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Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
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5:03 pm - Name
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| Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
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11:02 am - Scottish Folk Songs
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5. Flower Of Scotland
Currently, Scotland is not technically a nation, but a province of Great Britain, and so can have no national anthem. However, if you attend any Scottish international sporting event, most notably the two big sports of football and rugby, you will hear Flower Of Scotland used in this capacity. It is a relatively recent composition, being written by Roy Williamson of The Corries in the 1960s. To me, it perfectly encapsulates the Scottish spirit, both lamenting and defiant. The song deals with the events of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, in which a Scottish army led by Robert The Bruce defeated an English force led by Edward II to regain Scottish territory which had been lost to England and secure Scottish independence.
The song is in English and so requires no translation. When sung at sporting events, the middle verse is usually missed out.
Oh flower of Scotland
When will we see your like again
That fought and died for
Your wee bit hill and glen
And stood against him
Proud Edward's army
And sent him homeward
To think again
The hills are bare now
And autumn leaves lie thick and still
O'er land that is lost now
Which those so dearly held
And stood against him
Proud Edward's army
And sent him homeward
To think again
Those days are passed now
And in the past they must remain
But we can still rise now
And be the nation again
That stood against him
Proud Edward's army
And sent him homeward
To think again
Two versions for you again. The first is from a rugby international in 1990, the second the original version by The Corries.
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| Monday, November 23rd, 2009
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10:54 am - New Pet
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Continuing her talent for impulse buying, Sharon left Pets At Home on Friday evening with a Syrian hamster, while I stuffed all the associated accessories you might need for a Syrian hamster into the boot. We hadn't even got through Pathhead by the time the hamster chewed right through her cardboard box, and some hasty cage-assembling was undertaken inside the car. In the dark. With a combination of pieces of plastic, a purple scarf and some close observation, the hamster made it home and has been settling in well ever since. By Sunday afternoon she had more or less mastered the wheel and eaten an entire bowl of hamster muesli. Photos will no doubt follow soon.
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| Thursday, November 19th, 2009
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7:47 pm - fame at last
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East Lothian News, 20th November
A1 blocked for two hours after three-car crash
A Tranent woman escaped serious injury after she was involved in a triple car smash on the A1 on Sunday.
A Fiant Punto, being driven by a 25 year-old Dunfermline woman, was in collision with a Ford Fiesta, driven by a 28 year-old man from Gordon in Berwickshire (That's me! Woo!) on the road between Old Craighall and Newcraighall Junction on the northbound carriageway at about 7.50pm.
The Punto left the carriageway, went across the central reservation, through a damaged crash barrier, before coming to rest in lane two of the southbound carriageway.
The Fiesta driver stopped in lane one of the northbound carriageway and left his car to help the Punto driver. The Fiesta was then struck by a Hyundai car, being driven by the 26 year-old Tranent woman, causing it to roll over a number of times before it came to a rest in lane two.
The driver of the Punto, who was uninjured, alledgedly failed a roadside breath test and has also been charged with reckless driving.
A report has been sent to the Procurator Fiscal.
The Fiesta driver also escaped uninjured and the Tranent woman was taken by ambulance to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for treatment to minor injuries.
The A1 road northbound was closed from 8.40pm until 11pm until the wreckage was cleared.
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4:03 pm
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Not sure if I'm turning into one of these.
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| Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
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10:02 am
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| Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
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3:16 pm - Scottish Folk Songs
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4. MacPherson's Rant / Lament / Farewell
Variously known by any of the three titles above, this is one of my absolute favourite Scottish folk songs. The song deals with events of 1700, when James MacPherson was executed in Banff. MacPherson had been born illegitimately to a Scottish laird (lord) and gypsy mother. James was brought up in his father's house and was noted for his skill in swordsmanship and in playing the fiddle. After his father was killed trying to take back cows stolen from him by reivers (cattle rustlers), he joined his mother's people. At this time in Scotland, merely being a gypsy was actually a criminal offence, but it was not for this that MacPherson was hanged. He had turned a sort of Robin Hood, robbing markets in Banff, Elgin and Forres, and was finally captured in the market at Keith. He was executed following trial, records of which still exist. On the day of execution, 8 days after trial, it was widely understood that MacPherson was to be repreived. His executioners got around this by bringing forward the time of execution. While awaiting execution, MacPherson is supposed to have written the following verse
"I've spent my time in rioting, debauch'd my health and strength;
I squandered fast as pillage came, and fell to shame at length
But dantonly, and wantonly and rantingly I'll gae;
I'll play a tune, and dance it roun' beneath the gallows tree" around which later versions of this song were based. Tradition recounts that before facing execution, MacPherson gave one last performance on his fiddle before breaking it over his knee and going to his death. The lyrics I've chosen here are the lyrics sung in my personal favourite version, that sung by Hamish Imlach. It follows the traditional verse/chorus/verse structure throughout. Translation is probably not really necessary, as there are no Scots words there, only dialect of English, however I'll add a quick glossary of these words at the end. Fare ye weel ye dark and lonely hills Far awa beneath the sky. Macpherson's time will no be lang on yonder gallows high
(Chorus)
Sae rantinly, sae wantonly,
Sae dantinly gaed he.
He played a tune, an' he danced it roon
a blow the gallows tree
It was by a woman's treacherous hand,
That I was condemned tae dee.
Upon a ledge on a window she stood,
And a blanket she threw ower me.
Chorus
For there's some come here tae see me dee,
An' some tae buy my fiddle
But before that I do part wi' her,
I'll brak her through the middle
Chorus
He took his fiddle in tae baith o' his hands
An he brak' it ower a stane.
Says no anither shall play on thee,
When I am deid an' gane.
Chorus
The reprieve was comin' ower the Brig o' Banff,
Tae set Macpherson free.
Bit they pit the clock a quarter afore
An they hanged him tae the tree.
Scots words -
Awa - Away
Baith - Both
Blow - Below
Brak - Break
Brig - Bridge
Dantinly - Dauntingly
Dee - Die
Deid - Dead
Gaed - Went
Gane - Gone
Lang - Long
Ower - Over
Pit - Put
Rantinly - Angrily
Roon - Around
Stane - Stone
Tae - To
Weel - well
And finally, here's Hamish Imlach giving a cracking rendition, which someone has combined with old stock footage of Scotland.
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11:20 am
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| Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
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10:21 am - Coming To Birkieknowe
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A little film of our first trip to our new home after collecting the keys. Music by legendary Scottish duo Boards Of Canada.
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| Monday, November 9th, 2009
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5:02 pm - Scottish Folk Songs
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3. Fareweel Tae Tarwathie
Fareweel Tae Tarwathie sees us venture up to Aberdeenshire. This is a song from the 19th century, and as such needs no real translation, so I'll leave it as it is and just explain a few minor points. The 'Mormond Hill' mentioned here is a large hill near Fraserburgh, and apparently comes from the Gaelic mor monadh, which simply means 'big hill'. It's an area we'll encounter again soon in song, but not an area I have yet visited. Crimond is a small village in the same area, and Tarwathie a nearby farm. At this time, when times were tough working the land, men could go out on whaling ships to earn money, although the earnings were offset by danger and hardship at sea.
Fareweel tae Tarwathie, adieu, Mormond Hill,
And the dear land o' Crimond, I bid you fareweel.
I am bound now for Greenland and ready to sail,
In hopes to find riches a-hunting the whale.
Our ship is weel-rigged and ready to sail,
Our crew they are anxious to follow the whale,
Where the icebergs do float and the stormy winds blaw,
And the land and the ocean are covered wi' snaw.
The cold coast o' Greenland is barren and bare,
No seed-time nor harvest is ever known there,
And the birds here sing sweetly on mountain and dale,
But there isna a birdie tae sing tae the whale.
There is no habitation for a man to live there,
And the king of that country is the wild Greenland bear,
And there'll be no temptation to tarry long there,
With our ship bumper full we will homeward repair.
There is no shortage of versions of this song around, but I'm going to be lazy again and give you The Corries.
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| Thursday, October 29th, 2009
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9:12 am
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| Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
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10:17 am
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| Monday, October 26th, 2009
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4:57 pm
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It's midnight in the big city. Midnight, in October, in the city, and the streets are empty. There is nothing to indicate October, except for maybe a halloween shop display, because there are no seasons in the city, for there is nothing to reflect them here. No trees, no vegetation to wither or grow. No migrations, for there is nothing here to migrate, and no indications to tell them to do so. There is also no weather in the city. Sometimes the glass is wet with rain, or dry with sun, but clouds and weather systems are cut apart by stone antennae and forced into narrow corridors where they cease. Midnight, but there is no night in the city, for it is never dark. It is perpetual day, the neon sun of midnight reflected in puddles that only exist because there is nothing here yet to part them. No night, and so there are no stars, there is nothing above the city, and nothing below. There is only the city.
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1:40 pm
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| Friday, October 23rd, 2009
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10:04 am
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2. Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond is one of the most popular and well-known Scottish songs, but its meaning is perhaps less well-known. There are a few interpretations of it; I'm going to give my personal favourite as the main one and mention the others in passing. Loch Lomond is a very large loch north of Glasgow, the largest in the British Isles by surface area ( Loch Ness has smaller area but higher volume), and a very popular tourist route. The song Loch Lomond is again about the Jacobite Uprisings, in particular the latter of 1745. Bonnie Prince Charlie had captured the English city of Carlisle during a Jacobite offensive, but was now in retreat. Determined to say that he still held one English city, he left behind a detachment of 400 men to hold the city. Carlisle was soon under siege by English forces and did not hold out long. The reprisals were brutal, with men imprisoned in Carlisle Castle without food or water until their execution, a predicament which led many to lick the walls for moisture. Some of the higher ranking officers were sent to London to be tried for treason and hung, drawn and quartered. Their heads and various body parts were then put on spikes and displayed in various parts of Scotland. The song deals with a man awaiting execution in Carlisle, who laments that he will never see his love again and recalls their happy care-free days around Loch Lomond. By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes
By the beautiful banks and beautiful hillsides Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond Where me and my true love were ever wont tae gae Where me and my true love always loved to go On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond On the beautiful, beautiful banks of Loch Lomond (Chorus)
Oh you tak' the high road and I'll tak the low road You take the high road and I'll take the low road
The 'high road' here is the road over the hills back to Scotland. The 'low road' is death.
An' I'll be in Scotland afore ye,
And I'll be in Scotland before youBut me and my true love will never meet again
But me and my true love will never meet againOn the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond
On the beautiful, beautiful banks of Loch LomondTwas there that we parted in yon shady glen. It was there we parted in a shady valley On the steep, steep side of Ben Lomond On the steep, steep side of Ben Lomond
Ben Lomond is the mountain which rises up out of the Loch to a height of 3200 feet. Where in purple hue, the hielan' hills we view, Where in a purple hue, the Highland hills we view
The 'purple hue' is the colours given to the landscape by heather An' the moon comin' out in the gloamin'. And the moon coming out in the twilight The wee birdies sing, and the wild flowers spring, The small birds sing and the wild flowers spring While in sunshine the waters are sleepin' while in sunshine the waters are sleeping But the broken heart it kens nae second spring again, But the broken heart knows no second spring Tho' the waefu' may cease free their greetin'. Though the woeful may cease crying
These are my two favourite lines. It's a very poetic way of saying that though the crying may stop in time, the pain of the broken heart will never heal.
The potential interpretations of the song mostly centre on the line about the high road and the low road. One suggestion is that the high road is the most important road, where the heads would be displayed on spikes, and the low road is the peasant road. One interpretation suggests that the English took two men and said one could live and one could die, and the song is the lamentation of the one left behind, whose head would be on the 'high road'. Another suggests that the 'true love' was there in Carlisle to watch the execution, and that she would take the high road over the hills home, while he would take the 'low road' of death. Whichever interpretation you prefer, it is a beautiful and haunting song.
I have two versions for you today, the first the traditional interpretation by The Corries, who in my view were the finest of all Scottish folk performers. They also wrote the Scottish national anthem, which we will come to at a later time.
However, another version is more commonly known today. No-one divides opinion in Scotland quite like Runrig. Their rather more joyful rendition is perhaps at odds with the song's meaning, but it has turned it into a kind of anthem which you will often hear sung at sporting events. Personally I prefer The Corries, but Runrig are now so heavily associated with the song that it would be foolish to leave them out.
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| Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
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10:15 am - Scottish Folk Songs
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I thought I would do a series of posts on traditional Scottish folk songs, since I'm interested in them myself and it might be of interest to other people. Scotland has a long and rich history, from the Pictish tribes who held back the Roman empire through the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, to the union of the crowns in 1603, the Act of Union of 1707, to the Jacobite uprisings of the 18th century to devolution in 1998, and the possibility of an independent Scotland again in the 21st century. The ballads and folk songs of Scotland were for centuries a way of recording and transmitting these past events and characters before literacy was widespread. By the 18th and 19th centuries, many writers were collecting these songs into written volumes, which is how most come to us today. For each song, I'll try to give some brief historical background, translate where necessary and hopefully find some examples for you to listen to as well. I'll try to link in some wikipedia articles for further detailed reading for those so inclined.
1. The Highland Widow's Lament
This particular version of the song deals with the events of the 1745 Jacobite Uprising, although the song itself is older. An earlier version was published in 1715 dealing with the first Jacobite Uprising, and Robert Burns believed it originally dealt with the massacre of Glencoe.
Oh, I am come to the low countrie,I have come to the low country
"The low country" here can be understood as Lowland Scotland, ie south of the Highlands Och on, och on, och rie!Oh woe, oh woe is me
This line is basically untranslatable, but is an expression of deep sorrow.
This is the best I could do without breaking the flow of the song. Without a penny in my purse,Without a penny in my purse To buy a meal to me.To buy myself a meal
It was na sae in the Highland hills,This wasn't so in the Highland hills Och on, och on, och rie!Oh woe, oh woe is me Nae woman in the country wideNo woman the country wide Sae happy was as me.Was as happy as me
For then I had a score o' kye,For then I had a herd of cattle Och on, och on, och rie!Oh woe, oh woe is me Feeding on yon hills so high,Feeding on those hills so high And giving milk to me.And giving milk to me
And there I had threescore o' yowes,And there I had threescore of sheep
The actual number of 'threescore' is 60, but that would rather ruin the poetry of the song. Och on, och on, och rie!Oh woe, oh woe is me Skipping on yon bonnie knowes,Skipping on those beautiful hills And casting woo' to me.And giving wool to me
I was the happiest of a' the clan,I was the happiest of all the clan Sair, sair may I repine;Sore, sore I weep For Donald was the brawest man,For Donald was the finest man And Donald he was mine.And Donald he was mine
Till Charlie Stuart cam' at last,Sae far to set us free;From so far to set us free My Donald's arm was wanted thenMy Donald's arm was wanted then
Not literally his arm of course, but his efforts in fighting
For Scotland and for me.For Scotland and for me
Their waefu' fate what need I tell?What need I tell you of their woeful fate? Right to the wrang did yield:The wrong overcame the right My Donald and his country fellMy Donald and his country fell Upon Culloden field.
Och on, O Donald O!Oh woe, oh Donald Och on, och on, och rie!Oh woe, oh woe is me Nae woman in the warld wideNo woman in the world wide Sae wretched now as me. Is now so wretched as me
The most commonly heard version of the song today is from the opening credits of 'The Wicker Man'. Here they use Anglicised lyrics, simplify its title to 'Opening Music' and medley it with some other music, but it is an excellent performance. These are the lyrics used in this particular version.
O, I am come to the low country
Och on, och on, och rie!
Without a penny in my purse
To buy a meal for me
One time I had a hundred sheep
Och on, och on, och rie!
Skippin' on yon narrow creek
And growin' wool for me
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| Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
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2:31 pm
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1:20 pm
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| Monday, October 12th, 2009
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10:15 am
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| Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
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4:30 pm
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Fly To Live, Do Or Die
I witnessed some harsh realities of nature yesterday when two ravens took down and killed a pigeon at the edge of the Meadows. At first it was difficult to distinguish if it was an attack or some frenzied mating ritual, the pigeon flapping and clawing for freedom while stuck under the weight of the larger bird. One raven simply stood by, the other kept the pigeon pinned and delivered savage tears to the feathers and flesh. Tired by the struggle, or simply losing the will to fight for life, the pigeon became still save for an occasional half-hearted flurry of wings, and finally moved not at all.
Covert Cat Theft
The neighbour's cat has become a regular visitor to our back door. I've taken to giving him two small cat biscuits upon each visit which he seems to enjoy. Having given him his usual and said goodbye, I came in and told Sharon the cat was at the back again. When I went out later to fetch logs from the shed to put on the fire, the cat was still there, tucking into a whole bowl of Science Plan cat food that she had sneaked out to place.
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