SEAVIEW – Feet were tapping and hands were clapping when Men of Worth played at the Peninsula Church Center as part of the 20th Water Music Festival Saturday morning.

The band was a slight departure from the usual classical and chamber music of past festivals. Men of Worth, consisting of the duo of James Keigher and Donnie Macdonald, play traditional and original Celtic music from their homelands of Ireland and Scotland.

“When I put their CD on and heard it, I said ‘Oh wow,'” said Patti Jacobsen, president of the festival’s board of directors, “we’ve got to have them.”

Jacobsen said many people have told her they came to the festival for the first time this year specifically because they heard Men of Worth were playing and wanted to see and hear them.

Even though it was only 10 a.m., the Peninsula Church Center was packed with festival goers. The pair kept the audience entertained not only with their music, but also with stories and jokes about the songs and their experiences, often good-naturedly ribbing each other. The two have been playing together for 18 years.

“Jimmy has been threatening to change our name to ‘Men of Girth’ any time now,” Macdonald said.

“See the price you pay for being the silent one,” answered Keigher, who often played the straight man of the two.

They started off the set with a song called “Land of McLeod,” played only on bodhrans, a hand-held drum played with a stick called a cipin. The lively beat had people nodding their heads in time and tapping their feet.

Next they played “Men of Worth,” a song written by Scottish songwriter Archie Fisher from which they took their name. The song tells of men abandoning the traditional way of life in Scotland to pursue riches in the oil boom of the ’60s and ’70s, only to regret their decision.

Many of their songs tell a tale, a story put to melody. “Patrick’s Street” tells of a sailor who has returned from the sea with his earnings and plans to buy a suit and visit his parents. He does not get far before he meets a pretty young woman who invites him to Patrick’s Street for a dance. After some mild protests, he follows her to the dance. Things progress, as they do, and he wakes up the next morning to discover the woman, his savings, and his clothes gone. He is forced to sneak back to the ship wearing a woman’s skirt and jumper, the only clothes he could find left in the room. Macdonald left it to the audience to figure out the moral of the story.

The duo accompanied the songs with a variety of instruments, including guitar, mando-cello, concertina and banjo.

“Somebody broke into the van and left it there,” Keigher joked about the banjo.

Some of the songs were sung in Gaelic, such as “Mo Run Geal Dileas (My faithful fair one),” a love-song from Macdonald’s Hebrides Island home off the coast of Scotland. Even though the language was unfamiliar, the longing in the words needed no translation.

The band’s ability to connect with the audience was apparent from their loyal following. At one point Keigher broke off in the middle of tuning his guitar.

“Lenore,” he said in surprise. “How are you?” He had recognized a member of the audience.

Lenore Frigaard had traveled from San Leandro, Calif. just to hear them play. She said she enjoys them so much that she has been to seven of their concerts in one year. She first heard them play seven years earlier and has been a fan ever since.

Others in the audience had never heard of the band, but were converts before the end of the concert.

“Wonderful,” said Susan Ivie of Enumclaw. “It’s worth the trip.”

She purchased one of the band’s CDs. Her friend Jan Oertel, who also had never heard of the band, got two.

For one of the last songs, the band once again brought out the bodhrans. They played “Sound the Pibroch,” about the Scottish uprising and ultimate defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie at the battle of Culloden. The stirring beat of the drums called forth images of proud, kilt-clad warriors marching across green fields, the underlying melancholy-tinged melody reminded the listener the soldiers were heading toward their deaths.

At the end of the concert, the band received a standing ovation.

Jacobsen promised Men of Worth would be invited to play at another Water Music Festival, perhaps in 2006. She said the response was so overwhelming they were considering inviting the band back for a special concert.

The band also has an active school program, which they are considering bringing to the area. They visit schools and give presentations highlighting the Celtic culture and history. They teach the students about the various instruments they play, and answer questions. They even teach the students Gaelic choruses to sing.

Keigher said the band would definitely like to return to the Peninsula. This was their first visit, and Keigher said he liked the area so much he was thinking of bringing his family for a vacation. Even though he has traveled the world, he said there are some places that stand out as special. The Peninsula is one of them.

Macdonald simply summed up his Water Festival experience by saying, “This was smashing.”

To find out more about Men of Worth visit their Web site at (www.menofworth.com).