One handful of earth

What a small-town Scottish folk festival tells us about belonging

Denis is the town’s last diddler. Or, perhaps more accurately, the last diddler willing to put his skills to the test in the town’s annual folk festival.

We are in St Rufus Church in the market town of Keith, in rural north-east Scotland. A trestle table has been set up in a corner of the kirk for the competition judges to sit behind. Facing them is a si…