a drunkard's wasted wine

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-12-21T15:40:00

2009-12-21T15:40:17Z

Insulation arrives!

What was once a shower room is now completely demolished, and so is the bedroom wall. That wasn't particularly planned, it just kind of caved in.

The new boundaries of the room are laid out.

The back wall will become built-in wardrobes

The new open kitchen/living room with the wall down and the wooden beams open.

The debris is fast piling up outside.

Looking up our driveway. Even it needs work as it's very uneven.

What was once the shower-room window

The back of the house and the stream that runs through our garden.

What was the shower-room window, temporarily covered with an insulation sheet.

Looking down the driveway.

Out with the old...

Prior to re-roofing. The solar panel is effectively useless and will be removed.

Bedroom wall strapped and ready for insulation to be inserted.

Hole in the bedroom ceiling looking up to another bedroom upstairs.

The library. It currently takes a lot of imagination to see it.

The wooden beam ceiling. The wires will be removed soon leaving the roof clear.

The living room fireplace. It's being replaced too.

And from a bit further back.

The temporary electrical supply

A skylight in the ceiling. We're dreaming of having a mezzanine platform reached by a spiral stair, with a telescope trained at the night sky. OK, maybe that last bit is just me.

Kitchen/living room walls with new damp-proofing (the dark plastering on the bottom) and brand new pipes for our new heating system.

Some of the bricks in the living room chimney.

Sharon imagines what the bedroom will look like when it's done.

Looking down the stairs. Even this will be changing, with the bannister coming down and more of the lower part forming an internal wall.

The upstairs bathroom, after I removed the wood panelling with a crowbar and an axe.

Don't you open that TRAPDOOOOOR...... cos there's something down there

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-12-21T13:58:00

2009-12-21T13:58:59Z

Sharon and Phil walking down The Row in Longformacus

Sheep on the Lammermuir Hills

Icy conditions on the road to Watchwater Reservoir. An icy hill forced us to turn back when the car slid backwards down it.

Signposts on the Southern Upland Way, a famous walking route across Scotland.

Winterlands. I hope I'm not breaching Australian copyright by using that term :P

Winterlands

Convergence of two streams

Peacocks in Longformacus. More from them later.

Kirk Of The Lammermuir in Cranshaws, an interesting late 19th century building.

Sharon begins a snow adventure.

Winter sun

And now back to those peacocks. There were lots of them wandering around by the road from Longformacus to Cranshaws.

Our new home at Birkieknowe

The stream that runs through our garden.

The road between Longformacus and Duns.

The new car provides precious warmth

A blizzard strikes us at Duns and the drive home becomes rather difficult. At one point we slide down an ice hill, trying to avoid abandoned cars who had failed to climb up it. The brakes were of no use, the handbrake the same, and even the steering was little help, but we made it back safely in the end.

Our rented cottage outside Gordon on our return.

Leo ventures off into the snow, a new experience for him.

It was time to fetch in coal and logs from the shed and stay inside with the fire.

Outside, the snow continued a little longer and then calmed, leaving us the winterlands.

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-12-21T09:38:00

2009-12-21T09:38:12Z

As you may or may not be aware, this year's christmas number one in the UK is the 16 year-old 'Killing In The Name Of' by Rage Against The Machine. This is thanks to a campaign to prevent Simon Cowell's latest here today, quite literally gone tomorrow X Factor winner chalking him up a 5th straight christmas number one. And this is where my problems with Rage Against The Machine begin.

First there is the irony that a song with the refrain "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" has reached number one primarily because lots of people did exactly what they were told in buying it. This has long been a problem with Rage Against The Machine, who have done a roaring trade in T-shirts with this slogan. A home-made t-shirt with that slogan, that might just about carry. But a pre-printed, probably manufactured in China, Taiwan, Honduras or any of the other countless poor countries routinely exploited for cheap labour, t-shirt... isn't that just consumerism? And aren't you supposed to be against that?

Some people think it's not their fault, it's the record label that does the merchandising. And here is perhaps the richest irony of all. Rage Against The Machine are signed to Epic, a subsidiary of Sony BMI, one of the largest media conglomerates in the cosmos. And Simon Cowell's latest buffoon, whose name I genuinely cannot remember, guess what giant media conglomerate his newly-won recording contract is with?

So thanks to this stupid chart battle, Sony have managed to shift quite a few more units than they were expecting this christmas, by playing themselves off with themselves. So whether you bought one or the other, well done, you just did what they told ya.

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-12-17T16:16:00

2009-12-17T16:16:06Z

The skip arrives.

The living room with some plaster stripped and ceiling beams exposed.

The living room/kitchen wall makes its last stand.

Living room fireplace after the ceiling came down. Don't worry, it was supposed to. We're going to have an open ceiling with the beams and roof timbers exposed.

The wall's last stand from the kitchen side. Within 24 hours the two rooms would become one.

The little vestibule, which would also soon be gone.

Material piles up in the bedroom.

And is disposed of outside.

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-12-17T15:39:00

2009-12-17T15:39:36Z

"Silver is just another gold"
- Jesu

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-12-09T14:13:00

2009-12-09T14:13:30Z

The renovation of Birkieknowe begins...

The kitchen as it was.

The living room as it was.

Downstairs bedroom as it was.

Sharon enjoys her new home.

Downstairs bedroom

Looking through from the downstairs bedroom

Wardrobe in downstairs bedroom

Works begins...

Original state of the living room.

Up comes the carpet.

to reveal a concrete floor.

The wardrobe is pulled apart

The kitchen floor is revealed... sort of.

Kitchen units start to come out.

Wave bye-bye to all this...

Kitchen debris starts to pile up in the living room.

Sharon surveys the wreckage.

I was enjoying myself with the sledgehammer now...

Electrician's notes on the wall.

Goodbye kitchen.

Is this a porch I see before me?

Not for long!!

Die porch die!!!

Raaaaarrrggghhh!!!!

Meanwhile, inside, Sharon is also hard at work.

Now where was I? Oh yes.... raaaaaarrrrggghhhhhhh!!!!

The porch didn't stand a chance.

The finished job (for now).

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-12-09T11:57:00

2009-12-09T11:57:42Z

It's been a little while since I last updated with photos, so this lot cover several weeks.

A Border Sunset

Black Metal Forests Of Doom

My old car, before it got killed in the crash.

Our New Home At Birkieknowe

Cat Interlude

Return To Scheduled Programming... Our New Home At Birkieknowe

The New Car

Returning To Longformacus... The Area Around Our New Home

In A Graveyard I Have Been...

I Dreamed That Body Was Me

Name

2009-11-25T17:03:34Z

My name is Innes, this is the badge of my clan. Its motto means 'be faithful'.

Sharon wearing her engagement ring

The Clan Innes goes back to 1160, in the region around Elgin. The names derives from the Gaelic Innis, meaning island or island-dweller. There is no place on earth more beautiful than the Scottish islands.

The Outer Hebrides seen from the Isle of Skye

My name is Andrew, it means manly. And so my name could be understood to be a man who is an island, who would isolate himself from others, and that is appropriate in its way.

Forest in the Ettrick Valley

And so it could be said that I have settled into myself, happy with who and where I am and contented in life. And anyone saying that would be right.

Me at Killikrankie, taken by Sharon

Scottish Folk Songs

2009-11-24T11:02:57Z

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.

New Pet

2009-11-23T10:54:12Z

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.

fame at last

2009-11-19T19:47:00Z

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.

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-11-19T16:03:00

2009-11-19T16:03:36Z

Not sure if I'm turning into one of these.

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-11-17T10:02:00

2009-11-17T10:02:27Z

So it's farewell to my car, which made its final journey on Sunday evening. I was driving through to Edinburgh to visit Dan, about to reach the end of the A1 close to Fort Kinnaird. I was driving along at 50 on the left lane when suddenly someone smashed into me from the right. Their car then shot off towards the central reservation while I struggled for control and managed to keep going, before hitting the brakes and coming to a stop. I ran over to the other car, which was on the opposite carriageway facing into oncoming traffic. It was a girl inside who didn't seem to have much idea what had just happened, but was ok. I flagged down a recovery truck driver who happened to be passing and he called the police. We all sat in the cab of the truck, and the girl kept apologising and trying to hug me. She said she had been sending a text message at the time. It was also fairly clear she was drunk. While we were sitting there, there was a huge smash. I jumped down and ran to the roadside to see that another car had driven straight into the back of my stationary car. The police later said she didn't even brake, just was not looking at the road ahead at all. She turned her car right over a full 360 degrees and landed back on her wheels, but got away with a few cuts and bruises. My car... is dead. Total write-off. It would have been fine to drive away after the initial accident, but the second totally destroyed it.

The insurance company have been, well, an insurance company. They won't provide a courtesy car, as they only do that when the damage is repairable. They could claim a rental car from the other person's insurance, but this could take "weeks or months". In the meantime, we live on a farm, we cannot get anywhere without a car. Yesterday my dad drove us to the garage to buy a new car so we can keep on the move. We got a second-hand Peugeot 206 Sport, with a pretty nice 2.0 diesel engine. Unfortunately it comes out of our house renovation budget, and the derisory sum that is likely to come back from the insurance at some distant point in the future will probably barely cover a quarter of it. But it is a nice car.

Scottish Folk Songs

2009-11-11T15:16:27Z

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.

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-11-11T11:20:00

2009-11-11T11:30:34Z

Some previous films that I've thrown together. I tend not to make films that are about anything, it's really just an extension of photography.

The City Of Dreadful Night (2007)
Pretty weak premise of combining the lines of the epic Victorian poem 'The City Of Dreadful Night' with some footage of Linlithgow Palace, with music by Vidna Obmana.

Blood (2007)
The only one containing any semblance of a 'story', although really it's just Sharon wandering around Cramond, with music by Comus, Deathpile and Brian Eno.

Circling (2007)
Just a collection of moving images from around Edinburgh over music by Angel Of Decay.

Cats On Crack (2007)
A very serious investigation.

Coming To Birkieknowe

2009-11-10T10:22:46Z

A little film of our first trip to our new home after collecting the keys. Music by legendary Scottish duo Boards Of Canada.

Scottish Folk Songs

2009-11-09T17:02:29Z

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.

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-10-29T09:12:00

2009-10-29T09:20:12Z

I'd hate for our overseas friends to miss out on the joy of Aleksandr Orlov, but thanks to youtube, they don't have to!

Aleksandr makes his tv debut

"Not even sound same!"

Sergei makes his debut

My personal favourite... meerkat puppet theatre

And the most current

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-10-27T10:17:00

2009-10-27T10:17:25Z

On Friday we get the keys for our new home in Longformacus. Our new home lies, as the title of an old book I have on the area, 'in the lap of the Lammermuirs'. The Lammermuir Hills are a large area of high moorland which you can see described as an "untouched wilderness". This was our weekend adventure in the area surrounding our new home.

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-10-26T16:57:00

2009-10-26T16:57:53Z

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.

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-10-26T13:40:00

2009-10-26T09:57:04Z

A work in progress this one. Gradually working through my film collection and various rentals, so I should have this list complete by about 2028. By which time I'll have changed my mind.

Alice In Wonderland
1966, dir Jonathan Miller

Altered States
1980, dir Ken Russell

Apocalypse Now
1979, dir Francis Ford Coppola

Blade Runner
1982, dir Ridley Scott

The Blair Witch Project
1999, dir Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez

The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari
1920, dir Robert Wiene

The Call Of Cthulhu
2005, dir Andrew Leman

Carnival Of Souls
1962, dir Herk Harvey

The Company Of Wolves
1984, dir Neil Jordan

Cradle Of Fear
2001, dir Alex Chandon

The Cremator
1968, dir Juraj Herz

Decasia - The State Of Decay
2002, dir Bill Morrison

Dracula
1992, dir Francis Ford Coppola

Eraserhead
1977, dir David Lynch

Eyes Wide Shut
1999, dir Stanley Kubrick

The Fog
1979, dir John Carpenter

Heavy Water - A Film For Chernobyl
2006, dir Phil Grabsky, David Bickerstaff

Last Year At Marienbad
1961, dir Alain Resnais

Marketa Lazarova
1967, dir Frantisek Vlacil

Night Of The Demon
1957, dir Jacques Tourneur

Nosferatu
1922, dir FW Murnau

Pitfall
1962, dir Hiroshi Teshigahara

Ring
1996, dir Hideo Nakata

Russian Ark
2002, dir Alexandr Sokurov

Videodrome
1982, dir David Cronenberg

The Wicker Man
1973, dir Robin Hardy

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-10-23T10:04:00

2009-10-23T09:04:24Z

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 you

But me and my true love will never meet again

But me and my true love will never meet again

On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond

On the beautiful, beautiful banks of Loch Lomond

Twas 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.

Scottish Folk Songs

2009-10-22T09:14:40Z

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 wide

No 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,

Until Charles Edward Stuart came at last
This is 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'

Sae far to set us free;

From so far to set us free

My Donald's arm was wanted then

My 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 fell

My Donald and his country fell

Upon Culloden field.

Upon Culloden Field
The Battle of Culloden was the final decisive battle of the conflict

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 wide

No 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

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-10-20T14:31:00

2009-10-20T13:31:36Z

"The lowlands a', baith great an' sma,
Wi' mony a Lord and Laird, hae
Declar'd for Scotia's king an' law"

Pitlochry

The Tummel Valley

Autumn Around River Garry

Autumn Around River Garry

Autumn Around River Garry

Autumn Around River Garry

Autumn Around River Garry

Autumn In The Tummel Valley

The Road to The Isles
"By heather tracks wi' heaven in their wiles"

October Skies

The Queen's View

Misty Hillside

Silver Waters

Time

Coffee

Dark Forest

Table Guest

Table Guest

Via Aberfeldy

Lime Kiln

Lime Kiln Walls

Atop The Lime Kiln

October Skies

Aberfeldy

Scalliwags

Dunkeld

Blue

Dunkeld Square

Stone Carving

Fountain in Dunkeld Square

Dunkeld Square

Dunkeld Cathedral

Through Dunkeld Streets

Sunset on the River Tay

Sharon on the Tay

An Autumn Style

Dunkeld Sunset

All Of Scotland

Through The Park In Autumn

Dunkeld Sunset

Sunset Through The Woods

Long Autumn Shadows

Dunkeld Sunset

Arch

Dunkeld Sunset

Dunkeld Square

Candle

Waiting

The Enchanted Forest

in_thy_bounty @ 2009-10-20T13:20:00

2009-10-15T15:43:04Z

"Tá gaotha an gheimhridh sgallta fuar,
Thart thimchioll an Drom'-mhóir,
Ach ann sna halla tá siothchán,
A pháiste gheal a stóir.
Ta gach sean-duilleog dul air crith,
ach is og an beannglan thú"

Pitlochry

The Misty Forest From A Guesthouse Window

Sharon Prepares To Leave

Misty Pictish Hills

As The Crow Flies

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves

Red Like The Falling Leaves

Black Cat

Autumn Leaves

The Road To Rannoch

"Oh, I am come to the low countrie,
Och on, och on, och rie!
Without a penny in my purse,
To buy a meal to me.

It was na sae in the Highland hills,
Och on, och on, och rie!
Nae woman in the country wide
Sae happy was as me.

For then I had a score o' kye,
Och on, och on, och rie!
Feeding on yon hills so high,
And giving milk to me."

At Lunch In The Broken Sunlight

Essential Diet

In An Autumn's Glow

Engaged In An Autumn's Glow

Concern In An Autumn's Glow

Autumn In The Tummel Valley

The Birds Of The Valley

Autumn In The Tummel Valley

Autumn In The Tummel Valley

Autumn In The Tummel Valley

Autumn On The Road To Rannoch

Autumn On The Road To Rannoch

Autumn On The Road To Rannoch

At Rest In Rannoch Station

Rannoch Moor

Comin' Doon The Stairs

Raineach

Rannoch Station

For Sale

Trespass

Roads

Rail

Rannoch Moor

Heart of Scotland

Rannoch Moor

The Yellow Road

The Yellow Road

Parking

Loch Rannoch Sunset

Loch Rannoch and Schiehallion

Parking

By Kinloch Rannoch

By Kinloch Rannoch

Fire

Loch Rannoch Sunset

Loch Rannoch Sunset

Loch Rannoch Sunset

Autumn Waters

From Loch To Glen

Wild And Free