphany it marks the date when the Wise Men, or Magi, visited the Christ child. It's also the date that Orthodox Christians celebrate the holiday, because they follow the Julian calendar, rather than the Gregorian calendar currently in use.

Twelfth Night guests Shawn and Sunshine MacIntyre of Summer Hill weren't quite ready to put the holidays to rest, though. They said they had one more party to attend, one inspired by medieval Norse traditions that would include more games, gifts and food — including aebleskiver, a Danish pancake-ball dessert that Shawn would prepare.

Seen at Twelfth Night: Ron and Theresa Gay Rohall, Erica Nuckles, David and Catherine Fox, Denise Wasemann, Bernie and Connie Lynch, James and Melinda Edwards, Mary Van Buskirk, Tom and Beverly Ravida, Don and Judy McMahon, Gus and Andrea Niapas, Gregg and Diana Zernich, Jessica Young, Ashley Stuart and Alatheia Nielsen.

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .