Azizi - re Gaelic song rhythms - the songs Eliza was referring to are "waulking" songs - after the cloth is taken off the loom, it is washed and worked. It is this work, usually done by a group of women round a long table, that the songs accompany. As far as I understand (not a Gaelic speaker) they can be like sea-shanties, starting off with a couple of commonly-known verses but then singers extemporise around local characters and events.

Example here:- Gaelic Waulking Song

Ross