A bothy band is a musical group which comes from the farming culture of nineteenth century Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. At that time agriculture was relatively labour-intensive. As a result large farms often had a small community associated with them, the farm toun. This was made up of married couples who lived in small cottages and single men who lived together in a bothy

Bothy

A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are to be found in remote, mountainous areas of Scotland, northern England, Ireland, and Wales....

, or shelter. In order to entertain themselves and the other members of the toun, the young men of the bothy would hold musical evenings, the bothy nichts, with the music provided by their own impromptu band, the bothy band. A good band might well become known outside the toun, and be in demand for local events such as dances.