The Higgledy Piggledy Band
Whats in a name?

A version of the band's name ('higly pigly', said to mean 'huddled together like pigs'!!) has apparently been around since the end of the 15th century. The band itself is ever-so-slightly more recent, being formed and acquiring their name in the late 1970s. By this time, according to Collins' Dictionary, the spelling had changed to 'Higgledy Piggledy' and the meaning had been refined to 'confusion'. That was thought apt in those early days of the band but, given some of the tiny broom cupboard-like dressing rooms and cramped vans they have shared since then, they should perhaps have stuck with the archaic form 'Higly Pigly'.

Nevertheless, when unleashed from its pig-like huddle Higgledy Piggledy is no hotch-potch, mish-mash, rag-bag of a band. There is no jiggery-pokery, hocus-pocus, mumbo-jumbo, argy-bargy or itsy-bitsy, fuddy-duddy, airy-fairy, arty-farty, hoity-toity, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, shilly-shallying or dilly-dallying with Higgledy Piggledy, they get straight to the nitty-gritty as they go willy-nilly, hurly-burly, helter-skelter, harum-scarum, pell-mell through their dances with their tight tick-tock, pitter-patter, clip-clop, zig-zag, criss-cross, boogie-woogie rhythms and topsy-turvey, jingle-jangle tunes. They have a dancing, prancing sound man and a prittle-prattling, tittle-tattling, big-wig of a caller who is chockablock with chitter-chatter. All in all Higgledy Piggledy is a ship-shape, tip-top, super-duper dream team of a ceilidh band.


 
 
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