The Waulking Song
When deciding whom to invite to their gathering, the recipient of the cloth must consider the community's expectations of who has the right to a seat at the table.
Normal cloth waulking is accompanied by songs about the island, to encourage favourable weather and so on.
In ceremonial cloth waulking, those who sit at the table sing blessings into the cloth for the recipient, to guide them on their way through life.
So choices about who sits at the table are also made with regard to the blessings which might be sung into the cloth.
The islanders do not see these sung blessings as symbolic, but rather, as prophetic. Their spirituality is founded on their strong belief in The Fairy Cloth.
The song takes the traditional verse/chorus form. Typically, the most senior member of the person's family will begin by establishing the chorus. This is only a line or two long: words everyone sings together to reinforce the blessing just given, binding it into the cloth.
That same family member will then sing their personal blessing into the cloth. This also goes some way to setting the tone for the song as a whole. The song then travels around the table, with everyone singing their blessing solo, followed by the group chorus.
It can take some time for the cloth to be adequately waulked, and there are always more people who wish to sing a blessing than there are places at the table. So there are rotations of participants, with a few remaining in place for each rotation: the person whose cloth is being waulked, the head of their family, and the Chief.
It is usual for the first blessing to be repeated by the head of the family at the end, and it is they who decide when the cloth is done. In theory, that final blessing can be changed the second time around, if it needs to counter any misfortune that might have been sung into the cloth. This hasn't happened in living memory, although there are tales from long ago...
Blessings are a hybrid of a christening gift and the granting of a wish. They can be about anything: health, safety, family, friends, work, role within the community, and creativity are amongst the most common subjects. A blessing can be general and broad, or very specific.
With regard to the actual song: the melody of the chorus is most often the same every time, but the melody for each blessing is unique to the person giving the blessing. The notes have no particular significance, and tunes are often improvised: blessings are sung once, and never again.
The words matter hugely, and are therefore never cleverly structured lyrics, since the meaning and clarity of the blessing is so crucial that one must choose the right words, not the clever ones. Rhymes are mostly irrelevant (though the occasional one can bring a smile, especially if it was unplanned).
It is seen as crucial to have considered how you will word your blessing... and to be succinct. Nobody wants to be sitting there all day listening to everyone go on and on, and besides, the person whose cloth is being waulked wants to be able to remember at least the clear essence of everyone's blessing.
They are never written down: there is a strong belief that writing down the blessings would partially capture them on the paper instead of in the cloth.
Similarly, blessings are never spoken out loud before they are sung into the cloth. It is seen as bad luck even to discuss the subject of the blessing you intend to sing: the islanders believe that sentiments spoken aloud for the first time are the most powerful ones.
Once the cloth has been blessed, it is given to its owner. For the rest of their life, they will be judged by their community on how they choose to cut their cloth.