New FAQ

[Craig Cockburn]

I have compiled an update to the Scottish section of the
soc.culture.celtic FAQ and expect to have it finalised in the next few
days by merging it with the old version and updating that at the same
time. The update was compiled by trawling my outgoing mail and news
since August 94 when the last FAQ was done, so hopefully it'll be
representative of the group's main questions.

I propose to launch this as the soc.culture.scottish FAQ at the same
time.

--
Craig Cockburn ("coburn"), Du\n E/ideann, Alba. (Edinburgh, Scotland)
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~craig/
Sgri\obh thugam 'sa Gha\idhlig ma 'se do thoil e.

[Craig Cockburn]

RE: soc.culture.scottish FAQ

Ann an sgriobhainn <4ovqn4$f...@roch.zetnet.co.uk>, sgriobh Charles
Mcgregor <chi...@zetnet.co.uk>
>
>I dunno Mike we let *you* off with a lot and BTW you obviously didn't
>read Craig's posts(and he didn't even include his most anti posts).
>
I included them all, if you have any others then I'd be delighted to see
them.

The FAQ is now revised and extended and I'm happy to take more entries
for the next few days. Here's the current contents (total is over 90
pages). I've also updated the older stuff as much as I could, including
all the dialing code changes and adding URLs where known.

3.1 Scotland's name
3.2 Celtic background
3.3 Where can I get Gaelic books?
3.4 How can I learn Gaelic?
3.5 Where can I get Gaelic music and words to Gaelic tunes, info on
Gaelic
3.6 Are there any files I can access for more information on Gaelic
3.7 Scottish music radio programmes
3.8 How can I get Gaelic TV/radio programmes
3.9 Info on Robert Burns
3.10 Info on cooking and haggis
3.11 Where can I get haggis?
3.12 What is the Scots language. Who do I contact for more info?
3.13 On-line Scots language info
3.14 What Scottish Record labels are there
3.15 How do I find out about Folk events in Scotland which might be on?
3.16 When are the major Scottish folk festivals
3.17 Where's a good place to buy folk records?
3.18 How do I trace my Scottish ancestry?
3.19 Any Scottish songs on-line?
3.20 What's the number of the Scottish Tourist Board ?
3.21 Politics: Scotland and the UK/devolution/independence
3.22 When are Burns night and St Andrews Day.
3.23 How do I find out about Highland Games or Mods in my area. What is
a Mod?
3.24 Information on Runrig
3.25 Information on Capercaillie
3.26 Scottish Cultural classes (music, singing, language, history etc)
3.27 Gaelic wedding blessing
3.28 Dalriada Celtic society BBS
3.29 The Gaelic for "Frequently Asked Questions"
3.30 Edinburgh Festival Fringe
3.31 Living Tradition.
3.32 Seeing Underground Edinburgh
3.33 Primary Literary figures
3.34 Scottish Guide books.
3.35 Primary folk music pubs
3.36 What is a Ceilidh
3.37 Best Scottish pubs
3.38 Scottish Kings
3.39 Attitudes towards Gaelic TV in Scotland
3.40 What does Craig's signature mean?
3.41 Where can I buy a kilt/Highland accessories
3.42 Scottish song books
3.43 Books for learning the fiddle
3.44 Whisky (whiskey)
3.45 The Scottish Youth Hostels Association
3.46 The Ramblers Association
3.47 Books for hillwalkers
3.48 What is a Munro/Corbett?
3.49 Legal questions
3.50 Gaelic festivals
3.51 Gaelic playgroups
3.52 Scotch
3.53 Plaid
3.54 Scottish URLs
3.55 alt.scottish.clans
3.56 Edinburgh Folk Festival
3.57 Postgraduate courses in Celtic Studies
3.58 What is Scottish Country Dancing?
3.59 Scottish Wedding vows in Gaelic and English
3.60 Scottish Wedding Information
3.61 Declaration of Arbroath
3.62 Gaelic newspapers
3.63 Traditional Bread recipie (Gaelic and English)
3.64 European Community Folk Culture
3.65 Scots Gaelic products and catalog
3.66 Dog commands in Gaelic
3.67 Guide to Gaelic Scotland
3.68 Kirking of the tartans
3.69 Cape Breton music mailing list
3.70 Learning Scots
3.71 What's on
3.72 Robert Burns links
3.73 Scottish music information
3.74 The Celtic Cross
3.75 Quangos
3.76 OBEs, honorific titles, etc
3.77 Waulking songs
3.78 Puirt a beul
3.79 Gaelic psalm singing
3.80 Piobaireachd / Pibroch
3.81 On-line Gaelic lessons
3.82 Encyclopedia of the Celts
3.83 New Scottish Local Authorities
3.84 Oldest Datable Gaelic Song
3.85 What is "Crest of the Clan Chief" in Gaelic
3.86 How mutually intelligible are Scots and Irish Gaelic
3.87 Commercial Scots Gaelic translation service
3.88 Scottish newspapers on-line
3.89 Braveheart information
3.90 Intro to Scottish Music
3.91 Scottish Independence information
3.92 Scottish Yellow Pages
3.93 Understanding Scottish Dance music
3.94 Article on History of Language in Scotland
3.95 Article on Scottish Step Dancing
3.96 Address to a Haggis - Robert Burns
3.97 Scottish Text Archive
3.98 How to get scot.* hierarchy groups
3.99 Fiddle styles
3.100 Frequently requested songs
3.100.1 My Bonnie Moorhen
3.100.2 Theid mi Dhachaidh - from Rob Roy
3.100.3 Sileas puirt a beul
3.100.4 Amazing Grace
3.100.5 Eilean nam Bothan
3.100.6 Runrig - Skye
3.100.7 Oh wee white rose of Scotland
3.100.8 Loch Lomond
3.100.9 William McBride
3.100.10 Fields of Athenry
3.100.11 Doon in the Wee Room
3.100.12 An teid thu leam a Mhairi
3.100.13 Ailein duinn - from Rob Roy
3.100.14 Ca the yowes
3.100.15 Alasdair Mhic Cholla Ghasda
3.100.16 Nighean nan geug
3.100.17 Boneparte

[Craig Cockburn]

Here it is - comments and changes welcome. Will try to convert this to
HTML over the next few weeks.

Thanks to all who helped with this FAQ, it was far from being a solo
effort.

Alba - Scotland
---------------

Contents

[1] Scotland's name
[2] Celtic background
[3] Where can I get Gaelic books?
[4] How can I learn Gaelic?
[5] Where can I get Gaelic music and words to Gaelic tunes, info on
Gaelic
[6] Are there any files I can access for more information on Gaelic
[7] Scottish music radio programmes
[8] How can I get Gaelic TV/radio programmes
[9] Info on Robert Burns
[10] Info on cooking and haggis
[11] Where can I get haggis?
[12] What is the Scots language. Who do I contact for more info?
[13] On-line Scots language info
[14] What Scottish Record labels are there
[15] How do I find out about Folk events in Scotland which might be on?
[16] When are the major Scottish folk festivals
[17] Where's a good place to buy folk records?
[18] How do I trace my Scottish ancestry?
[19] Any Scottish songs on-line?
[20] What's the number of the Scottish Tourist Board ?
[21] Politics: Scotland and the UK/devolution/independence
[22] When are Burns night and St Andrews Day.
[23] How do I find out about Highland Games or Mods in my area. What is
a Mod?
[24] Information on Runrig
[25] Information on Capercaillie
[26] Scottish Cultural classes (music, singing, language, history etc)
[27] Gaelic wedding blessing
[28] Dalriada Celtic society BBS
[29] The Gaelic for "Frequently Asked Questions"
[30] Edinburgh Festival Fringe
[31] Living Tradition.
[32] Seeing Underground Edinburgh
[33] Primary Literary figures
[34] Scottish Guide books.
[35] Primary folk music pubs
[36] What is a Ceilidh
[37] Best Scottish pubs
[38] Scottish Kings
[39] Attitudes towards Gaelic TV in Scotland
[40] What does Craig's signature mean?
[41] Where can I buy a kilt/Highland accessories
[42] Scottish song books
[43] Books for learning the fiddle
[44] Whisky (whiskey)
[45] The Scottish Youth Hostels Association
[46] The Ramblers Association
[47] Books for hillwalkers
[48] What is a Munro/Corbett?
[49] Legal questions
[50] Gaelic festivals
[51] Gaelic playgroups
[52] Scotch
[53] Plaid
[54] Scottish URLs
[55] alt.scottish.clans
[56] Edinburgh Folk Festival
[57] Postgraduate courses in Celtic Studies
[58] What is Scottish Country Dancing?
[59] Scottish Wedding vows in Gaelic and English
[60] Scottish Wedding Information
[61] Declaration of Arbroath
[62] Gaelic newspapers
[63] Traditional Bread recipie (Gaelic and English)
[64] European Community Folk Culture
[65] Scots Gaelic products and catalog
[66] Dog commands in Gaelic
[67] Guide to Gaelic Scotland
[68] Kirking of the tartans
[69] Cape Breton music mailing list
[70] Learning Scots
[71] What's on
[72] Robert Burns links
[73] Scottish music information
[74] The Celtic Cross
[75] Quangos
[76] OBEs, honorific titles, etc
[77] Waulking songs
[78] Puirt a beul
[79] Gaelic psalm singing
[80] Piobaireachd / Pibroch
[81] On-line Gaelic lessons
[82] Encyclopedia of the Celts
[83] New Scottish Local Authorities
[84] Oldest Datable Gaelic Song
[85] What is "Crest of the Clan Chief" in Gaelic
[86] How mutually intelligible are Scots and Irish Gaelic
[87] Commercial Scots Gaelic translation service
[88] Getting a job in Scotland
[89] Scottish newspapers on-line
[90] Intro to Scottish Music
[91] Scottish Independence information
[92] Scottish Yellow Pages
[93] Understanding Scottish Dance music
[94] Article on History of Language in Scotland
[95] Article on Scottish Step Dancing
[96] Address to a Haggis - Robert Burns
[97] Scottish Text Archive
[98] How to get scot.* hierarchy groups
[99] Fiddle styles
[100] Frequently requested songs
[101] Shetland and Orkney info
[102] Braveheart information
[103] Celtic knotwork and art

---===<<< The FAQ >>>===---

[1] Scotland's name

Scotland gets its name from the Scots, or Scotti who first arrived
in Argyll in the late 3rd to mid 4th centuries AD. It was not until
about 500AD that they built up a sizeable colony though. The Scots
spoke Irish, not Scots. Scots is a Germanic language like English,
described later.

[2] Celtic background

It is incorrect to think of Scotland as a wholly Celtic country. Since
the first millenium BC, Scotland has been a place of multiple languages
and this tradition continues today. First of all it was Pictish and
British; then Gaelic, Norse and Scots came and today it's English,
Scots and Gaelic. Nearly all of Scotland was once Gaelic speaking
except Orkney, Shetland and Caithness which had a variety of Norse
until recent times and East Lothian which was settled by the Angles.
Galloway had a Gaelic community which became separated from the Gaelic
speaking Highlands and Gaelic was still in use until about the 17th
century in Galloway. "Poets, scholars and writers in Lowland Scotland
up until the 16th century readily acknowledged Gaelic to be the true
and original Scottish language. For Walter Kennedy 'it suld be al trew
Scottis mennis lede': ('Flyting with Dunbar' c.1500)" : section quoted
from "Gaelic: a past and future prospect", Kenneth Mackinnon. Gaelic is
a Celtic language, like Irish.

Other notable reads include anything by the late Prof Kenneth Jackson,
particularly "A Celtic Miscellany", any of John Prebble's books (ie
"1000
years of Scottish History") or Nigel Tranter ("The Story of Scotland")

[3] Where can I get Gaelic books?

The Gaelic Books Council stocks every Gaelic book in print
including prose, peotry, songs, music, children's material etc.
They have a catalogue.

Address:
An Comann Leabhraichean, The Gaelic books council,
An Roinn Cheilteach, Dept of Celtic,
Oilthigh Ghlaschu, University of Glasgow,
Glaschu, G12 8QQ Glasgow G12 8QQ.
tel: 0141 339 8855

Note: All Gaelic addresses can be used fine provided the postcode is
written.

[4] How can I learn Gaelic?
Join the Gaelic learners association. They can advise about books,
learners near you, classes, correspondence courses etc. They are called
Comann an Luchd-Ionnsachaidh. This is abbreviated to CLI and prounounced
CLEE.
Motto: "The voice of Gaelic Learners". CLI has members around the world.

Address:
3 High Street, Dingwall, Ross-shire IV15 9HL
Tel/Fax : 01349 862820 (+[44] 1349 862820)

WWW: http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/buidhnean/cli/

Also join GAELIC-L, an e-mail list for all 3 Gaelics.
Details elsewhere in this FAQ
Send a mail to list...@irlearn.ucd.ie containing the line
sub Gaelic-L yourgivenname yoursurname
to join

Suggestions for learners:

Teach Yourself Gaelic (book,tape) author: Boyd Robertson.
16.99 pounds for both. ISBN 0-340-55925-X. Book alone is 7.99
(ISBN 0-340-55923-3)

Speaking Our Language (workbooks, tapes, videos), published by
Canan
(email: ca...@smo.uhi.ac.uk). Highly recommended for complete
beginners
through to upper intermediate levels. The entire course covers 4
series,
each containing 18 programmes with each programme approx 25
mins.

Everyday Gaelic (book) author: Morag MacNeill (intermediate
level)

Gaidhlig Bheo: Correspondence course, run by The National
Extension
College, 18 Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge Tel: (01223) 316644
Fax: (01223) 313586

Gaelic/Highland/Music/Singing courses (1-2 weeks long)
Sabhal Mor Ostaig, An Teanga, Sleite, Isle of Skye IV44 8RQ,
Scotland tel: 01471 844 373
Email: ga...@smo.uhi.ac.uk
(Sleite is pronounced "Slate")

[5] Where can I get Gaelic music and words to Gaelic tunes, info on
Gaelic

Contact An Comunn Gaidhealach, 109 Sraid na h-Eaglais, Inbhir Nis,
IV1 1EY. They have a lot of Gaelic music and maintain a list
of every Gaelic choir in Scotland. Currently the only Gaelic
choirs outside Scotland are in London, Sydney and Vancouver.
An Comunn also has an American branch (see international
section of this FAQ at the end)

[6] Are there any files I can access for more information on Gaelic?
See http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/

See the Gaelic-L archives
http://yeats.ucs.csufresno.edu

Or go back to the Gaelic Homepage
http://sunsite.unc.edu/gaelic/gaelic.html

[7] Scottish music radio programmes

In Scotland:
Radio Scotland (MW= Medium Wave 810, FM = 92.4 to 94.7)
Sat: 7-8pm Take the floor (FM,MW): 8-10pm "Travelling Folk"
(FM,MW)
10-midnight: "Celtic Horizons" (FM,MW) (Fiona Ritchie)

In the US: The Thistle and Shamrock. This is hosted by Fiona
Ritchie.
There is an on-line list of stations carrying this programme -
ftp://celtic.stanford.edu/pub/thistle.list.
The list is maintained by Pat Murphy (pmu...@nrao.edu) and
posted
regularly to the rec.music.celtic group

The T&S has a brochure that gives some background on Fiona Ritchie and
the
show, and includes information about their Newsletter, Playlists, and
Souvenirs -- T-shirts, a pin, tankard and coasters. If you want this
brochure, send a SASE to "The Thistle and Shamrock, P.O. Box 560646,
Charlotte, NC 28256 (USA).

[8] How can I get Gaelic TV/radio programmes

Gaelic Radio is on Radio Scotland VHF - this is 104.3 in the
Edinburgh area. It's on in the mornings and early evening.

Gaelic TV is on BBC Scotland. Scottish Television and Grampian
Television. For details of times and programmes, see the Gaelic
TV times "Suas!", publisher: The Gaelic Television Committee.
contact: Suas!, 4 Acarsaid, Cidhe Sraid Chrombail, Steornabhagh,
Eilean Leodhais PA87 2DF, Scotland.
Tel: 01851 705550
Fax: 01851 706432

Times of Gaelic Radio and TV are also published each Friday in
the
West Highland Free Press, Broadford, Skye, IV49 9AP
Tel: 01471 822464
Fax: 01471 822694

[9] Info on Robert Burns

See also Answer 96

Robert Burns, the National Bard of Scotland, was born in 1759, the son
of an Ayrshire cottar. A cottar is a Scots word for a tenant occupying
a cottage with or (from the late 18th century) without land attached to
it or a married farmworker who has a cottage as part of his contract.
The word dates from the 15th century. Anyway, back to Burns. He
apparantly developed an early interest in literature. Between 1784 and
1788, whilst farm-labouring, he wrote much of his best poetry,
including "Halloween", "The Cotter's Saturday Night" and the skilful
satires "Death and Dr Hornbrook" and "Holy Willie's Prayer". In 1786
the "Kilmarnock" edition of Robert Burns' early poems was published,
bringing with it fame and fortune, and the second edition, published by
William Creech, brought him enough financial security to marry his
mistress Jean Armour. The couple settled to a hard life in Ellisland
with their four children, and to supplement their meagre income, Burns
took a job as an excise man. From 1787, Burns concentrated on
songwriting, making substantial contributions to James Johnson's "The
Scots Musical Museum", including "Auld Lang Syne" and "A Red, Red
Rose". In 1796, at the age of 37, he died, his health undermined by
rheumatic fever.

Most of the above was taken from a recommended book "The complete
illustrated poems, songs and ballads of Robert Burns" 12pounds 95p.
Published by Lomond Books, ISBN 1 85152 018 X. This is a reprint of a
1905 publication so the print is a bit strange and unfortunately there
is no index and the contents aren't in alphabetical order. However, it
is 650 A5 size pages (hardback) and was recently seen in bargain books
for a mere 5 pounds!

The picture most usually seen of Burns (but not the one on the Bank of
Scotland five pound note) is from an engraving after a portrait by
Alexander Nasmyth, 1787. Today, many thousands of Scots around the
world celebrate Burns night on his birthday, 25th January. Burns night
has even been commemorated in the Kremlin. Burns night consists of
having a meal of tatties (mashed potatoes), neeps (turnips - not
swede!) and haggis. Details of how to buy haggis are elsewhere in this
FAQ. There is usually quite a bit of whisky drunk at these occasions
too, particularly as Burns was a well known drinker (and womaniser).
Usually a bloke makes a speech remembering Burns and how his thoughts
and poems are timeless and as relevent today as they were when they
were written. Then there's a "reply from the lassies" where it's usual
to point out the other side of Burns and how he left many women broken
hearted. Well, that's the general idea anyway, there's lots of
variations.

Probably Burns' most famous tune is Auld Lang Syne, however most people
do not sing either the right words or the original tune. A lot of
people erroneously insert the words "the sake of" in the chorus - this
was not written by Burns. The tune is a bit confused too. Burns
originally wrote the words to a tune which his publisher didn't like,
so he then put the words to the tune which most people know. However,
the second tune is also claimed by the Japanese!. The original tune is
available on some recordings, including "The Winnowing" by The Cast and
"File under Christmas" by Scotland's leading Clarsach (Harp) duo,
Sileas (pronounced Shee-lis"). The old tune is rapidly gaining
momentum however, and I have heard hundreds of people sing it in
Edinburgh without difficulty. The old version of the tune is also in
The Digital Tradition (see elsewhere for details)
and off http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~craig/songs.html

It is someting of a comment on the English-biased nature of Scottish
education that Scotland has produced one of the world's greatest and
best loved poets and yet he is hardly studied in his own country, most
people studying Shakespeare at school. Shakespeare was obviously a
world class bard as well, but isn't there room for Burns too?

To hear some of Rabbie Burns' poetry read by a native of Prestwick,
go to the Gaelic Homepage and look in the Scots section.

[10] Info on cooking and haggis

2 recommended books:

F. Marian McNeill - The Scots Kitchen, it's lore and recipies. A
classic and as much a source of folklore and history as a culinary
reference. First published in 1929. 300+ pages. Published by Grafton
Books, 8 Grafton St, London, W1X 3LA. ISBN 0-586-20784-8. Grafton books
is a division of Collins, Glasgow. Just about every recipie has a tale,
saying, poem, song or bit of history printed with it (the occasional
one in Gaelic; with translation). F. Marian MacNeill was a historian by
profession.

Another book, rather more contemporary (no stories etc but probably
biased towards modern eating trends and it also has US-UK conversions).
Scottish Cookery: Catherine Brown. ISBN 0-86267-248-1. Published by
Richard Drew publishing, 6 Clairmont Gardens, Glasgow G3 7LW. Really
good traditional stuff and well laid out.

McNeill's book gives several recipies for haggis. The Traditional
Cottage Recipe includes : "The large stomach bag of a sheep, the pluck
(including heart, lights and liver), beef-suet, pin-head (coarse)
oatmeal, onions, black pepper, salt, stock or gravy. Meg Dod's recipie
includes "Sheep's pluck and paunch, beef-suet, onions, oatmeal, pepper,
salt, cayenne, lemon or vinegar.". Haggis Royal includes "Mutton, suet,
beef-marrow, bread-crumbs or oatmeal, anchovies, parsley, lemon,
pepper, cayenne, eggs, red wine.". Deer Haggis includes "Deer's heart,
liver and suet, coarse oatmeal, onions, black pepper, salt, paste." It
takes about a day to make a haggis from scratch, but very very few
people do this as it is particulaly gruesome. Most people buy their
haggis from the butcher's. See next section for details of how to get
some.

[11] Where can I get haggis?
The best haggis in the world (in my opinion, and several other people's
too)
is made by Charles MacSween of Edinburgh. He makes about 1 ton a day and
ships it all over the UK and overseas too (it keeps remarkably well in
the post). Many shops in the UK (including supermarkets) sell
MacSween's haggis. There is also a vegetarian version which is quite
tasty.

contact:
McSweens Haggis, 130 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh, EH10 4ES
Tel: 0131 229 1216.
McSween's will be moving soon as they've outgrown the Bruntsfield shop.

[12] What is the Scots language. Who do I contact for more info?
See also answer 70

The Scots language is a Germanic language related to English.
It is not Celtic, but has been influenced by Gaelic.

For more info, write to:
John Mackay, Membership Secretary
6 Cairn Walk, Cults
Aberdeen, AB1 9TF. Ordinary membership (UK) is 7 pounds a year

There is also some info in the following section:

"The Pocket Guide to Scottish Words: Scots, Gaelic"
by Iseabail Macleod. Published by W&R Chambers, Ltd.
43-45 Annandale Street, Edinburgh EH7 4AZ
(ISBN 0-550-11834-9). Widely available at bookshops and airports

US distributors
Unicorn Limited, Inc.
P.O. Box 397
Bruceton Mills, WV 26525
(304) 379-8803

It has "Place names, personal names, food and drink. Scots and Gaelic
words
explained in handy reference form."

There are 30 pages of Scots words explained. No grammar. It does list
a
number of interesting sounding books:

SCOTS LANGUAGE DICTIONARIES:
----------------------------

Mairi Robinson, editor-in-chief "The Concise Scots Dictionary" 1985,
(Aberdeen University Press) 862pp, a comprehensive one-volume
dictionary covering the Scots language from the earliest records to
the
present day; based largely on:

William Grant, David Murison, editors "The Scottish National
Dictionary"
10 vols., 1931-76, the Scots language from 1700 to the present day,
and:

Sir William Craigie, A J Aitken et al "A Dictionary of the Older
Scottish
Tongue" published up to Pr- in 5 vols., 1931-, the Scots language up
to
1700.


Alexander Warrack, "Chambers Scots Dictionary" 1911, 717pp.


William Graham, "The Scots Word Book English-Scots, Scots-English
Vocabularies" 1977 and 1983, 194pp.

GENERAL SCOTS BOOKS:
--------------------

A J Aitken, Tom McArthur, eds "Languages of Scotland" 1979, 160pp., a
collection of essays on Scots and Gaelic.

David Murison "The Guid Scots Tongue" 1977, 63pp

"The New Testament in Scots" 1983, by W L Lorimer

Just to add to the list of books of/about Scots, one should mention
the reprint of P Hately Waddell's _The_Psalms:_Frae_Hebrew_Intil_Scots_
(orig 1871, reprinted with modern introduction 1987 by Aberdeen Univ
Press).

I would love to see some instructive writing about the Scots tongue,
more than just word-lists. Especially pronunciation, intonation,
cadence,
etc. as well as grammar.

There are two books that are essential reading on the subject of Scots.

The first is "Scots: the Mither Tongue" by Billy Kay. This is available
both in hardback and paperback.

The second is "Why Scots Matters" by J. Derrick McClure. This is more of
a booklet than a book, and is an inexpensive paperback.

William Graham, "The Scots Word Book English-Scots, Scots-English
Vocabularies" 1977 and 1983, 194pp.

Although the Scots-English part of this is fairly limited, this was once
worth having for the English-Scots part, which for a long time was the
only
one available.

Last year the Scottish National Dictionary Association published its
long-
awaited "Concise English-Scots Dictionary", which is a far more
comprehensive
work. Although it still has a number of imperfections, I'd recommend it
rather than Graham's work, good in its day as it was.

Colin Wilson is working on a "Teach yourself Scots" book.

[13] On-line Scots language info
ftp://jpd.ch.man.ac.uk/pub/Scots/ScotFAQ.txt
Newsgroup: scot.scots

[14] What Scottish Record labels are there

Main labels are
Temple http://www.rootsworld.com/temple/index.html
Lismore
Greentrax http://webzone1.co.uk/www/scotsweb/greentrx.htm
Culburnie http://webzone1.co.uk/www/scotsweb/culburn.htm

Also, see the Gaelic homepage at sunsite.unc.edu for an extensive list
of many celtic labels. Further info also at
http://celtic.stanford.edu/pub/Internet_Sources.html

[15] How do I find out about Folk events in Scotland which might be on?
The Scottish Folk Arts Directory. This is a book detailing
virtually everything to do with the Scottish folk music scene.
contact: Blackfriars Music, 49 Blackfriars St, Edinburgh EH1 1NB
Tel: 0131 557 3090.

[16] When are the major Scottish folk festivals
-------------------------------------------------

Edinburgh festival/fringe etc is the last 3 weeks in August usually

Edinburgh folk festival is on for 10 days during the Easter break,
ending on Easter Sunday. info at
http://webzone1.co.uk/www/scotsweb/edinfolk.htm

[17] Where's a good place to buy folk records?

The best shop which specialises in folk is Blackfriars Music
-- address is in the answer to 14. The other good places in
Edinburgh are the folk/Scottish sections of Virgin
Records and HMV (on Princes St). Folk is often subdivided
in these shops into subcategories (i.e. Scottish, Irish,
pipe bands, folk etc). John Menzies (sometimes pronounced
"Mingis")
and also on Princes St, is usually the cheapest place to get CDs
but the folk section is small and poorly organised. Tower
records
is probably the best place to start looking in Glasgow.

or as sg...@cix.compulink.co.uk said:

The best folk record shop in Scotland at present is in
Parnie Street, Glasgow, next to Adam McNaughton's book shop.

[18] How do I trace my Scottish ancestry?

There is a book published by HMSO (Her Majesties Stationary
Office)
called "Tracing your Scottish Ancestry". All the records for
births, marriages and deaths in Scotland are held at:
New Register House, West Register St, Edinburgh, EH1
Tel: 0131 334 0380
Fax: 0131 314 4400

[19] Any Scottish songs on-line?
There are quite a few in The Digital Tradition, a free 4000+ strong
database (many with tunes to play on your computer's speaker). It is
available
to FTP from ftp.uwp.edu, or mail digi...@world.std.com for more
information.
There is also a lot of other musical info and folk info on that ftp
site.
Particularly watch out for the October 94 edition which should have a
lot
more Scottish material
http://pubweb.parc.xerox.com/digitrad

Also, check out the Ceo\l section of the Gaelic Homepage.

[20] What's the number of the Scottish Tourist Board?

Tel: 0131 332 2433 (+[44] 131 332 2433)
http://www.scotourist.org.uk/stb

[21] Politics: Scotland and the UK/devolution/independence

Addresses of relevant organisations:

Political Parties:
Labour Party

Scottish National Party,
6 North Charlotte St
Edinburgh. EH2
0131 226 3661
(also known as Partaidh Naiseanta na h-Alba - PNA)

Conservative and Unionist Party

Liberal Democrats,
4 Clifton Terrace,
Edinburgh EH12
0131 337 2314

Green Party

Politically Oriented organisations:
Common Cause, PO Box 822, Glasgow, G14 9JA 0141 631
2420
Democracy for Scotland, 5 Regent Rd, Edinburgh EH7 0131 558
3088
Scottish Patriots, 76 Constitution St, Leith, EH6 0131 554
7951

[22] When are Burns night and St Andrews Day.

25-Jan, 30-Nov.
Neither is a holiday in Scotland.

[23] How do I find out about Highland Games or Mods in my area. What is
a Mod?

An Comunn Gaidhealach runs the Mods. An Comunn is based at
109 Church St, Inverness, IV1 1EY
The Mods are a series of Gaelic competitions involving singing,
poetry,
drama, music etc.
The Royal National Mod is held in Mid-October each year.
Forthcoming
venues for it are:
96 (Blairgowrie), 97 (Inverness), 98 (Skye)
The National Mod runs from a Friday to the Saturday morning of
the following week (the competitions end on the final Friday)

There are also local Mods. Here's a list of them:
Caithness/Sutherland; Dalriada (Lochgilphead area); Easter
Ross;
East Kilbride; Edinburgh; Glasgow; Harris; Inverness; Islay;
Kyle;
Lewis; Lochaber; Oban; Mull; Perthshire/Angus; Skye; Stirling;
Uist;
Wester Ross. Local Mods generally run over a weekend.
Contact An Comunn Gaidhealach in Inverness for contact details
Edinburgh Mod will be restarted in 1997

Calum MacDonald (no connection with the person in Runrig) is
the new Mod officer with An Comunn Gaidhealach.

[24] Information on Runrig

See: http://dux.dundee.ac.uk/~azmilne/runrig/

Contact the fan club at:
Runrig Fan Club, 55 Wellington St, Aberdeen AB2 1BX. Tel: 01224
573100

Runrig is a term Blair Douglas thought up when he was studying
in Glasgow. A rig is a strip of farmland and a run is a series
of those strips. The run-rig system of farming is no longer
used, but the marks of it can still be seen particularly on Skye
where the core of the band is from.

Discography:
------------

Play Gaelic (good, very folky, last 2 tracks are very good, limited
lyrics in Gaelic available from fan club)
Highland Connection (v good, my favourite, mix of ballads and heavy
rock,
lyrics supplied, but no translations. I have translations of Cearcall
a'
chuain - one of my all time favourite tracks and an easy one to sing
along
to and learn)
Recovery (v. good, close second, similar to Highland Connection.
Translations
for Gaelic available from this point on)
Heartland (v. good, slightly more commercial than previous two, less
Gaelic)
Cutter and the Clan (OK. considerably more commercial than Heartland.
2 Gaelic tracks. An uabhal as airde is a very good song from this
album)
Once in a lifetime (live album featuring material from previous 4, but
only
1 track from Play Gaelic- Chi mi'n Geamhradh)
Searchlight (OK. More commercial than "Cutter", 2 Gaelic tracks)
Big Wheel (improvement on Searchlight. Commercial, but some good
tracks, 2
Gaelic tracks)
Amazing things (rather bland and middle of the road. Some good tracks,
but
many forgettable)
Mara (a theme album; excellent production masks some rather middle of
the
road tunes)

The band seem to be struggling to make their albums more and more
commercial in sound and the Gaelic content of each is nearly always
lower or the same as the last. However, they don't seem to be having
much sucess outside Scotland. They are the biggest selling band in
Scotland, and I think Donnie Munro is a very good singer. It's ironic
that Capercaillie have managed about the same sucess with singles as
Runrig yet Capercaillie's single was in Gaelic and a lot more
traditional. Runrig are perceived as too Scottish by many non-Scottish
audiences and their following is very heavily biased towards people
from Scotland or with Scottish connections. It is a problem peculiar to
English speakers that they are often reluctant to appreciate music in
languages other than their own.

Runrig have played a major part in bringing Scottish music up to date
and reviving the Scottish folk scene, and interest in the Gaelic
language.
However, I wish they'd accept that they're not going to have a major
breakthrough in popularity overseas and go back to the feel of their
earlier material. This early material, particularly pre-"Cutter" gets a
better response at concerts in Scotland.

The fan club has all the albums and can be reached at the address above.
Most of the band currently live in the Edinburgh area though Calum and
Donnie both have homes in the Highlands.

There is also an excllent instrumental album called "An ubhal as airde"
played on whistles and synthesisers - this album contains material which
Runrig have either written or recorded. More info on this follows:

The Highest Apple
An ubhal as airde

An intrumental album played by Steve Gwyn Davies (recorders and whistle)
with Sabine Barnes-Rauch (orchestral synthesiser). All songs on this
album have previously been written by or recorded by Runrig.

on Vital Records, 1 Waterloo, Breakish, Isle of Skye, IV42 8QE Scotland

released 1994, available on CD - VITAL CD02 (interesting to find out
what else is in their catalogue!)

it's about 40 mins long and contains 17 tracks (between 35 seconds and
4 mins).

also available from Canan at ca...@smo.uhi.ac.uk
7.99 pounds for cassette (code CSAUAA) or 11.99 for CD (code CDAUAA).
Some bilingual lyrics included.

May also appeal to fans of Enya. This album contains "Clachan Uaine"
which
is the only song I know of that Runrig have written but not recorded
themselves (Mairi MacInnes recorded it on Causeway; she also sings on
Heartland)

[25] Information on Capercaillie

http://www.colloquium.co.uk/capercaillie/

Fan club:

Capercaillie Fan Club
Chapmanagement
PO Box 1155
Glasgow
G3 7TW

There is also a fanzine called Sidetaulk. Call Mandy Shanks on
Hopeman 01343- 835194 for more info, or write to her at:
21 Thom St, Hopeman, Elgin, Moray, Scotland IV30 2SS

Capercaillie is pronounced "Cap-ir-cay-lee", not "Cape-r-cay-lee" A
Capercaillie is the largest member of the Grouse family (from the
Gaelic words for Wood Grouse) and is an endangered species.

Capercaillie albums
-------------------

Album #1:Cascade (recorded 1984)
Lineup: Karen Matheson (lead vocal)
Joan MacLachlan (fiddle, vocal)
Marc Duff (Recorder, Whistles, Rauschpfeife)
Shaun Craig (Guitar, Bouzouki)
Martin Macleod (Basses, Fiddle)
Donald Shaw (Accordion, Keyboards, Fiddle)
Published by Taynuilt Records, Highfield, Taynuilt, Argyll, PA35
1JQ
This is the village which the band hail from and it's possible
the
record company has some of Karen's earlier recordings when she
was
with The Etives. The band met at Oban High School.
This is a really good album, but has no words with it and is only on
cassette.
Greentrax do NOT stock it (they used to but no longer)

Album #2: Crosswinds (1987):
No words with this, many copies of the words are
available in books though. Excellent album.
Available on Green Linnet

Album #3: The Blood is strong (1988)
Soundtrack for TV series. Very good tunes (most are
quite
short though, as is the album). Lyrics and translations

Album #4: Sidewaulk (1989)
Similar in sound to Crosswinds. The first album with
any English on it.
Full Gaelic and English lyrics supplied
On Green Linnet

At this point the band leave the Green Linnet label and join Survival
records. The fan club starts in a London suburb (graciously promoting a
ceilidh I was singing at in London!) and later moves to the studio in
Glasgow where the band do much of their recording. The sound becomes a
bit more contemporary, the Gaelic content goes down slightly but the
sound remains much more traditional than Runrig

Album #5: Delirium (published 1991)
Coisich a' ru\in (a 400 year old waulking song) from this
album becomes the first ever Scots Gaelic tune to enter the
UK top 40 after it becomes the theme tune for a UK wide TV
programme featuring Prince Charles entitled "A Prince among
islands". Charles appeared on this programme supporting
Gaelic and has since appeared on TV talking in Gaelic.

Album #6: Secret People

Lyrics:
The following pointers to sources may be of interest to those seeking
music and/or lyrics to the Gaelic material on Secret People

An Eala Bhan - Gaelic and English words with sol-fa music available in
"Orain nan Gaidheal", Vol 3, Bruce Campbell.
Published by Gairm, 29 Waterloo St, Glasgow G2 6BZ
ISBN 1 871901 27 8 (Ailean Duinn with words, translation and sol-fa
music is in Vol 1, Maighdeanan na h-airidh is in Vol 2).

Hi ri'm bo - 4 part music and Gaelic lyrics only available in "Coisir a'
Mhoid" Vol 2. Available from the Gaelic Books Council, Dept of Celtic,
Glasgow University, Glasgow G12. These are different verses to the ones
Capercaillie do however.

Tobar Mhoire - Lyrics in Gaelic and English available from Temple
records to accompany Flora MacNeill's album "Craobh nan Ubhal"

Seice Ruraidh, part 1 - no source for this yet
Part 2 - Recorded by na h-oganaich - does anyone know which album and
does it have the words?

Lyrics for "Boneparte" are in the Frequently Asked Songs section
of this FAQ

Album #7: Capercaillie - the "Disco" album

Album #8: To the moon

More info on the Capercaillie website
Some Capercaillie lyrics are in the Frequently Asked Songs section
of this FAQ

[26] Scottish Cultural classes (music, singing, language, history etc)

For the Edinburgh area, contact either
The School of Scottish Studies (Sgoil Eolais na h-Alba),
University of Edinburgh,
27 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LD
(they run a number of summer schools)
Tel: 0131 650 1000

The main work of the dept is with teaching undergraduate and
postgraduate courses in Scottish ethnology (there is a separate
dept of Celtic). They also run summer classes though
or

The Adult Learning Project (ALP), 184 Dalry Rd, Edinburgh,
EH11 2EP Tel: 0131-337 5442
(has about 20 classes and about 300 students in culturally
related
evening and day classes)

for Skye, try Sabhal Mor Ostaig (address elsewhere)
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk

[27] Gaelic wedding blessing

-- Supplied by Christopher Lau, University of Calgary

Mi\le fa\ilte dhuit le d'bhre/id,
Fad do re/ gun robh thu sla\n.
Mo/ran la\ithean dhuit is si\th,
Le d'mhaitheas is le d'ni\ bhi fa\s.

Translated as:

"A thousand welcomes to you with your marriage kerchief,
may you be healthy all your days. May you be blessed
with long life and peace, may you grow old with
goodness, and with riches."

This is attributed to the Rev. Donald MacLeod, minister of Duirinish,
Skye, Scotland c. 1760.

The bit about the marriage kerchief probably isn't applicable these
days,
so you could just ignore it. (any Bards fancy thinking up a suitable
replacement?)

There are Scottish wedding vows with translation elsewhere in this FAQ

[28] Dalriada Celtic society BBS

Information on Arran's only BBS. Here's the details:

Dalriada BBS: (line 1) up to V.42 bis. +44 (0)1770 302049

24 hours Fidonet number 2:259/6 (line 1 only)
(line 2) up to V.42 bis. +44 (0)1770 302532
Celtic file areas - culture, crafts, folklore, myths & tales, etc.
CELTNET Celtic conference network, "What's On" guide etc.
Sysops - Sammy McSkimming, Helen McSkimming, Lorraine MacDonald

Date: Wed, 6 Jul 94 11:05:00 +0000
Organization: ALMAC: Scotland : +44 (0)1324 665371

ALMAC are pleased to announce the availability of information from the
Dalriada Celtic History Society.

It is available (along with a host of other Scottish/Celtic material) on
gopher://almac.co.uk:70/11/

With thanks to Lorraine MacDonald of Dalriada for some excellent work.

Forrest Duncan forrest...@almac.co.uk
ALMAC tel: +44 (0) 1324-666336
141 Bo'ness Rd fax: +44 (0) 1324-665155
Grangemouth FK3 9BS BBS: +44 (0) 1324-665371

[29] The Gaelic for "Frequently Asked Questions"

"Ceistean Minig a Thig" (Scots Gaelic)

"Ceisteanna Minic a Thig" (Irish Gaelic)

There is a saying :

"Is truagh nach ta\inig Minig Nach Tig.
Leath cho minig 's a tha\inig Minig a Thig"

[30] Edinburgh Festival Fringe

http://www.presence.co.uk/fringe/

The complete programme for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is now
available
by gopher from almac.co.uk. (Forrest Duncan, forrest...@almac.co.uk
first described this on a UK newsgroup - thanks). There is also some
generic information about how the Fringe works.

This is HUGE, over 10000 lines of information, and I don't think Almac
has
a very powerful server. Don't overwhelm them, save the address and call
sometime over the next few days. It might be an idea for somebody in
the
US to make a copy available over there (subject to the Fringe agreeing -
the programme is copyrighted).

>From a quick look it doesn't seem to me to be *quite* complete - no
details
about exhibitions yet. But hey, getting 95% of the schedule for the
biggest
arts festival in history available this way is a darn good start.

Forrest says the Fringe can be contacted at festiva...@almac.co.uk;
I haven't got this to work yet and they are unlikely to be offering an
email booking service. No word yet on when or whether the International
Festival, Jazz Festival and Film Festival will go electronic.
Accommodation
is not handled by the festival organizers but by the Tourist Information
Office.

[31] Living Tradition.

This is the main magazine for Scottish folk music info, although it
covers other forms of traditional music too. The magazine can be
reached at: living.t...@almac.co.uk (E-mail)

[32] Seeing Underground Edinburgh

The bit that the tourists (and few locals) have ever seen. Mary
King's close, a medieval street under the Royal Mile. Sealed off in
1670. Not generally open to the public, but groups can book access by
arrangement by calling John Wilson on 0131- 662 0039 (early evenings).
Access is through the City Chambers. The section is 60 metres long,
steep, slippery and full of ghosts (!). John's tour's get booked up
several weeks in advance. They last about three hours and are generally
midweek starting about 7pm. The tour covers both the Close and the City
Chambers. A donation of 3 pounds is requested for the tour. John is a
councillor with an interest in local history. Bob Morton also does
tours, but these just cover the Close. Sometimes it is possible to find
a spare slot or two on an existing tour. About 30 people are catered
for at a time.

[33] Primary Literary figures

Robert Burns (details elsewhere
Lewis Grassic Gibbon (author of Sunset Song - my favourite book)
Neil Gunn (particularly recommended is
Highland River/The Silver Darlings)
James Hogg (Confessions of a Justified Sinner)
Sir Walter Scott (The Heart of Midlothian)
Robert Louis Stevenson (Kidnapped)
Norman MacCaig (Collected poems)
Sorley Maclean (From Wood to Ridge)
The greatest Gaelic poet alive today and one of the
greatest
ever. Book is bilingual; author's own translations.
Astoundingly powerful stuff.
ISBN 0 09 9887207 (published by Vintage, London)

[34] Scottish Guide books.

The definitive guide to eating good traditional Scottish food is
"The Taste of Scotland" published by
Taste of Scotland, 33 Melville St, Edinburgh, EH3 7JF

The primary guide to finding out the best things to do, go, eat,
see etc in Scotland is "Scotland the Best". This is an
alternative
guide to Scottish culture for both locals and tourists alike. I
liked
it so much I bought the book. However, there were a few things I
wanted adding so I sent in some comments for the 94
edition (ISBN 1 85158 622 9) (possibly ..662 9) and for my
efforts got a free bottle of single malt, free Capercaillie
tickets and
my name in the next edition.
http://www.expressmedia.co.uk/main01.htm

[35] Primary folk music pubs

Edinburgh:
The Ceilidh House
Sandy Bell's
West End Hotel
The Royal Oak (best pub for sing arounds)
Digger's (Wednesdays)
Cafe Royal (Wednesdays, entrance fee but high profile
acts)
Scruffy Murphy's
Old Coach Inn (Caledonian beer; Folk Thu's)
Fiddlers Arms
Oxford Bar (Mondays)
Check out the List for what's happening.
http://www.timeout.co.uk/TO/list/
(E-mail: The...@cityscape.co.uk)

[36] What is a Ceilidh

A Ceilidh (pronounced "Kay-lay", emphasis on 1st syllable) is many
things. It derives from the Gaelic word meaning a visit and originally
meant just that (and still does in Gaelic). It can also mean a house
party, a concert or more usually an evening of informal Scottish
traditional dancing to informal music. Ceilidhs in the lowlands tend
to be dances, in the highlands they tend to be concerts. Dances in the
highlands and traditional ceilidhs in the Lowlands are often called
"ceilidh dances". Ceilidh dancing is fundamentally different from
Scottish Country Dancing [See answer 58] in that it is much less formal
and the primary purpose is the enjoyment of doing the dance. Scottish
Country Dancing is much more oriented towards being a demonstration or
exhibition. Ceilidhs are extremely popular indeed with young people and
often attract from a few dozen people to several hundred. There are
world championships for ceilidh bands now (the first winners were Fire
in the Glen, now called Tannas). There are also workshops for ceilidh
bands at The Adult Learning Project, Dalry Road, Edinburgh.

Best places for Ceilidhs are:

Edinburgh: Walpole Hall, Assembly Rooms, Marco's leisure centre,
Cafe Royal, Southside Community Centre, St Bride's centre.

The West End Hotel has leaflets on the noticeboard showing when
ceilidhs are on, or look in the Folk music section of

The List (the Glasgow and Edinburgh what's on guide; out fortnightly
available at most newsagents). http://www.timeout.co.uk/TO/list/
info on Ceilidhs in the folk music section

Glasgow: The Riverside Club. OK place for a ceilidh but prone to
being
busy and too much like a nightclub.
There are even bouncers (unheard of at all the good ceilidhs)

A good book for anyone wanting to learn how to do ceilidh dances and
play
ceilidh tunes is Let's have a ceilidh by Robbie Shepherd
(well known Radio Scotland presenter of Take the Floor) Price 4.95, 100
pages.
Published by Canongate Press, 14 Frederick St, Edinburgh, EH2 2HB
ISBN 0 86241 412 1
Includes 20 of the most popular dances, plus a selection of music to
go with the dances. There are explanations for the various steps with
diagrams, as well as some notes on the history of dancing.

[37] Best Scottish pubs

To find out where to get the best beer (Real Ale), look in The
Good Beer Guide, available from all major bookshops. Published by
CAMRA. ISBN 1 85249 006 3. Published in October each year.

Edinburgh: Bannerman's; Bert's bar; Bow bar; Canny Man's;
Cumberland Bar; Clark's Bar; Drew Nicol's; Golden Rule; Greenmantle;
Guildford Arms; Halfway House; Hampton Hotel; Holyrood Tavern; Kay's
Bar; K. Jackson's Bar; Leslie's Bar; Malt and Hops; Oxford Bar;
Robbie's Bar; Royal Ettrick Hotel; Smithie's Ale House; Southsider;
Stable Bar; Starbank Inn; Todd's Tap, Caledonian Sample Rooms.
The Caledonian Brewery (Slateford Road) has a big beer festival in
early June; The biggest beer festival in Scotland is held at
Meadowbank Stadium in early October.

Glasgow: Athena Taverna; Babbity Bowser; Bon Accord; Boswell Hotel;
Brewery Tap; The Horse shoe; Mitre; Cask & Still; Sloane's; Station Bar;
Tennents; Three Judges; Ubiquitous Chip; Victoria Bar

For information on pubs with no-smoking areas, see Craig's list at:
ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/doc/liberty/general/scot-nonsmoking-pubs.txt

[38] Scottish Kings

Kenneth I MacAlpin 843 - 858
Donald I 858 - 862
Constantine I 862 - 877
Aed 877 - 878
Eochaid 878 - 889
Donald II 889 - 900
Constantine II 900 - 943
Malcolm I 943 - 954
Indulf 954 - 962
Dubh 962 - 966
Culen 966 - 971
Kenneth II 971 - 995
Constantine III 995 - 997
Kenneth III 997 - 1005
Malcolm II 1005 - 1034
Duncan I 1034 - 1040
Macbeth 1040 - 1057
Lulach 1057 - 1058
Malcolm III Canmore 1058 - 1093
Donald Ban 1093 - 1094
Duncan II 1094 - 1094
Donald Ban (again) 1094 - 1097
Edgar 1097 - 1107
Alexander I 1107 - 1124
David I 1124 - 1153
Malcolm IV 1153 - 1165
William I 'The Lion' 1165 - 1214
Alexander II 1214 - 1249
Alexander III 1249 - 1286
John Balliol 1292 - 1296
Robert Bruce (Robert I) 1306 - 1329
David II 1329 - 1371
Robert II (the Stewart) 1371 - 1390
Robert III 1390 - 1406
James I 1406 - 1437
James II 1437 - 1460
James III 1460 - 1488
James IV 1488 - 1513
James V 1513 - 1542
Mary (I) 1542 - 1567
James VI 1567 - 1625
Charles I 1625 - 1649
Charles II 1649 - 1685
James VII (II of England) 1685 - 1688
William 'III' & Mary II 1689 - 1694
William 'III' 1694 - 1702
Anne 1702 - 1714
George I 1714 - 1727
George II 1727 - 1760
George III 1760 - 1820
George IV 1820 - 1829
William 'IV' 1829 - 1837
Victoria 1837 - 1901
Edward 'VII' 1901 - 1910
George V 1910 - 1936
Edward 'VIII' 1936
George VI 1936 - 1952
Elizabeth 'II' 1952 -

The Scottish Monarchy merged with the English Monarchy in 1603 when
James VI of Scotland became James I of England and VI of Scotland.
After James VII and II the Scottish numbering system was ignored in
favour of the English one (William III and not William III & II)

[39] Attitudes towards Gaelic TV in Scotland
(a frequent source of argument on the scot.* and ed.* hierarchy).

This survey was conducted by System Three for the
Gaelic Television Committee and
published in July in their 93/94 annual report.

The Gaelic TV programmes are not funded by TV licence money, they
are funded directly from the Government by Act of Parliament.

Unweighted base: 1052.
Figures are percentages

The columns are

1) Agree strongly
2) Agree slightly
3) Neither agree nor disagree
4) Disagree slightly
5) Disagree strongly
6) Don't know
7) Mean score

Questions:

a) There are too many Gaelic programmes on television nowadays
Answers: 11 15 13 36 20 4 -0.40

b) I enjoy watching Gaelic TV programmes, even though I may not
speak Gaelic myself.
Answers: 12 30 12 20 23 4 -0.14

c) Too many Gaelic TV programmes are shown at peak times
Answers: 14 14 13 36 17 6 -0.29

d) It is important that the Gaelic language in Scotland is kept alive
through Gaelic programmes on TV
Answers: 40 35 9 8 5 3 1.00

[40] What does Craig's signature mean?

It is "Sgri\obh thugam 'sa Gha\idhlig ma 'se do thoil e."
and is Scots Gaelic for "Write to me in Gaelic please".

[41] Where can I buy a kilt/Highland accessories

One shop which seems to get recommended frequently is:

Geoffrey (tailor) Highland Crafts Ltd
57-59 High Street (2 doors up from John Knox's house)
Royal Mile
Edinburgh
EH1 1SR
Tel: 0131 557 0256

or in the US

Geoffrey Tailor Highland Crafts
17 Greenwood Dr.
South San Francisco, CA 940080
Tele--1-800-253-7269

They are also always at the Texas Scottish Festival.
Someone added: They have made one of my kilts and are quite good.

Their Edinburgh shop is open 7 days and late on Thursday.
Although it's on the Royal Mile, the prices should be reasonable.
They hire outfits; sell outfits and also sell ex-hire outfits.
Note that women in Scotland don't wear kilts, they wear kilted skirts.

[42] Scottish song books

I'm frequently browsing through bookshops to find good songbooks, but
most of the time they're of the tourist top 40 genre with only the most
popular tunes in. These are the sort of tunes you might hear played at
the Edinburgh tattoo, and not the sort you'd here at a folk concert or
down the pub.

I was at Blackfriars Music yesterday (the "Headquarters" of Scottish
Folk) and got a copy of an excellent book by them called "The Singing
Tradition on Scotland: Book 1, The Birken Tree". This particularly
caught
my eye as The Birken Tree was a song which our singing group performed
in
a concert a few weeks ago. The book is 3 pounds 50p, has 56 songs and is
64
pages. All the songs are Scottish, have staff music supplied, as well as
a glossary of Scots words, notes on the songs and notes for guitarists.

There's the usual tourist songs such as The Lewis Bridal Song (Mairi's
Wedding), Scotland the Brave and The Skye Boat Song, but the majority of
songs are of the type that folk artists would record or which you would
here down the pub. There's about 10 by Robert Burns. Unusually for book
not written for the Gaelic market, there is a Gaelic song "Cumha
Mhic Criomain" = MacCrimmon's Lament.

Blackfriars Music specialise in folk music and bagpipe music and sell
instruments, records and books. The also publish the "Scottish Folk
Arts Directory", the "yellow pages" of the Scottish folk scene detailing
festivals, artists, record labels, societies, radio programmes, folk
pubs
etc etc.
The 1994/95 edition is published next week. The 93/94 edition was 70
pages.

Blackfriars Music can be reached at:

Blackfriars Music
49 Blackfriars St
Edinburgh
EH1 1NB
Scotland
Tel: 031 557 3090

(if you are visiting, the shop is open 7 days and is near The Scandic
Crown
hotel on the Royal Mile).

Another good book is "The Trefoil Song Book". This is a Scottish version
of Rise up Singing. It has Scottish songs as well as non-Scottish
songs. The lyrics are supplied together with chord sequences and chord
charts for guitar.

The book has about 150 songs and is 63 A4 pages. To order one, contact
The Trefoil Centre, Gogarbank, Edinburgh, EH12 9DA, Scotland
Tel: 031 339 3148. The book is 2 pounds 50p plus postage.

The Trefoil centre organises holidays for the handicapped, is a charity,
and proceeds from the sales of the book go towards continuing the work
of the centre.

The Feis movement (Feisean nan Gaidheal) has a songbook due out soon
which I've seen draught versions of and it looks excellent for anyone
interested in Gaelic song. Music (staff format) and translations
available
for all the songs which range from the traditional to the new. See
answer
50 for address.

[43] Books for learning the fiddle

Failte gu Fidheall - The Scottish Folk Fiddle tutor, Book 1.
(This book is in English with a bilingual Gaelic-English introduction)
A Comprehensive guide for beginners
Compiled and arranged by Christine Martin and Anne Hughes
Published by Taigh na Teud (Harpstring house)
Address: 13 Breacais Ard, Isle of Skye, Scotland, IV42 8PY
Published 1992, ISBN 1 871931 90 8
They also publish "Ceilidh collections", "Ceol na Fidhle" (=music of the
fiddle) and "Session Tunes".
The book is about 5 pounds and is 42 A4 pages
There is also a demonstration tape to accompany the book, available from
the publishers.
This is a really good book with one of the best selections of tunes
(Highland, Lowland and others) I've seen in any book.

[44] Whisky (whiskey)

Try the whisky www page at
http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/staff/jhb/whisky/index.html

Whisky is the spelling used in Scotland. Whiskey is the spelling
used in Ireland, the US and some other countries. People very rarely
call
whisky "Scotch" in Scotland, they either ask for it by brand name
or ask for any malt, or just ask for a whisky. The word "scotch" is
used though (scotch is an appellation). A single malt scotch must
fulfill
three requirements:

i) It must be the product of only one distillery
ii) It must be made exclusively from barley malt
iii) It must be made in Scotland.

Highland malt whisky must be made in an area north west of a line which
passes near Dunblane (my home town!). It includes both Deanston and
Blackford, the adjacent towns to the west and north of Dunblane.

The definitive book on Malt Whiskies is:

Michael Jackson's Malt Whisky Companion
A Connoisseur's Guide to the Malt Whiskies of Scotland
Published by Dorling Kindersley Ltd, 9 Henrietta St, London, WC2E 8PS
ISBN (1989 edition - probably superceded now) 0-86318-387-5.
9 pounds 95p. 240 pages, hardback
Covers over 250 malts from over 120 distilleries with full tasting
notes.
Includes all well known brands plus rare and specialist bottlings
Includes rating system for both the whisky and the distillery.
Includes alphabetic index, and list of distilleries (with phone numbers)
that offer tours.

The best selling single malt in Scotland is "Glenmorangie", pronounced
to rhyme with "orangey" (stress on the 2nd syllable of Glen-mor-an-gie).
This word comes from the Gaelic for "Glen of Great Tranquility". The
best
selling single malt scotch in the world is Glenfiddich (=Glen of the
Deer).
My personal favourites are Highland Park (12 years old, from Orkney).
Jackson rates this as "The greatest all-rounder in the world of whisky".
For special occasions, I'd recommend MacAllan 18 year old. Astounding
stuff!

[45] The Scottish Youth Hostels Association

The best way to see Scotland if you've got a tight budget. Even if you
can afford more luxurious accomodation (accomodation is always singular
in Britain), Youth Hostels are definitely worth using. All ages use them
and cost is typically 5-10 pounds a night. Most of them have lights out
at
11pm, except those in large cities which are often open later.

Contact for more info, to book accomodation etc
The Scottish Youth Hostels Association (SHYA)

7 Glebe Crescent
Stirling
Scotland
FK8 2JA
Tel: 01786 451181

Joining the SHYA, (#2.50 ages 5-17, #6.00 ages 18+) entitles you to use
Youth Hostels all over the world

[46] The Ramblers Association

A UK wide organisation. Produces a book "The Ramblers yearbook and
accomodation guide" which is a good source of low cost accomodation
(typically 10 - 20 pounds per person per night)
ISBN 0-900613-75-0

Available from:
The Ramblers' Association, 1/5 Wandsworth Road, London, SW8 2XX
Tel: 0171 582 6878

[47] Books for hillwalkers

2 that spring to mind are:

Ralph Storer's "100 best routes on Scottish mountains", Warner books.
A division of Little, Brown and Company (UK) Ltd, 165 Great Dover St,
London, SE1 4YA
ISBN 0 7515 0300 2
223 pages, includes a variety of mountains throughout Scotland.
Mountains classified by grade; terrain; navigation difficulty and
seriousness. Includes diagrams and Gaelic translations and phonetics

Ordnance Survey: "Place names on maps of Scotland and Wales"
ISBN 0-319-00223-3
24 pages of info on Gaelic, Norse and Welsh placenames, meanings,
grammar, common Anglicisations. V useful for translating many place
names in remote areas.

[48] What is a Munro/Corbett?

A Munro is a Scottish mountain over 3,000ft. There are 277. There must
be a vertical drop of 500ft between two peaks for them to both qualify
as Munros. A Top is a mountain over 3,000ft not separated by a vertical
drop of 500ft from a Munro. The name Munro comes from Munros tables
compiled by someone called Munro, but there have been some modifications
since the table was first compiled. A Corbett is a separate mountain
over 2,500ft. The Inacessible Pinnacle on Skye is the only Munro to
require climbing equipment

[49] Legal questions

Scotland has its own legal system and its own laws.
Answers to most common Scottish consumer questions can be found in:
Your Rights and Responsibilities, A personal guide for Scottish
Consumers.
published by HMSO and the Scottish Consumer Council.
ISBN 0 11 495205 1, 4 pounds 95p
Telephone orders: 0171 873 9090

[50] Gaelic festivals

Contact:

Arthur Cormack
Feisean nan Gaidheal
5 Caolshra\id Mhicheil
Inbhir Nis (Inverness)
Scotland, IV2 3HQ
Tel: 01463 226472 Fax: 01463 237470

[51] Gaelic playgroups

Comhairle nan Sgoiltean Araich (CNSA)
21A Castle Street
Inverness
IV2 3ER
Tel: 01463 225469

www.scotnet.co.uk/cnsa/index.html

There are about 100 pre-school playgroups
throughout Scotland through the medium
of Gaelic

[52] Scotch

This is a term used to mean various things, but is considered mildly
offensive when referring to people - generally use "Scots" for people
and "Scottish" for everything else. Whisky is usually not referred to
as "Scotch" - see note on whisky.

Historically, the word was widely used in Scotland as a adjective
meaning the same as "scottish". In fact, it was not until
~1925 that the Scotch Education Department became the Scottish Education
Department.

[53] Plaid

Plaid (pronounced "plad") is the name of the material which is used for
making kilts. It isn't the name of the pattern on the material, this is
called "tartan". In the US, plaid is sometimes pronounced "plaid" and
usually refers to the material - plaid and tartan are interchangeable
terms there, they aren't in Scotland.

Also see: ftp://members.aol.com/sdullman/programs/tartan20.zip
- displays about 60 tartans

[54] Scottish URLs

As good a place as any to start, try the Almac http site.
Includes the Glasgow Herald's homepage.
http://leapfrog.almac.co.uk

University of Stirling's WWW Home Page in Gaelic
http://www.stir.ac.uk/gaelic_index.html

www-2nd-cs.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~wdw/Afalonrhithwir.html

John Andrea's WWW page of tartans
http://www.stfx.ca/people/jandrea/projects/tartans.html

The alternative Scottish FAQ from Scot.genreal
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/academic/languages/gaelic/Scc/scot.general

http://www.eolas.co.uk/gguide/eu/gb/scotland/gguide.htm

http://www.scotland.org/

[55] alt.scottish.clans

A group has been created called alt.scottish.clans. The purpose of
this group is to discuss the folklore, traditions and history of the
various Scottish clans. Current clan gatherings and announcements will
also be found here. Anyone interested in this sort of thing is invited
to join in the discussions.

[56] Edinburgh Folk Festival

Contact address:
Edinburgh Folk Festival, PO BOX 528, Edinburgh, EH10 4DU
Tel (+44) (0)131 556 3181, fax (+44) (0)131 556 4177.
The programme is *FREE*
Dave Francis is the organiser
dfra...@edinfolk.demon.co.uk

Pre-festival box office:
Queen's Hall, Clerk St, Edinburgh
Tel: 0131 668 2019, Fax: 0131 667 7776

http://webzone1.co.uk/www/scotsweb/edinfolk.htm

[57] Postgraduate Courses in Celtic Studies

Dept of Celtic, The University of Edinburgh, David Hume Tower,
George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JX
Fax: 0131 650 6536
Tel: 0131 650 3622
contact: Professor William Gillies

Degrees available:
PhD (min 3 years); MLitt (min two years); MSc/Diploma (one year/nine
months)
Entrance qualifications for all three is a good Honours degree in
Celtic
studies or a related or relevant discipline, but I understand each case
is
considered on its individual merits.

The MSc/Diploma is based around a series of prescribed specialisms
including literary, linguistic and historical options of which
candidates chose one. There isn't much specific info on the content of
the other courses

The Dept of Celtic was founded in 1882 and is the oldest in Scotland.
Current members include Prof William Gillies (head of dept), Ronald
Black and Robert Mullally. Thomas Clancy (British Academy Post-Doctoral
fellow) and Allan MacDonald also take part in teaching. Nerys Ann
Jones, Kenneth MacKinnon and Cathair O Dochartaigh are Honorary Fellows
of the Faculty of Arts in the field of Celtic Studies.

[58] What is Scottish Country Dancing?
Contributed by Anselm Lingnau

Scottish Country Dancing is a modern form of the `country dancing'
popular
in England and Scotland in the 18th century. It involves groups of six
to
ten people (most of the time) of mixed sex (most of the time) -- a `set'
-- dancing to the driving strains of reels, jigs and strathspeys played
on the fiddle, accordion, flute, piano, drums, etc. (no bagpipes,
mostly!).
The dance often combines solo figures for the `first couple' in the set
with movements for all the dancers, although there is considerable
variation -- there are over 7000 different dances catalogued, of which
maybe 1000 or so are of lasting and non-local importance. Many of these
dances derive from traditional sources such as old manuscripts and
printed
dance collections, but a lot have been devised in the fairly recent
past,
say the last fifty years or so. This fusion of the traditional and the
modern as well as its ongoing evolution are part of the attraction of
Scottish Country Dancing.

Think of SCD as a cross between square or contra dance (although there
is
no caller) and ballet; there are about a dozen basic figures which will
get
you through quite a number of dances, although many dances have their
own
quirks and specialities which make them unique and fun to dance. There
is
also more emphasis on `steps' than in, say, Ceilidh dancing, but the
basic
technique can be learned at a week-end workshop or through a couple of
months' worth of practice evenings once a week. Even though there are so
many dances, you don't have to learn any of them by heart if you don't
want to -- the programmes for balls and social evenings are usually
published well before the event, so everybody can check their crib
sheets.
Also, at the event itself dances are often recapitulated or even
sometimes
walked through slowly before the music starts (although local custom may
vary).

SCD is a very social form of dancing, not only because you get to dance
with seven or so people at once instead of just with one partner (smiles
and eye contact are almost mandatory, and if you want there is a lot of
opportunity for relaxed `flirting') but also because there are
workshops,
balls and social dances being held in places all over the world. It is
nice to be able to travel and join a SCD group for a night nearly
everywhere you go.

When country dancing came to Scotland in the 18th century, it was at
first
popular among the townspeople in places like Edinburgh, but spread
throughout Scotland (at varying pace) and thrived there even when,
during
the 19th and early 20th century, more modern dances like the Waltz,
One-step etc. became fashionable in other places. Country dancing in
Scotland was also influenced by other Scottish dances such as Highland
Reels and so acquired a particular `Scottish' flavour.

In 1923, the Scottish Country Dance Society (SCDS, later `Royal'
Scottish
Country Dance Society or RSCDS) was founded in order to preserve
traditional Scottish country dancing. Its patrons went out to watch
people dance and collect the dances for publication. In the process,
they also tried to reconstruct and publish dances from old manuscripts
that were no longer actually danced, and standardized technical points
like steps and footwork (which the common folk rarely bothered a lot
about). It is debatable whether this standardization was actually a good
thing as far as preserving the tradition of Scottish country dancing was
concerned, but it has certainly done a lot for making SCD into something
that can be enjoyed internationally. In fact, Scottish Country Dancing
is
probably more alive today than it ever was in the past, and this is
to a large extent due to the efforts of the RSCDS.

Today the RSCDS numbers about 25.000 members and has `branches' in
various countries all over the world. Lots of SCD groups are affiliated
with the RSCDS even though they aren't actually branches of the Society,
and even more people enjoy SCD without being members of the RSCDS
(or any group) at all.

The RSCDS is at

12 Coates Crescent telephone: 0131-225 3854
Edinburgh EH3 7AF fax: 0131-225 7783
Scotland

As far as we know they don't have e-mail.

There is an Internet mailing list (not affiliated with or endorsed by
the RSCDS) for discussing Scottish Country dancing and music, which goes
by
the name of `Strathspey'; send a message containing a `Subject: help'
to `strathspe...@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de'. There is also a
World-Wide Web server containing an archive of the mailing list as well
as
lots of other interesting items connected with SCD at

http://www.tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de/strathspey/

(Yes, that's in Germany. So much for the international character of
SCD!)

[59] Scottish Wedding vows in Gaelic and English

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/posadh.htm
Source: Sabhal Mor Ostaig

[60] Scottish Wedding Information
http:/www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~craig/
There is a link off the bottom of this page to the Weddings info on
the mefaq.html page

[61] Declaration of Arbroath
Source: Charles Macgregor

The Declaration of Arbroath (English Translation)

Edinburgh Information
http://www.efr.hw.ac.uk/EDC/Edinburgh.html

The Declaration of Arbroath (English Translation)

To the most Holy Father and Lord in Christ, the Lord John, by divine
providence Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Roman and Universal Church, his
humble and devout sons Duncan, Earl of Fife, Thomas Randolph, Earl of
Moray, Lord of Man and of Annandale, Patrick Dunbar, Earl of March,
Malise, Earl of Strathearn, Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, William, Earl of
Ross, Magnus, Earl of Caithness and Orkney, and William, Earl of
Sutherland; Walter, Steward of Scotland, William Soules, Butler of
Scotland, James, Lord of Douglas, Roger Mowbray, David, Lord of
Brechin, David Graham, Ingram Umfraville, John Menteith, guardian of
the earldom of Menteith, Alexander Fraser, Gilbert Hay, Constable of
Scotland, Robert Keith, Marischal of Scotland, Henry St Clair, John
Graham, David Lindsay, William Oliphant, Patrick Graham, John Fenton,
William Abernethy, David Wemyss, William Mushet, Fergus of Ardrossan,
Eustace Maxwell, William Ramsay, William Mowat, Alan Murray, Donald
Campbell, John Cameron, Reginald Cheyne, Alexander Seton, Andrew
Leslie, and Alexander Straiton, and the other barons and freeholders
and the whole community of the realm of Scotland send all manner of
filial reverence, with devout kisses of his blessed feet.

Most Holy Father and Lord, we know and from the chronicles and books of
the ancients we find that among other famous nations our own, the
Scots, has been graced with widespread renown. They journeyed from
Greater Scythia by way of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Pillars of
Hercules, and dwelt for a long course of time in Spain among the most
savage tribes, but nowhere could they be subdued by any race, however
barbarous. Thence they came, twelve hundred years after the people of
Israel crossed the Red Sea, to their home in the west where they still
live today. The Britons they first drove out, the Picts they utterly
destroyed, and, even though very often assailed by the Norwegians, the
Danes and the English, they took possession of that home with many
victories and untold efforts; and, as the historians of old time bear
witness, they have held it free of all bondage ever since. In their
kingdom there have reigned one hundred and thirteen kings of their own
royal stock, the line unbroken a single foreigner. The high qualities
and deserts of these people, were they not otherwise manifest, gain
glory enough from this: that the King of kings and Lord of lords, our
Lord Jesus Christ, after His Passion and Resurrection, called them,
even though settled in the uttermost parts of the earth, almost the
first to His most holy faith. Nor would He have them confirmed in that
faith by merely anyone but by the first of His Apostles -- by calling,
though second or third in rank -- the most gentle Saint Andrew, the
Blessed Peter's brother, and desired him to keep them under his
protection as their patron forever.

The Most Holy Fathers your predecessors gave careful heed to these
things and bestowed many favours and numerous privileges on this same
kingdom and people, as being the special charge of the Blessed Peter's
brother. Thus our nation under their protection did indeed live in
freedom and peace up to the time when that mighty prince the King of
the English, Edward, the father of the one who reigns today, when our
kingdom had no head and our people harboured no malice or treachery and
were then unused to wars or invasions, came in the guise of a friend
and ally to harass them as an enemy. The deeds of cruelty, massacre,
violence, pillage, arson, imprisoning prelates, burning down
monasteries, robbing and killing monks and nuns, and yet other outrages
without number which he committed against our people, sparing neither
age nor sex, religion nor rank, no one could describe nor fully imagine
unless he had seen them with his own eyes.

But from these countless evils we have been set free, by the help of
Him Who though He afflicts yet heals and restores, by our most tireless
Prince, King and Lord, the Lord Robert. He, that his people and his
heritage might be delivered out of the hands of our enemies, met toil
and fatigue, hunger and peril, like another Macabaeus or Joshua and
bore them cheerfully. Him, too, divine providence, his right of
succession according to or laws and customs which we shall maintain to
the death, and the due consent and assent of us all have made our
Prince and King. To him, as to the man by whom salvation has been
wrought unto our people, we are bound both by law and by his merits
that our freedom may be still maintained, and by him, come what may, we
mean to stand. Yet if he should give up what he has begun, and agree to
make us or our kingdom subject to the King of England or the English,
we should exert ourselves at once to drive him out as our enemy and a
subverter of his own rights and ours, and make some other man who was
well able to defend us our King; for, as long as but a hundred of us
remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English
rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are
fighting, but for freedom -- for that alone, which no honest man gives
up but with life itself.

Therefore it is, Reverend Father and Lord, that we beseech your
Holiness with our most earnest prayers and suppliant hearts, inasmuch
as you will in your sincerity and goodness consider all this, that,
since with Him Whose vice-gerent on earth you are there is neither
weighing nor distinction of Jew and Greek, Scotsman or Englishman, you
will look with the eyes of a father on the troubles and privation
brought by the English upon us and upon the Church of God. May it
please you to admonish and exhort the King of the English, who ought to
be satisfied with what belongs to him since England used once to be
enough for seven kings or more, to leave us Scots in peace, who live in
this poor little Scotland, beyond which there is no dwelling-place at
all, and covet nothing but our own. We are sincerely willing to do
anything for him, having regard to our condition, that we can, to win
peace for ourselves. This truly concerns you, Holy Father, since you
see the savagery of the heathen raging against the Christians, as the
sins of Christians have indeed deserved, and the frontiers of
Christendom being pressed inward every day; and how much it will
tarnish your Holiness's memory if (which God forbid) the Church suffers
eclipse or scandal in any branch of it during your time, you must
perceive. Then rouse the Christian princes who for false reasons
pretend that they cannot go to help of the Holy Land because of wars
they have on hand with their neighbours. The real reason that prevents
them is that in making war on their smaller neighbours they find
quicker profit and weaker resistance. But how cheerfully our Lord the
King and we too would go there if the King of the English would leave
us in peace, He from Whom nothing is hidden well knows; and we profess
and declare it to you as the Vicar of Christ and to all Christendom.
But if your Holiness puts too much faith in the tales the English tell
and will not give sincere belief to all this, nor refrain from
favouring them to our prejudice, then the slaughter of bodies, the
perdition of souls, and all the other misfortunes that will follow,
inflicted by them on us and by us on them, will, we believe, be surely
laid by the Most High to your charge.

To conclude, we are and shall ever be, as far as duty calls us, ready
to do your will in all things, as obedient sons to you as His Vicar;
and to Him as the Supreme King and Judge we commit the maintenance of
our cause, casting our cares upon Him and firmly trusting that He will
inspire us with courage and bring our enemies to nought. May the Most
High preserve you to his Holy Church in holiness and health and grant
you length of days.

Given at the monastery of Arbroath in Scotland on the sixth day of the
month of April in the year of grace thirteen hundred and twenty and the
fifteenth year of the reign of our King aforesaid.

Endorsed: Letter directed to our Lord the Supreme Pontiff by the
community of Scotland.

[62] Gaelic newspapers

Scotland:
Guth na Ga\idhlig
The subscription desk
Highland News Group
Henderson Road
Inverness
IV1 1SP

Nova Scotia and Scotland
Am Braighe
http://mac1.chatsubo.com/ambraighe/

[63] Traditional Bread recipie (Gaelic and English)

Seo agad doigh airson aran a cho\caireadh

<Here's a Gaelic recipie for bread - takes about 2-3 hours total. We
make this frequently, it's quite straightforward
English follows>

Aran Sgi\re Raoird

Cungaidh:

Aran:
dusan unnsa flu\r-bracha donn
coig unnsaichean flu\r geal la\idir
spa\in-ti\ de shalann
spa\in-ti\ de shiu\car
spa\in-bhu\ird de cho\than ghearrte
spa\in-bhu\ird de shi\l neo\inean-gre\ine
seachd gramaichean de bheirm

Comhdachadh:
ugh
leth spa\in-ti\ de shalann
da\ unnsa-bhu\rn de bhainne
si\l de cheann choilich dheirg no si\l sasamaidh

Ceuman:
Cuir an cungaidh gu le\ir le che\ile le tri\ ceud ml de bhu\rn bhla\th.
Taoisnich fad deich mionaidean e agus de\an tri\ roinntean dheth. Fill
na
roinntean le che\ile mar fhigheachan. Measgaich an ugh, salann agus am
bainne le che\ile agus comhdaich an taois leis. Cuir dhan an darna taobh
fad leth-uair a thi\de gus e\irigh e. (Feumaidh e a bhith da\ uiread na
mo\)

Nuair a tha an taois air e\irigh, comhdaich e leis a' bhainne agus an
ugh a-rithist. Faodar si\l de cheann choilich dheirg, no si\l-sasamaidh
a chur air cuideachd.

Cuir e dhan an a\mhainn, aig 230C. mar tha, fad deich mionaidean air
fhichead.

<English>
Nut bread
12 Oz Malted brown flour
5 Oz strong white flour
1 tsp salt, sugar
1 tbsp olive oil (or veg oil), chopped nuts, sunflower seeds
1 pkg yeast (7g)
sesame or poppy seeds.

Brush on: 1 egg, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 Oz milk
Beat lightly and apply as directed below

Mix all ingredients together with 300ml of warm water (approx 125ml
boiling
and 175ml cold). Kneed for at least 10 mins. Shape and cover with "brush
on".
Cover with cling film and allow to rise in a warm, draft free area to
double
original size. Prior to cooking re-apply "brush on" and sprinkle with
sesame
seeds or poppy seeds. Cook for 30 mins at 230C (450F) in a preheated
oven.

[64] European Community Folk Culture
http://www.worldserver.pipex.com/nc/edinmedia

[65] Scots Gaelic products and catalog

Am Muileann Dubh
A' Chatalog Ghaidhlig
Sraid a' Mhargaid
Baile Dhubhthaich (Tain)
Siorrachd Rois (Ross-shire)
Scotland
IV19 1AR

[66] Dog commands in Gaelic
Heel - gu sail ( nas fhearr saoilidh mi na 'sail' fhein)

Sit - suidh!

Stay - fuirich! ( fan! mas e Gaidhlig Earraghaidheil a tha sibh ag
iarraidh math dh'fhaoidte; Cha bhitheadh 'stad' freagarrach, agus cha
bhitheadh 'feith' uamhasach nadarra - 'a' feitheamh' = 'waiting')

Come (here) - trobhad!; tiugainn! (Chan urrainn dhuibh 'thig' a radh
leis fhein - feumaidh tu facal eile comhla ris, mar eiseamplar 'thig
an-seo'.)

Fetch - faigh (sin/seo/e)

(Get) down - sios! ( Chan e ordugh a tha san fhacal 'dol' - dh'fhaodadh
sibh 'gabh sios' no 'sios leat' a radh.)

(Be) quiet - bi samhach!

Attack - gabh chuige!; gabh air/oirre etc.! (Chan e ordugh a tha san
fhacal 'ionnsaigh'. Co-dhiu, tha mi 'n dochas nach bi sibh feumach air
an ordugh seo!!)

Stop that - sguir dheth! ('sgurr' = mountain peak)

?Off? - chan eil mi a' tuigsinn carson a chleachdadh duine seo an aite
'down', agus co-dhiu chan e an aon rud a tha ann an 'air falbh' - ach
'having gone', no 'somebody is away somewhere'.

Mu dheireadh, seo facal eile a bhiodh feumail, 's docha - ma tha sibh
a' bruidhinn ri cuilean, canaidh sibh "A Chuilidh" - car coltach ri
'doggy' ann am Beurla.

[67] Guide to Gaelic Scotland
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/cnag/failte/

[68] Kirking of the tartans
From: T.M...@mailbox.uq.oz.au (Tom McRae)
Subject: Re: SPREADING THE WORD

To give you an idea of the pseudo Scottery we have to put up with here
I'm
appending something I put out over on H-ALBION British History Group.
Not a
single respondent cited an example of this silly bit o' Brigadoonery in
Scotland. My name's mud with the local so-called Clans Congress, if they
only knew I've hardly started yet. I'm currently doing a long series of
articles on the early Scottish National Movement and am just recovering
from the trauma of doing 3 articles covering the West Coast Insurrection
of
1820 and its ghastly repercussions. I'm quite narked with the S.N.P. as
I
wrote to them in Edinburgh outlining my project and asking for
information
on its history for inclusion in later articles. Three months later I
have
still to receive the courtesy of a reply. Seems they've yet to get their
act together.
Slainthe
Tom Mc Rae
KIRKING OF THE TARTANS

On a Sunday close to St Andrew's Day this ceremony is practised in at
least Sydney and Brisbane. Organised by the local Clans Congress it
involves clan leaders marching into some presbyterian or uniting church
in strict order of precedence. (I neither know, nor care who follows
who). They are led in by someone carrying a saltire flag alongside
another with the Australian flag. Clan tartans are worn and so-called
clan banners are carried in the procession. Highlight of the ceremony
is when wee bits of tartan are brought out and prayed over or blessed.

If people enjoy themselves marching up and down like this I've no
objection. What concerns me is the mythos developed around the rite. It
all started, so the story goes, when the tartan was banned after the
fall of Bonnie Prince Charlie. To cherish its memory parishioners took
wee bits of the stuff to kirk every sabbath to have it blessed, the
ceremony has persisted up until today.

Nice tale, but garbage!

First off Charlie's army consisted largely of Roman Catholics and
Scottish Episcopaleans. Had they won the Kirk would probably have been
oppressed yet again. Presbyterians of the time had no truck with the
Jacobites, they'd suffered too much already at the hands of Stewart
kings.

Second point. Blessing of bits of cloth, or anything else inanimate,
was anathema to all good Calvinists. Any kirk goers practising such
rites would have been severely dealt with.

Thirdly. No native born Scot I've discussed the matter with recalls
such a ceremony in Scotland. Any group stupid enough to act out such a
pantomime would have been laughed out of the church.

Fourth I've searched historical records but could find no mention of
the ceremony. In desperation I consulted the encyclopaedic "Dictionary
of the Scottish Language" There are dozens of entries on tartan and on
kirk and kirking; not one makes mention of this rite. I then went to a
dictionary of the older Scottish tongue, once again no records.

Finally. If this is true where are all those wee bits of tartan? Surely
they' have become cherished family heirlooms. After the banning the
tartan sticks used to mark out traditional weaves were destroyed; we
don't know what pre '45 tartans looked like, apart from a few
paintings. Those we use today are post 1780. Relics of the early
tartans would be invaluable to Scottish history so where have they all
gone to?

I wrote the whole thing up in the newsletter of our Scottish radio
programme group here in Brisbane. In my article I promised that if
anyone could give me proof of this ceremony's antiquity I would gladly
recant. Six months later the sole response was a letter from the
Secretary of our local Clans Congress complaining bitterly at my unfair
attack. I answered his letter gently pointing out the questionable
origins of the Kirking but never received reply. My main objection is
the ridiculous light in which this sort of Brigadoonery puts real Scots
culture. Best example of this was some years back in Sydney. After the
Kirking ceremony all the clan leaders and their retinues marched from
the kirk to New South Wales' Upper House of Parliament, In they
marched, banners awave, up to the bar of the House. Members were
discussing some legislation and totally ignored them, after standing
like gallahs for 10 minutes or so all they could do was about turn and
march out again.

I seem to have traced the origins of the thing to New York State,
U.S.A. where a presbyterian minister invented it as a war bond scheme.
Any information from The States, Canada, etc would be appreciated. Best
of all can any Scots tell me I'm wrong and that the ceremony is a
genuine hand me down from the days of The '45?

Regards Tom Mc Rae

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%%%%
Tom Mc Rae Home (011617)3713966

Entomology Department Work (011617)3652196
University of Queensland Fax (011617)3651922
BRISBANE Qld 4072
AUSTRALIA

Email t.m...@mailbox.uq.oz.au

[69] Cape Breton music mailing list
send a mail to: cb-m...@chatsubo.com
subject: subscribe

[70] Learning Scots
Whit's Scots?
jouk, gulravae, stech, fushionless, ill-setten, nieve, orrals, pley,
incomin,
havers, clamihewit, murlin, upbring, hant, pleesure, bravity, fantoush,
smeddum, scunner, gilliegaupus, thrawn, glaikit, airtit, bogshaivelt,
flouers, eedjitm lintie, champit, pauchtie, dour, nainsel, pech, haun,
....

It's our ain tung!
The Scots Language Society
exists to promote Scots in literature, drama, the media, education and
every day usage. Since Scots was once the state language of Scotland, it
is a valid part of our heritage and the Society recognises that it
should
be able to take its place as a language of Scotland, along with Gaelic
and
English.

As well as promoting the language and lobbying education authorities and
the media for greater use of Scots, the society publishes the twice-
yearly
"Lallans", the magazine for writing in Scots (free to society members)
plus
a newsletter in Scots. It holds an annual conference, which has been
addressed by eminent writers, actors, journalists, musicians, television
presenters, scholars and others, and runs competitions encouraging both
adults and children to write in Scots.

The society can provide advice on the language to theatre companies,
schools,
etc.

The society is a registered charity.

Did ye ken?

> The Anglo-Saxons said "Hoose" for "House", "Sang" for "Song" and
"Maist"
for "Most"

> In Scotland, even speakers of Standard English use Scots words, idioms
and grammatical constructions without even realising it. Think about
"Janitor" (care-taker) or "I've got a cold" (I've a cold) or "Outwith"
(Outside)

> Scots was once the state language of the kingdom of Scotland, used by
all classes for all purposes

> Many of Scotland's greatest writers have used the Scots language to
express many of their most profound thoughts and ideas. eg. Robert
Henryson (c 1430-1506), Robert Burns (1759-1796), Robert Louis Stevenson
(1850-1894), Hugh MacDiarmid (1892-1978).

> A great many common Scots words have cosmopolitan origins, such as
'Skank'
(drain, grating) from French, 'Scone' from Dutch, 'Kirk' from Old Norse
and
'Janitor' from Latin.

> Today, Scots is a living language, in use outwith the Gaeltacht. It is
recognised as a seperate language, even in the European Union where it
is
represented by the bureau for lesser used languages.

Jyne us nou!

The Scots Language Society
The AK Bell Library
York Place
Perth
PH1 5EP
Telephone: 01738 440199
Fax: 01738 646505

Local branches of the society are to be found in Aberdeen, Edinburgh,
Glasgow and Perth.

(rates in pounds sterling)
Membership Europe Furth o Europe
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(twa fowk at ae address)

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Return all forms to the Perth address above.

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such sum as after deduction of income tax at the basic rate amount to:

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[71] What's on
The Lowlands (Glasgow/Edinburgh area)
http://www.timeout.co.uk/TO/list/

The Highlands
http://www.scot-highlands.com

[72] Robert Burns links
www.cyberiacafe.net/burns/
www.open.gov.uk/nithsdal/burnsidx.htm
www.almac.co.uk/es/burns/index.html
www.ece.ucdavis.edu/~darsie/burns.html
www.discribe.ca/world/scotland/culture.html
www.cc.gatec.edu/grads/b/Gary.N.Boone/love_in_letters.html
www.cc.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/315.html
www.lexmark.com/data/poem/poem.html
www.scotborders.co.uk/burns/
sunsite.unc.edu/gaelic/Scots/burns.html

[73] Scottish music information

The Scottish music information centre has compiled a book with over
3,000 entries giving details of Scottish music performers (classical,
early music, folk and traditional jazz), music education, sources of
funding, suppliers and services, venues, clubs and promoters, festivals
and competitions. The book also has sections on young peoples' music,
music from other cultures and publicity and marketing.

Data:
ISBN 0 9525489 0 9 paperback
210mm x 148mm 320pp 12.99 pounds
published 30-Nov-95

Available from:
Scottish music information centre
1 Bowmont Gardens
Glasgow
G12 9LR
Tel: 0141 334 6393
Fax: 0141 337 1161
postage and packing is an additional 1.38 pounds for the UK. Dunno about
further afield. They don't appear to take credit cards.

I've seen a copy of the book and it looks excellent for people wanting
to book artists for gigs and artists looking for venues and promoters
etc.

[74] The Celtic Cross

It isn't Christian nor Celtic - the Celtic cross predates Christ by at
least 1,000 years and the arrival of Celts in Scotland by at least
1,500. The stones at Callanish are laid in the shape of a Celtic cross.
It is possible the Christians took the cross symbol from the Celts or
Megalithic peoples but certainly not that the Celts took the symbol
from the Christians.

[75] Quangos

(Quasi-autonomous non governmental organisations - now called
non-departmental public bodies apparantly)

If you think that quangos are over dominated by politicians of a
certain political persuation - here's your chance to go on one
yourself: Write to the Scottish Office and ask for the list of
Non-Departmental Public Bodies. The address is: Room 237, St Andrew's
House, Edinburgh, Scotland EH1 3DG Tel: 0131 244 4999 Fax: 0131 244
2683. You will be asked about your political persuations when you
join - this is not used for selection but is simply used for
statistical analysis (do you believe that?)

[76] OBEs, honorific titles, etc

John Major is attempting to award knighthoods, OBEs, MBEs etc to more
members of the general public. If you know of someone who is worthy of
an award then just write to 10 Downing St, Whitehall and ask for
details. You get back a 4 page form to fill in.

[77] Waulking songs

Article by Craig Cockburn

Waulking (an English word coined by someone who saw a waulking done
with the feet) is a process for fulling Harris tweed. This makes it
more airtight.

There are many individuals and groups who have recorded a waulking song
or two on an album of Gaelic music, but there are three albums of
exclusively waulking songs which may be of interest:

1) Orain Luaidh - Waulking songs
Published 1986 by the Harris Tweed Association (sorry no address)
This is an excellent tape and has a 29 page A5 book with it which has
lyrics for every song, a translation and some notes. There is a 5 page
introduction which gives more information and additional reference
material.
Most of the contributions are from the Western Isles although one is
from Cape Breton

2) and 3) both published by Greentrax records
Cockenzie Business Centre, Edinburgh Road, Cockenzie, East Lothian EH32
0HL
Tel: 01875 814155 Fax 01875 813345
http://webzone1.co.uk/www/scotsweb/greentrx.htm

2) Waulking songs from Barra
This is published in the excellent "Scottish tradition" series which is
essential for anyone really interested in authentic Scottish
traditional music, particularly from an academic standpoint. This
series is produced with the School of Scottish Studies, part of
Edinburgh University and the world's foremost authority on Scottish
ethnology. All the recordings (which cover both Highland, Lowland and
Shetland traditions) have extensive books and notes to accompany them.
The cassettes are not general mass market music and the song ones are
all unaccompanied. They are however outstanding and in particular
William Matheson's Gaelic Bards and Minstrels is incredible. I don't
have the waulking tape in this series but I do have 3 others and they
are both excellent!

3) Bannal - Waulking songs. Bannal is a group comprising many well known
singers, they are:
Kenna Campbell, Catherine Fletcher, Christine Grant, Wilma Kennedy,
Mairi MacArthur, Chrissie MacInnes, Maeve MacKinnon, Mary C MacLean and
Chrissie Martin

The tape comprises 18 distinct songs of between 1 and 3 mins each and is
all unaccompanied with all the women except Chrissie MacInnes having a
turn
at solo. Most of the women are known soloists in their own right.
The tape is excellent entertainment value for listening to in the car
(as
I did today) but is spoiled considerably by not having any notes on the
individual songs and more importantly no lyrics whatsoever in either
Gaelic
or English with the album and no indication that lyrics are available.
This
isn't the first time Greentrax have let me down in this way - Canan nan
Gaidheal has no Gaelic lyrics either. By contrast Temple records have
an excellent reputation for printing lyrics and given the choice between
both companies I would feel happier buying a Gaelic recording from
Temple
knowing I would be able to get lyrics.

(more from another article)
When tweed is made, it needs to be fulled to increase it's ability to
keep out the wind. Waulking is a process of repeatedly beating the cloth
to full it and prepare it for use. Waulking songs are a musical form
unknown elsewhere in Western Europe and often sound African. They are
very rhythmic and were composed to keep the beat when the cloth was
being waulked. This task was only done by women in Scotland, however
in Nova Scotia where it is known as milling then it is generally a
male task. Often waulking songs were adapted from other songs.
Frequently they tell of local gossip, the material is not usually
"highbrow". The tweed was generally soaked in human urine (it was
someone's job to collect the urine which had been saved in each house).
The women were usually seated around a table and the tweed would be
placed on the table, or perhaps a door which had been taken off its
hinges. There might be one woman at each end and maybe about 4-5 down
each side. One person would sing out the verse and then everyone would
join in the chorus. The verses and choruses (sometimes there are up to
4 choruses) are very short, sometimes only a few syllables. The chorus
is
what is used to classify waulking songs I think - nearly always the
chorus is
meaningless vocables. I only know of one which has real words - Deannain
sugradh ris a nighean dubh (on the Poozies first album). There are a few
waulking songs in the book "Folksongs and folklore of South Uist"
(Margaret
Fay Shaw). During the waulking, the cloth would be pulled towards you,
then passed slightly to your left before pushing it back. This way, the
cloth turned round the table in a clockwise manner as it was being
waulked.
The Gaels are superstitious and believe anti-clockwise to be unlucky. It
was important to turn the cloth to ensure the cloth was evenly
processed.
Waulking as a process is now no longer necessary, machines do it now.
However, there are societies which preserve the waulking tradition for
historical/tourist reasons. I think waulking died out in the 1950s.
Probably the oldest Gaelic song in existence (perhaps 13th C?) is
Seathan,
this is a waulking song and appears in Carmina Gadelica (an amazing
source
of folklore!). Seathan (he was the son of the King of Ireland) is
several
pages long and would easily take over an hour to sing. The waulking
process
could last about 2-3 hours and there would likely be a ceilidh
afterwards
(I hoped they washed their hands first!), with the men being invited
back in.
I think it was usual to start with slower songs and then to speed up
towards the end - the speed of waulking songs varies a lot.
Seathan, Gur h-e mo ghille dubh donn are quite slow whereas He mo
leannan
is usually sung a bit faster and Tha Mulad, He Mandu
etc are faster still. One of the fastest is "Beann a' Cheathaich" which
has been recorded by Christine Primrose and recently The Poozies on
"Danceoozies" (I prefer Christine's version). It was adapted by
Margaret Kennedy Fraser and became "Kishmul's Galley"

Today, many bands/singers eg Capercaillie, Sileas, Poozies, Mary Jane
Lamont, Runrig, Christine Primrose, Cathy Anne MacPhee, Flora MacNeill,
Eilidh MacKenzie, etc etc use waulking songs - they are proving very
popular and the strong rhythms make them quite transportable to
so-called mainstream culture (mainstream in whose definition?). It was
a waulking song sung by Capercaillie "Coisich a ruin" (also sometimes
known as "Fluich an oidhche") which a few years ago became the first
ever Scots Gaelic tune to enter the UK top 40. It is about 400 years
old I think. There are three variations of this song that I know of.

[78] Puirt a beul

See the following for an introduction:
http://www.tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de/~lingnau/puirt.html

[79] Gaelic psalm singing
Greentrax sells tapes from the School of Scottish studies and one of
these is Gaelic psalm singing from Lewis. Greentrax has www pages at
http://webzone1.co.uk/www/scotsweb/greentrx.htm
Album reference is CDTRAX/CTRAX 9006

[80] Piobaireachd / Pibroch
Available from Greentrax in the Scottish Tradition series.
Relevant album numbers are CTRAX 9010,9011, 9012 and 9015
http://webzone1.co.uk/www/scotsweb/greentrx.htm

[81] On-line Gaelic lessons
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/ionnsachadh/bac/
also see
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/buidhnean/cli/
and e-mail ca...@smo.uhi.ac.uk

[82] Encyclopedia of the Celts
http://www.centrum.dk/users/kmariboe

[83] New Scottish Local Authorities
http://www.trp.dundee.ac.uk/data/councils/ncintro.html

[84] Oldest Datable Gaelic Song
Piobaireachd Dhomhnuill Dhuibh
Source: John MacInnes, School of Scottish Studies, Edinburgh University
On the Clan Alba Album

[85] What is "Crest of the Clan Chief" in Gaelic
Suaicheantas a ceann cinnidh

[86] How mutually intelligible are Scots and Irish Gaelic

Irish Gaelic and Scots Gaelic are a bit like Italian and Spanish -
fluency in one goes a long way to understanding the other. I am
learning Scots Gaelic and can read some Irish with a bit of difficulty,
but fluent speakers of Scots Gaelic can more or less understand most
Irish - indeed Irish Gaelic is sometimes broadcast on Scots Gaelic
radio. The people from Islay however have a Gaelic that is almost a
cross so have less trouble than the rest of Scotland. The written form
is easier to understand than the spoken form.

[87] Commercial Scots Gaelic translation service
http://www.lews.uhi.ac.uk/fosglan/fosglan2.htm

[88] Getting a job in Scotland

The Scotsman and The Herald carry job adverts most days, although
Friday is usually the best day for both. The Scotsman has an Edinburgh
bias to the jobs in it, the Herald a Glasgow bias. However, sometimes
jobs
in Edinburgh are only advertised in the Herald. I've also seen Highland
jobs only advertised in the Herald. Best to get both if you're not fussy
about location

All the on-line resources are currently biased towards computing jobs.

There are two newsgroups
scot.jobs - jobs specific to Scotland, although only limited
distribution
uk.jobs.offered - jobs in UK (covers Scotland but heavily
dominated by jobs in England)

Jobserve
Jobserve allows to to filter jobs by location so you can receive a mail
whenever a job in Scotland comes up which matches your criteria (e.g.
technical skills) For more information about JobServe, please send a
blank email message to he...@jobserve.com or visit the web server at
http://www.jobserve.com/

Jobsite
Similar to Jobserve although some jobs may appear on one and
not the other. E-mail job...@jobsite.co.uk or visit their website at
http://www.jobsite.co.uk/ Tel: 01243 641141

[89] Scottish newspapers on-line
http://www.presence.co.uk/SundayPost/ - The Sunday Post
http://www.scotsman.com - The Scotsman
http://www.record-mail.co.uk/rm/ - Daily Record and Sunday Mail
http://web1.cims.co.uk/herald/ - The Herald
http://web1.cims.co.uk/eveningtimes/ - The Evening Times (Glasgow)
http://www.timeout.co.uk/TO/list/ - The List (but you need to
register through the http://www.timeout.co.uk/TO/ page)

E-mail:
10067...@compuserve.com - The West Highland Free Press

[90] Intro to Scottish Music
By Charles McGregor

There are several kinds of 'Scottish Music'.. First of all the
Alexander brothers, Kenneth McKellar, Moira Anderson,
Bill McCue type thing is IMO largely an amalgum of Harry
Lauder type Coonery and a catering to Tourist tastes (mostly English
coach parties) in various 'Summer'shows. Most Scots do not like this
kind of thing, it makes them cringe.

The Scottish folk circuit is where most Scots would look for a
real cultural night out. It is alive and vibrant, it is not just about
traditional music. There are many contemporary song-writers as well
as traditionalists.

Scotland being small, there is not a great deal of money available so
you find that often some of the folk circuit artists may leave the
circuit and go into other more lucrative areas. e.g. Gerry Rafferty,
Barbara Dickson, Billy Connelly, Eddie Reader.

Many remain e.g. Dougie MacLean, Eric Bogle, Archie Fisher, Hamish
Imlach, Battlefield Band, Dick Gaughan, Tannahill Weavers, Phil
Cunningham, Aly Bain.

Now at one time, the folk circuit consisted almost entirely of
little folk clubs up and down the country, there was not a deal of
concert hall performances except for the Corries, and this meant that
they were regarded a little apart from the general folk circuit as a
consequence of this.

Nowadays, concert hall performances are common as the folk
'revival' continues.(It seems to have been 'reviving' or getting bigger
all my life). Dougie MacLean, Dick Gaughan etc. regularly fill halls
up and down the country.

Another large part of the folk circuit that used to be almost non
existant is the 'folk fesitival'. I don't know how many there are now,
possibly hundreds. Used to be 1.. the Scottish folk festival for
years in Blairgowrie then moved to Kinross.

Folk programs or series make regular appearances on TV.

Then there is the ceilidh music. This basically falls into two camps.

First there is a fairly formal version where the musicians are
basically following a traditional trade. They are largely used for
formal or semi-formal 'occasions' like weddings or 'Dances' in hotels
or village halls. Scottish country dancing like this is regarded as a
little plastic, or perhaps formulaic is a more appropriate word.
However, Scots do go to these and frequently enjoy them, despite some
similarity to 'summer time specials' they are not an artifact of
tourism, although a lot of tourists will go as well. The Jimmy Shand
band might typify this class of music.

The Second type is the rapidly growing 'new order' of ceilidh music.
In this version, formality goes out the window. The main objective is
enjoyment, getting the dance steps wrong is almost irrelevant the
groups are expected to at least be attempting to push the envelopes of
the genre. There is a positive feedback between the audience and
group which leads to near frenzy all round. Wolfstone perhaps typify
this class of music.

Then there is Gaelic music, which again falls into two categories,
the formal and the less so. The formal consists of gaelic choirs up and
down the country with the mega event being the national Mod once a
year.

The less formal are essentially concert hall based and consist of
groups like Runrig, Capercaillie, Clan na Gael.

Now the above are guidlines there is considerable overlap from one
genre to the other. The term Celtic music covers several of them and
indeed in some branches exchange with Irish artistes is commonplace,
indeed several groups are part Irish part Scots e.g., Capercaillie,
Waterboys, Relativity.

[91] Scottish Independence information
http://www.rmplc.co.uk/eduweb/sites/hamish/index.html

[92] Scottish Yellow Pages
http://www.scotland.org/

[93] Understanding Scottish Dance music

I hope this is what you're looking for -- and as a caveat, this is only
my understanding based on observation/listening, not on any
authoritative source. Also, you must know that this is not the best
way to learn this stuff! It would have helped to know which tunes you
know; I've included some examples that I think are common, but they
might not be in your experience. I hope you can find some kind person
to show this to you interactively; reading text is a terrible medium
for this kind of information. Nevertheless:

What characterizes each kind of tune is the rhythm. You must be able
to hear differences in rhythm in order to tell one from the other.

First of all, listen for the "downbeats" or major rhythmic accents.
These kinds of dance tunes are evenly divided into measures (also
called bars) and the downbeat is the first beat in each measure.
Counting the number of beats from one downbeat to the next is the
first step in distinguishing one type of tune from the others. The
examples that follow the explanations (the BUMP bahs, etc.) are best
understood said aloud if possible, and/or tapped with the hands,
fingers or feet, to get a physical sense of the rhythms.


THINGS IN FOUR

Reels and strathspeys, and most hornpipes are counted in four, that is,
they have four beats to a measure. Jigs of all kinds are in three
(have multiples of three beats to the measure). A pickier (or more
knowledgeable) person might say that many reels, etc. are in fact
counted in two rather than four, but for purposes of simplification,
I'm calling it four. Likewise, jigs are counted in three or multiples
thereof.

reels and single/double jigs have two beats to the measure.
Strathspeys have either 4 or 2 depending on the style (RSCDS tends to
be in 2, while Cape Breton and Highland are in 4). To illustrate, if
someone were playing a typical reel, Flowers of Edinburgh, for example,
no one would clap 4 beats to the measure. Rather they would normally
clap two beats to the measure. Likewise, the musicians will normally
tap two beats with their feet, if they tap at all. The same is true of
jigs. The difference is what happens in the beat. In reels there is a
duple rhythm, which could be expressed as 4 notes to the beat, 8 notes
to the measure, while in jigs there is a triple rhythm with three notes
to the beat or six notes to the measure. I've seen some people give
metronome markings of the beat =240, counting 4 beats to the measure,
but that strikes me as ridiculous. It's almost impossible to count at
mm=240, but not too hard at mm=120 and two beats to the measure. BTW,
RSCDS seems to use about mm=112 for both reels and jigs.

In a reel, the notes are for the most part evenly spaced -- that is,
all the fast notes have the same time as each other, and the same with
the slower ones. And reels are played quickly. Very quickly, usually.


Hornpipes and strathspeys are usually slower, though of course this
depends on the players. Some people play everything as fast as they
can manage, to the detriment of the beauty of the music, IMHO.

Though this is not always the case, I think of hornpipes as having what
is called "dotted time" (because of the way it is written). The first
note is held longer than the second, so a bar of this kind of rhythm
might be illustrated:

Bump bah bump bah

where the "Bumps" have half again as much time as the "bahs" or even
twice as long as the "bahs", giving the hornpipe a feeling of triple
time within a 4 beat measure.

But dotted time is usually only one component of the rhythm. Other
rhythmic figures such as triplets and regular quarter notes are
sprinkled in amongst the dotted. The triplets work out real well with
the dotted rhythm.

Another common feature of hormpipes is that the parts often end with
three beats. For instance, perhaps the most well-known hornpipe, The
Sailor's Hornpipe, ends this way, though, I'm sorry to say, it doesn't
have dotted time. The Rights of Man hornpipe has both.

Hornpipes can be played in several different styles. RSCDS tends to
treat hornpipes as reels, which tends to force the notes into equal
value, like a reel. On the other hand, they can be played slowly with
the dotted rhythm. Sailor's Hornpipe certainly can be played that way,
though most people don't. BTW, do you mean the Popeye tune for
Sailor's. That tune is known in most Scottish collections I've seen as
the College Hornpipe, with another tune being called the Sailor's
hornpipe. Thought I would mention it since it does cause some
confusion on this side of the pond from time to time.

Strathspeys are even harder to explain, though if you got the bit about
dotted time, you might understand this explanation too. As I
understand it, strathspeys feature what we might call "reverse dotted
time" where a measure might have

Bah bump, bah bump or Bah bump, bump bah

as a rhythmic feature in many of its measures. This is called the
"Scottish snap" since strathspeys are a Scottish invention. They
often have regular dotted time, quarter notes, and triplets as well.

In general, then, hornpipes and strathspeys are both slower than reels
and have more varied rhythmic figures. Marches are also slower than
reels, but have that sense of even rhythm that is good for cadence.

Strathspeys can be quite fast, if beat in 4. It's not uncommon to have
a strathspey (in 4) going at mm=128 while a reel (in 2) is a mm=116.
Marches can be played as quick two-steps, such as Duke of Fife's
Welcome to Deeside, or as slower pipe marches and retreat marches.
There should be a swing and lilt to a march, though, which often
involves dotting the rhythm somewhat, not unlike a hornpipe or
strathspey. Alasdair Fraser has written a march, the Aberdeen
Alternative Festival March, which started out as a strathspey. He
decided that the form of the tune called for it to be considered a
march. Another interesting category in marches is the 6/3 marches,
such as the Atholl Highlanders, and the retreat marches, which are in
three beats to the measure, such as the Bloody Fields of Flanders,
which is the tune for The Freedom Come-All-Ye.

THINGS IN THREE

Jigs are in three, usually counted as six, or nine, or twelve. To my
ear, distinguishing between the 6 and 12 often seems somewhat
subjective, but that's probably due to a limitation in my powers of
discernment.

Double jigs, single jigs, and slides all have a sense of two or
four-ness about them -- the underlying beat is in twos. I'm not sure
what the difference between double and single jigs is -- though I
believe that double jigs are counted in six, and slides are in twelve.

If you're counting a double jig in six, it'd be

ONE two three Four five six <or>
ONE two three Two two three
^ |
[Sorry to beat this over the head, but the "ONE" gets the major stress
(^), and the "Four" or "Two" gets the secondary stress (|). You might
try beating this out yourself with the right hand doing the beats with
stresses and the left doing the others (or v.v. if you're left-handed)]
Likewise for slides, it's

ONE two three Four five six Seven eight nine Ten eleven twelve
<or>
ONE two three Two two three Three two three Four two three
^ | | |

Slip jigs, however, have the very different feel of three-ness:

ONE two three Four five six Seven eight nine
ONE two three Two two three Three two three
^ | |

The Butterfly Jig is a good example of a slip jig. Waltzes are also in
three (or six), but much slower.

As I understand it, single jigs tend to have a predominant rhythm of
long-short for each beat, such as The Stool of Repentance opening
measure. Off She Goes might be a better example. Double jigs have the
three notes to the beat rhythm. Most RSCDS jigs are single or double
jigs. Some ceilidh dancing, such as Strip the Willow, can be done to
slip jigs. Slip jigs are much less common in Scottish music that, I
think, in Irish music.

Waltzes are a completely different animal, and should not be confused
with jigs in any way.

BASIC TUNE STRUCTURE

I have yet to discover the nuances of the way people write tunes out;
for example, most reels can be written as a series of quarter and
eighth notes, or as eighth and sixteenths. I'm sorry if this is
getting too technical, but the point is that I don't think there are
hard and fast rules governing how to write this stuff out.

Depending on how you write them out then, tunes usually have four or
eight bars in each part, then that part is repeated once immediately
after playing it the first time. Most tunes have two parts; call the
first part A, the second B, and so forth. So most tunes are sixteen or
thirty-two bars. Taking the case of the thirty-two bar tune, it would
be two A parts of eight bars each, then two B's of eight bars each.

A (8 bars) A (8 bars)
B (8 bars) B (8 bars)

In RSCDS, most reels and jigs call for 32 bar tunes, so the tune is
either played AABB or ABAB once through before going to the next tune.
Strathspeys are usually 16 measures in length, so they are usually
played twice, so that the same 32 bars are reached before going to the
next tune in the set. Some dances call for 40 or 48 bar tunes, which
causes odd repeat patterns. As a practicing musician, I don't
particularly like 40 and 48 bar tunes because I'm used to playing 32
bar tunes and I actually have to try to remember the odd repeat
pattern. Can cause screw-ups at dances, though I usually make it
through.

Also, MOST of the time, people play this whole shebang twice through
before heading off to the next tune in a medley. Sometimes they play
it more than twice, but rarely do they play it only once through.

RSCDSs, because of the insistance on 32 bar tunes, tends to have but
one playing of a reel or jig, most of which are 32 bar tunes if played
AABB, before going to the next tune. However, I never let a tune go
only one time in concert, unless it's a long, usually 4 part, pipe tune
where the 3rd and 4th parts are strongly related to the 1st and 2nd
parts.

There are many exceptions to all of this, of course. One of my
favorite tunes, The Galtee Hunt, has eight bars in the A part, and
twelve in the B part.

Let me know if this makes any sense to you, or if I'm talking way below
or above your understanding. I've tried to explain this before on the
net, but as I said, text is hardly the best way to get this across. But
it's interesting to me to try to verbalize stuff that has become almost
second nature to me. Though, I hasten to add, I frequently have to
count to figure out what a tune is.

One other caveat: Sometimes the title of the tune is the Such-and-such
Reel or whatever, and it's not played in that rhythm at all. I don't
know why this happens, and it's rare, but it does happen. Sometimes
people just change the way it's played for fun. There's a hornpipe
called The Banks Hornpipe that Michael Coleman plays as a hornpipe, but
I've heard it played here in the States for contradances as a reel.
Just human perversity, I guess!

A strathspey is actually a type of reel which developed in the valley
(strath) of the river Spey area in Northeast Scotland. There are
several ways to play strathspeys. For the more formal Royal Scottish
Country Dance Society dances, the strathspey is played essentially in
two, but with a strong afterbeat on the second beat to lead into the
next measure. Since the music is written in 4/4, the basic rhythm for
RSCDS dancing would be ONE two THREE Four, with emphasis at least every
other measure on the Four. For Highland dancing, the playing is done
in a vigouorous four, and somewhat faster than the RSCDS tempo of
approximately 60 for the half-note. Highland would be somewhat faster
than 120 for the quarter-note. Cape Breton strathspeys are sometimes
slower and sometimes faster, but are usually in four beats to the bar.
A common pattern is to have a slow strathspey lead into a faster
strathspey, which gets faster until the players and dancers break into
reels, which are actually slower than the strathspey (in four) is at
that point.

Strathspeys can often be identified by the Scottish Snap
rhythm, usually notated as a 16th - dotten 8th, but played more like a
32nd - double dotted 8th, which occurs at various times in the piece.
While strathspeys are in 4/4, not 12/8, I understand that Scottish
pipe band drummers often treat them as if they were in 12/8 because of
the tendency to make dotted (dotten 8th - 16th) rhythms sound as if
they were some form of triplets. However, they are notated either as
regular dotted rhythms or as equal notes. Strathspeys often do have
triplets notated in them, and they are notated as triplets. They also
often have runs of 4 16th notes, and the two features are often found
in the same strathspeys. The feel of a strathspey is quite different
from that of a slide (an form of jig in 12/8) or of jigs, and the
music should be thought of as 4/4 or 2/2 which may have triple or
quadriple rhythms, not as a firm triplet rhythm as in a jig.

[94] Article on History of Language in Scotland

In Britain (including Scotland), brythonic Celtic predates Gaelic by
almost 1000 years or so. Being spoken from Kent up to Glasgow and
across to Wales. Some people even suggest that Brythonic was spoken in
Ireland before Gaelic, but this notion begs the question... Where did
Gaelic come from and When? But that's another story. Pictish (possibly
Celtic) would probably predate even brythonic.

As to Gaelic and English in Scotland, The Highlands of Scotland were
occupied by Picts and the lowlands were occupied by Brythonic Celts.
The Romans occupying the lowlands during this time and when the Romans
left in 407, they left a weak kingdom, but still brythonic. The Scots
(Gaelic speaking) extended their region of Dalriada into Argyllshire,
between 500 and 550. The Angles extended the Kingdom of Northumbria
into Lothian, Berwick, Selkirk, Peebles and Roxburgh. As far as I am
aware these areas are in present day Scotland. The Angles spoke a
dialect of what is know today as "Old English". The Angles moved into
this area about 540 -600, these are rough dates. As time went on,
Scotland was left with 4 distinct areas. Dalriada, Pictland,
Strathclyde and Lothian (Northumbria).In 625 the Northumbrian Kingdom
stretched from the Humber to the Forth and was ruled by Edwin. In 685
the Northumbrians decided to try and extend Northumbria into Pictland
and hence invaded the Picts, but this was a big mistake. The
Northumbrian army was defeated by the Picts and eventually Northumbria
lost supremacy to the Southern Saxons. (Also why RP is based on
Southern English and Not Northumbrian ???). The Picts became the
supreme overlords of the Scots in Dalriada and the Brythonic Celts in
Strathclyde.

About 785, Pictland started to receive attacks from bands of Norse
invaders and these lead to Pictish defeats and in the 830 (approx), the
Norse invaders made permanent settlements.

In 843 Dalriada threw off Pictish control, where upon the Scots King
Kenneth MacAlpine laid claim to the Pictish throne through the Celtic
law of Tanistry. Followed by the union of the Picts and the Scots. The
now "United Kingdom" tried to oust the Northumbrians from Lothian but
were unsuccessful. At this time the Norse people occupied the Western
Isles, Northern Isles and Caithness.

The Scots allied themselves to the English to get rid of the Norse
Invaders and sometimes allied themselves with the Norse to get rid of
the English.

It was not until 1018 that the Scots Kingdom managed to remove Lothian
from the hands of the Northumbrians and in 1034 the Scots, Angles,
British and Picts were a United Kingdom of Scotland.

As far as I am aware MacBeth was the last of the Gaelic Kings, and he
himself was followed by Malcolm, whose wife (an English lass) moved the
royal court to Edinburgh around about 1070. At this time many
persecuted English people moved into Lothian from England due to Norman
Conquest. The English who were persecuted in England flourished in
Scotland.

The real point of all the above is that English has been spoken since
the 6th Century in Scotland. Not all of it but quite a large piece.
Modern Scots dates back to the first Angle invasions at this time.

Incidently Whilst parts of Scotland were English speaking, parts of
England were still Celtic speaking eg West Yorkshire Kingdom of Elmet
and part of Cumbria.

To sum up English has been spoken for longer in Edinburgh than in Leeds.

[95] Article on Scottish Step Dancing
Article by Dr Margaret Bennett

"Step-dancing: Why we must learn from past mistakes"

MARGARET BENNETT of the School of Scottish Studies on the history - and
possible future - of a unique form of dance.

When I read your article "Step-dancing makes its return ..." earlier
this
year [in the West Highland Free Press (WHFP)] it was not my intention to
"join in the dance" as I saw it as a useful piece of publicity for
Harvey
Beaton's step-dancing class that was to be held at Sabhal Mor Ostaig,
[the
Gaelic Adult Education and Community College on the Isle of Skye].

Publicity or not, it was a pity the article began with so many
historical
distortions - all that nonsense about Queen Victoria's "infatuation with
the Highlands" which had a "lasting effect upon the style of music and
dance". Perhaps it is an attempt at retroactive "Royal bashing" for it
has
no bearing whatsoever on reality.

Based on my own research, I would say that Queen Victoria took a sincere
and supportive interest in Scotland's culture and languages and would
urge
others to read her journals before making such sweeping statements.
There
are also accounts from oral tradition, such as one which was re-told to
me
by my colleague, Dr John MacInnes, of Queen Victoria advising the Duke
of
Atholl to employ a Gaelic-speaking nursemaid so that the language would
not
be lost. If only twentieth century mothers had applied her clear-
thinking
principle, Gaelic would be in a much healthier state.

In view of the fact that by far the greatest influence on Scottish
traditional dance did not appear until well after Queen Victoria's
death,
it might be as well to remind readers of the facts. Ironically, (though
too
often the case with people who "mean well") the woman who undoubtedly
had
the greatest influence on dance had every intention of *preserving* it.

She was Miss Jean Milligan, lecturer in Physical Education at Jordanhill
College of Education in Glasgow, and as such, was in the ideal position
to
train teachers in every aspect of the dances she clearly loved. She did
not, however, love the wild, undisciplined ways of the "untrained"
village
hall or kitchen-floor dancers, who, at that time would dance in whatever
footwear they happened to be wearing, or, as was often the case in
summer,
in bare feet. She was certainly willing to study dance, and if, for
example, she watched several versions of a particular reel, she would
decide on a standard *correct style*, then, with missionary zeal, set
about
"correcting" rural dances. Beginning with footwear (dance-pumps, please)
she tackled "position", having decided it should be based on classical
ballet.

In 1923 she co-founded The Scottish Country Dance Society, and published
books that set out the "proper" way to dance. From then on, there cannot
be
a teacher who trained at Jordanhill who does not remember the classes -
in
my own day, mid 60s, we had three years of them - you bought the books,
turned up with the proper shoes, learnt the "positions" and dances, and
how
to teach them. Then, thoroughly trained, five hundred of us girls
graduated
each year convinced that we were on the right track. (I did, however,
wonder at the instructions to the piano player which always began:
"Thank
you Miss Peterkin, (shouted) *and!*" Just calculate the number of
school-teachers, to say nothing of the privately trained village-hall
teachers, who have influenced Scottish dance since 1923 - it was the
ideal
system for "correcting" an entire nation.

I have no doubt that some readers will be irritated at what they might
perceive as criticism of the RSCDS and its co-founder. That is not at
all
my intention. I believe that any form of dance is perfectly valid; what
is
*not* valid is to eliminate traditional forms along the way.

There is much to be said in favour of the RSCDS, as the organisation has
given pleasure to millions of dancers and spectators over the years,
and,
in its own way, acts as an ambassador for Scotland. I would, however,
suggest that anyone serious enough to research aspects of Scottish dance
should read Miss Milligan's own account of what her aims were and how
she
set about attaining them. The reader will, at the same time, gain an
interesting insight into her (lack of) understanding of Scottish
culture.

To cite one example which will show how inaccurately she perceived dance
in
the broader scope of Scottish Customs: in 1912, before she cleverly
discovered how to train school-teachers to promote her ideas, Miss
Milligan
founded the Beltane Society in Glasgow in order (she wrote) "to
cultivate
among the younger generation a knowledge of Scottish folk songs,
ballads,
dances and . . . to maintain all the national customs and quaint
ceremonies
...". Our forebears celebrated Beltane, *Latha Bealltain*, for
centuries,
and, as many of your readers already know, it had nothing to
do with Jean Milligan's revolutionary ideas. Fortunately, membership of
her
Beltane Society was voluntary (unlike the Jordanhill dance classes) and
did
not last, otherwise we might be faced with the task of re-educating our
own
people in yet another perfectly valid part of our past.

*IT IS NOT* surprising, then, that the older dances which were so
popular
in the Scottish Highlands were preserved in the New World amongst
emigrants
who left Scotland before the massive re-education campaign started.

There were solo dances and group dances, all of which involved a variety
of
steps and formations, and depending on where the dances were performed,
there were (and are) countless variations. They were not, however,
confined
to Cape Breton, as they could be found wherever Highlanders settled: New
Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Ontario, Quebec, and so
on.

While it is heartening to watch a revival in step-dancing and to see it
taught once again in Scotland, when I hear of revivalists referring to
this
solo dancing as "Cape Breton step-dancing" and then dictating that all
dancers *must* wear hard-soled shoes of a certain type, I wonder if they
are not in danger of repeating some of the same mistakes that Miss
Milligan
is accused of making? In their zeal to "do it right" new enthusiasts may
be
creating a new set of rules that may be just as definitive as those set
out
by the RSCDS.

As far as the terms of reference are concerned, if we adopt the same
logic
which is applied to the naming of step-dancing and then, for example,
apply
it to the Gaelic language, we would be able to state authoritatively
that
people in Skye, or any other Gaelic-speaking area, speak "Lewis Gaelic",
for, after all, that is where Gaelic is spoken most widely. Imagine the
outcry!

In the space of a few short years, the term "Cape Breton step-dancing"
has
even taken hold in Canada, and can be heard in provinces where it was
completely unknown twenty years ago. This summer I encountered it on the
west coast of Newfoundland, where Scottish step-dancing has survived
every
bit as well as in Cape Breton, albeit with a much smaller area. I was
told
"well, I guess that's what they're calling it now - you see it on the
television." Only two years ago I video-recorded the same step-dancer
who
never once used the term "Cape Breton step-dancing" although he has
often
danced in Cape Breton at the invitation of Cape Bretonners who liked his
style.

On the subject of hard-soled shoes, the same dancer commented that they
are
"pretty good at a ceilidh," especially on a wooden floor, above the
sound
of the fiddle, "but years ago, more often or not I'd be dancing bare-
feet
out in the field and singing for myself." In the past, there were no
rules,
and it was just as common for a woodsman in his steel-toed boots in the
lumber camp bunkhouse as it was for the priest to dance in his black
leather shoes at the church social.

Another Newfoundland Gael, whose people emigrated from Canna and Moidart
in
the 1820s and 40s, described where they got their dances (transcribed
from
tape):

"We had people here that taught step-dancing, the Scotch dancing ...
there
was one woman here, she was a MacDonald, she could dance sixty steps,
different steps, and it was all the right dancing, you know, step-
dancing.
Oh I tell you they were pretty lively! They knew the tunes, a lot of
them
from Scotland ... they followed the tunes from Scotland right down."

There is obviously a crying need for a dedicated individual to document
carefully the range of material available. Since I am a folklorist (not
a
dance ethnographer) who happens to have made a number of video and audio
tapes on the subject (and yes, they are at the School of Scottish
Studies),
I have no plans for writing a book about the history of dance. I have,
however, made much of my own collection available to interested
individuals.

In my 11 years at the School of Scottish Studies I have only encountered
three people whose interest was such that they were prepared to spend
the
time studying all the material available. One was a former Highland
dance
champion who was writing a post-graduate dissertation on Scottish dance,
and during her studies she discovered that her own mother, brought up in
the Stirling area, and by then in her seventies, had a repertoire of
step-dances which she had never demonstrated until she saw a film of
step-dancing in Canada. Till then, the older lady had thought her
daughter
who "had been trained to dance properly" might ridicule her.

The second person was one of our own students who studied village hall
dances; and the third person was James MacDonald-Reid, who quite
correctly
stated in his recent letter to the WHFP that step-dancing did not, in
fact,
die out in Scotland this century. Since he was courteous enough to ask
me
if he could refer to my tapes (and without hesitation I agreed) it is
only
fair that I should take some responsibility for his reference. As is our
policy, he did not mention any names, for we had not asked the
permission
of informants.

Apart from the tapes already mentioned, Mr Reid listened to a discussion
by
a step-dancer in the Spey Valley who can still dance step-dances that
had
been taught to her by her parents who were from Laggan and Barra
respectively. Like the Stirling woman, she did not simply display a
glimmer
of recognition at the sight of "Cape Breton step-dancing", but she could
(and can) get out on the floor and dance the steps.

It is easy to understand why individuals such as these have kept silent
about their ability, for ever since they went to school they have been
shown how to dance "correctly". And, having mastered the RSCDS dances,
both
women channelled their childhood energy and love of dance into Highland
Dance, which also has all the acceptability and status lacking in the
steps
they had learned at home.

It is to this particular recording that James MacDonald-Reid referred,
as
he not only watched her dancing on video (in this case made
professionally
by the independent film company Caledonia, Sterne and Wylde) but also
visited the dancer. Together they discussed aspects of dance, and though
I
was only able to observe one session of this discourse, anyone watching
the
two of them - one born and brought up in the Highlands, and the other
brought up in Ontario in a Scottish family - would be in no doubt as to
the
continuity of tradition. Aside from those mentioned, there are reports
of
others, granted
only few, who still dance the old steps, but to pronounce something dead
while it yet breathes is inaccurate, to say the least.

*CLEARLY* there is much to be done to promote step-dancing and revive
it.
If however, those who profess to have its best interest at heart ignore
the
facts, then we are in trouble.

It saddens me to watch the very same bodies who declare a serious
interest
make so many of the same mistakes that we watched in the past. It is all
very well to bring in an expert for a week or two a year, but what of
the
rest of the time?

Those who decide on the appointment of dance teachers must consider
carefully what the demands are, as they plan the promotion of
traditional
dance. The ideal person should possess a profound depth of knowledge, a
natural ability to dance, and good, clear teaching techniques. Anyone
who
has seen Jamie MacDonald-Reid dance, heard him discuss the subject (and
*not* when he is unfairly cornered by interviewers determined to set him
on
edge), or anyone who has seen him teach dance to a class of children or
adults could not doubt his abilities, nor imagine that he is responsible
for some of the damage that Mike Kennedy attributes to "professional
dancers and dance teachers" (WHFP)

Interestingly, though not surprisingly, Mr Reid is also the only person
whom I have ever encountered who could, after watching the video of the
Newfoundland step-dancing, perform the steps himself, as if they were
second nature to him. (The usual reaction of new observers is to ask
"how
in the world does that step go," repeat, and try to figure it out.) I
wonder when some organisation, perhaps a local authority, a feis or a
festival, might risk asking James MacDonald-Reid to run a dance class?

Those who have taken the time to watch him are already convinced. It
would
be a great pity if some of the so-called enthusiasts spent the rest of
their lives "trying to figure it out" instead of enlisting the talent of
someone who has taken the subject seriously all of his life. If there is
anyone who is more passionately committed to traditional dance in
Scotland
then I would very much like to hear from him or her. Better still, I'd
love
to watch the dance.

(c) from West Highland Free Press, 14/10/94

*emphasis* - the asterisks are to emphasise various words that might
otherwise be in bold or italic fonts.

[96] Address to a Haggis - Robert Burns
To A Haggis

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the Puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see Rustic-labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn they stretch an' strive,
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
_Bethankit_ hums.

Is there that owre his French _ragout_
Or _olio_ that wad stow a sow,
Or _fricasee_ was mak her spew
Wi' perfect sconner
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! See him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whissle;
An' legs, an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware,
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!

[97] Scottish Text Archive
gopher://bubl.bath.ac.uk:7070/11/BUBL_Main_Menu/S/SB/SBF
contains
works by Robert Burns,
Scottish Poetry Collection
Scottish Stories Collection
Ochil Fairy Tales
all are on-going projects

[98] How to get scot.* hierarchy groups
gopher://news.csie.nctu.edu.tw/11/news/usenet/scot
or news-server news.demon.co.uk
or pubnews.demon.co.uk

[99] Fiddle Styles

Cape Breton style is the old Scottish style of some 150-200 years ago.
Its main influences are pipes and traditional singing. It's highly
ornamented and mostly uses single bows.

West Coast style is exemplified by the playing of Angus Grant. It's a
style which doesn't relate much to the old fiddle style and seems to
have come mostly from piping. There's a lot of ornamentation and very
long bowstrokes are used to mimic the drone of the pipes.

There's a traditional east coast style that is very seldom heard. Most
of the east coast players of today are heavily influenced by classical
violin style. There's one recording of the old style I know: "The
Cameron Men".

Shetland is a totally different tradition which relates strongly to
Scandinavian fiddling.

To compare various fiddle styles from around Scotland, the
following tape/CD from Greentrax may be of use:
The Fiddler and his art (reference: CDTRAX/CTRAX 9009)
there is another one in this series focussing on Shetland music:
CDTRAX/CTRAX "Shetland Fiddle Music"
See http://webzone1.co.uk/www/scotsweb/greentrx.htm

Alasdair Fraser has also recorded "Portrait of a Scottish Fiddler" -
this
is now available on CD
For Cape Breton Fiddle styles, anything by Buddy MacMaster or
Natalie MacMaster

[100] Frequently Requested Songs
Index:
[100.1] My Bonnie Moorhen
[100.2] Theid mi Dhachaidh - from Rob Roy
[100.3] Sileas puirt a beul
[100.4] Amazing Grace
[100.5] Eilean nam Bothan
[100.6] Runrig - Skye
[100.7] Oh wee white rose of Scotland
[100.8] Loch Lomond
[100.9] William McBride
[100.10] Fields of Athenry
[100.11] Doon in the Wee Room
[100.12] An teid thu leam a Mhairi
[100.13] Ailein duinn - from Rob Roy
[100.14] Ca the yowes
[100.15] Alasdair Mhic Cholla Ghasda
[100.16] Nighean nan geug
[100.17] Boneparte
[100.18] Sguaban Arbhair

Frequently Requested Songs - Contents
[100.1] My Bonnie Moorhen

My bonnie moorhen, my bonnie moorhen,
Up in the grey hills, and doon in the glen,
It's when ye gang butt the hoose, when ye gang ben
I'll drink a health tae my bonnie moorhen.

My bonnie moorhen's gane o'er the faim,
And it will be summer e'er she comes again,
But when she comes back again some folk will ken,
And drink a toast tae my bonnie moorhen.

My bonnie moorhen has feathers anew,
And she's a' fine colours, but nane o' them blue,
She's red an' she's white, an' she's green an' she's grey
My bonnie moorhen come hither away.

Come up by Glen Duich, and doon by Glen Shee
An' roun' by Kinclaven and hither tae me,
For Ranald and Donald are oot on the fen,
Tae brak the wing o' my bonnie moorhen.

This is a song from the Jacobite period of Scottish history and is one
of many of the period with double meanings and disguise. In the song,
the fugitive is being hunted in the hills by government forces and
Ranald and Donald are red coat soldiers. The colours referred to are
those of the old Stuart tartan. The Prince is the moorhen

[100.2] Theid mi Dhachaidh - from Rob Roy
Date: Thu, 07 Sep 1995 20:44:19 -0400 (EDT)
From: KK...@delphi.com
Subject: Theid Mi Dhachaidh, can you forward?
To: cr...@scot.demon.co.uk

Hello Craig, I think you are right that these words in Gaelic and
English would be of interest to others at rec.music.celtic; but my
software will not import this text into newsgroups. I am hoping that if
I send it to you, you could forward it to that newsgroup? If not, let
me know and I'll figure something out, but I don't think I could have
keyboarded all this in on line! I am sending this to Digitrad. Thanks,
Karen

Gaelic words to "Theid Mi Dhachaidh", or
"Cro Chinn T-Saile "
(Courtesy of An Comunn Gaidhealach,
many thanks to them for their kindness)

Se/ist
Theid mi dhachaidh ho ro dachaidh,
Theid mi dhachaidh chro\ Chin t-Sa\ile,
Theid mi dhachaidh ho ro dhachaidh,
Theid mi dhachaidh chro\ Chinn t-Sa\ile.

Rann 1
Theid mi fhi\n, leam fhi\n, leam fhi\n ann,
Theid mi fhi\n, leam fhi\n a Gea\rrloch,
Theid mi fhi\n, leam fhi\n, leam fhi\n ann
'S gabhaidh mi 'n rathad mo/r Chinn t-Sa\ile.

Rann 2
Bi mi nochd am buaile Phearsain,
Bi mi 'n a chuid mhart am ma\ireach.
Bi mi nochd am buaile Phearsain,
Bi mi 'n a chuid mhart am ma\ireach.

English words, from Talitha MacKenzie's "So/las" CD

I will go home
I will go home to the cattlefold of Kintail.
I will go home
I will go home to the cattlefold of Kintail.

I will go myself, by myself, there
I will go myself, by myself to Gairloch.
I will go myself, by myself, there
I will take the high road to Kintail.

Tonight I will be in the parson's cattlefold,
Tomorrow I will be with the cattle
headed for the slaughter
Tonight I will be in the parson's cattlefold,
Tomorrow I will be with the cattle
headed for the slaughter.

(She adds another verse:)

I will go to Urray, to reap the sea-bent
I will go to Urray with you, my love
I will go to Urray, to reap the sea-bent
I will go to Urray with you, my love.

I am not good enough at Gaelic yet to figure out if the
English exactly matches the Gaelic? Karen

[100.3] Sileas puirt a beul

3 Traditional puirt a beul from the Si\leas album "Beating Harps"
See also http://www.tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de/~lingnau/puirt.html
for information on puirt

(1)
Tha bann' aig na caoraich uile (x3) All the sheep have milk
'S galan aig a' chaora chruim And the one with the crooked horn
has a

gallon
Ubh oirr' cho mo/r ri gamhain She has an udder as big as a milk
cow's
'S e cho sleamhain ris an i\m And it's as slippery as butter

(2)
Sheatadh cailleach The old woman would set
ruilleadh cailleach The old woman would reel
Sheatadh cailleach ris a' bhalg The old woman would set to the bag
Sheatadh cailleach Uileam Bhuidhe Yellow haired William's old woman
would set
ris a bhuidheann a bh'air falbh to the company that had gone

Ruilleadh cailleach nan cailleach The old woman of the old women
would reel
ri cailleach bhaile nan cailleach to the old woman of the town of old
women
'S gu seatadh a chailleach Hearach and the old woman of Harris would
set
ris a chaillich a bh'air falbh to the old woman who had gone

Ruilleadh cailleach Iain Bhuidhe Yellow haired John's old woman
would reel
Ris a chailleach a bh'aig Uileam to William's old woman
'S nuair a thug Anna dhith and when Anna took off her mutch
an curachd
B'fheadar a dh'Iain Curraidh falbh John Curry had to go away

(3)
Thoir a nall Ailean thugam, Bring Allan over to me,
Ailean thugam, Ailean thugam to me, to me
Thoir a nall Ailean thugam Bring Allan over to me,
seatadh e'n t-urlar he would set the floor

Cha teid Fionnlagh a dh'Eige Finlay won't go to Eigg
Ged nach po\sda e feasda although he's not married yet
Cha teid Fionnladh a dh'Eige Finlay won't go to Eigg
Dh'Eige cha teid Fionnlagh To Eigg Finlay won't go

Ceann ruadh air a nighean The girl has red hair
Buidhe ruadh air a nighean The girl has yellow-red hair
Ceann ruadh air a nighean The girl has red hair
Mar a bh'air a ma\thair Just like her mother

[100.4] Amazing Grace
Miorbhail Gra\is
-- Version sent to me by An Comunn Gaidhealach, translator
unknown

O Miorbhail gra\is! nach breagh' an ceo\l;
'S e lorg mi 's mi air chall,
Air seachdran dorch', gun neart, gun treo\ir,
'S a dh'fhosgail su\ilean dall.

'S e gra\s thug eo\las dhomh air m'fheum;
'S e gra\s thug saors' is si\th;
'S cha cheannaicheadh o\r a' chruinne-che\
Chiad la\ bha fios nam chri\dh'.

Tro iomadh cunnart 's trioblaid chruaidh
Thug E gu sa\bhailt mi.
An gra\s a shaor bhon bha\s le buaidh
Chan fha\g 's cha tre\ig gu si\or.

San dachaigh bhuan gun uair gun ti\m,
'S deich mi\le bliadhn' mar la\,
Cha sguir an ceo\l 's chan fha\s iad sgi\th
A' seinn a chaoidh mun ghra\s.

[100.5] Eilean nam Bothan

Eilean nam Bothan

Variant 1
Ars an gobha fuiricheamaid
Ars an gobha falbhamaid
Ars an gobha ris an ogha
Na sheasamh aig dorus an t-sabhal
Gu rachadh e shuiridhe.

Chorus
~~~~~~
'Si eilean nam bothan nam bothan
Eilean nam bothan nam bothan
Eilean nam bothan nam bothan
Bothan a bh'aig Fionnghal'
(Repeat)

Bheirinn fead air fulmaire
Bheirinn fead air falmaire
Liughannan beaga na mara
Bheireamaid greis air an tarruing
Na maireadh a na duirgh dhuinn.

Cha d'fhuair sinn dad ann a seo
Cha d'fhuair sinn dad ann a seo
Cha d'fhuair sinn dad ann a seo
Cail ach racadail na duirgh dhuinn
O nach tigeadh Carbhanach
O nach tigeadh Carabhanach
Mursgainn is leabagan glas
A bheireadh na dubhain 'on fheamainn
Na maireadh na duirghe dhuinn.

Island of Bothies
-----------------

The blacksmith said let us wait
The blacksmith said let us go
The blacksmith said to his grandchild
standing at the door of the barn
that he was going to go courting.

Island of bothies, of bothies
Island of bothies, of bothies
Island of bothies, of bothies
Fingal's bothies.

I'd knock spots off the birds
I'd knock spots off the hakes [fish]
little lythes [flat fish] of the sea.
We would take a while hauling them in
if our hand lines last.

We got nothing here
We got nothing here
We got nothing here
except noises of the hand lines.
If only carp would come
If only carp would come
or razor fish or flounder
that would take the hooks from the seaweed
if our hand lines last.

Variant 2 - Lyrics off "Music from the Western Isles", School of
Scottish Studies/Greentrax

Thuirt an gobha fuirighidh mi
'S thuirt an gobha falbhaidh mi
'S thuirt an gobha leis an othail
A bh'air an dorus an t-sabhail
Gu rachadh e a shuirge

Chorus
'S a gheala ham botham nam botham
Pe ho ro bha hin an doicheam
'S hala ham to han an doicheam
Am bothan a bh'aig Fionnaghuala

Bheirinn fead air fulmairean
Bheirinn fead air falmairean
Liuthannan beaga na mara
Bheireamaid greis air an tarrainn
Na maireadh na duirgh dhuinn

[100.6] Runrig - Skye
> Can someone please translate the Gaelic words in 'Skye' by Runrig.
>
> Chi mi an t-eilean uaine
> Tir nam beanntan arda
> Ceo a'tuiteam tron a ghleann
> 'Na shineadh air do raointean
>

I see the green island
land of the high mountains
mist falling through the glen
stretching out over your raointean*

* this is the plural of raon which is the origin of the word "run" in
Runrig (once Run-Rig and before that "The Run-Rig Dance band"). Run-
Rig
is a historical legal term which Blair Douglas gave the band when the
band was founded in the early 70s and Blair was studying at Glasgow.
A rig is a strip of land associated with a croft and Run-rigs are
sequences of those strips of land, many of which are still visible on
Skye

[100.7] Oh wee white rose of Scotland

Oh wee white rose of Scotland

Susanne Ferguson - 1986

Oh wee white rose of Scotland tell tae me
When wad ye rise and bloom wi fient a thorn
When wad ye rise up haill and straucht and free
Nae mair tae dwine forfochten and forlorn

Oh wad ye rise and scent the air again
Wi blossom blithe on branches noo abrede
Tae gar this land pit life in ye I'd spend
My warldis gear tae bring ye some remeid

Oh no this land's a kindly nurse tae me
It is the sky wi mirk is sair owercast
Thir days o dule they will only ended be
When fae a new airt blaws a fresher blast

When charity shall stand in Scotland's tongue
For leal and soothfu band wi aa that lives
When riches are nae mair the work o wrang
But shall requite the ane that freest gives

When Scotland's great are they wha kindest can
Lift ithers' loads tae gie their spirits room
Then wi a glad upspringin til the sun
The winds o aa the world I shall perfume

Glossary:
hail = whole
fient = hardly
straucht = straight
dwine = dwindle
forfochten = worn out
abrede = spread
tae gar = to make
warldis = all the world
remeid = relief
mirk = darkness
thir = these
dule = misery
leal = loyal
soothfu = truthful

[100.8] Loch Lomond
Rudy Ramsey <rams...@abwam.com>

I've been meaning to write the lyrics down, anyway. I couldn't find
them anywhere here (though there is a similar version in the CD insert
of the Corries' "Silver Collection", which I've misplaced). I know the
song well, though, and believe these lyrics to be accurate. I can't
remember where I originally got them, but I suspect it was Ewan
MacColl. The Corries' version of this song is truly beautiful, by the
way.

There's a lovely story associated with the song, and I believe it to be
the true origin of the "Loch Lomond" and "High Road" songs, of which
there are several variants. I admit that I don't have detailed
documentation for the story, however, and I'm writing it from memory,
too. Caveat emptor, and all. :-)

The Jacobite Rebellion came to an end with the Jacobites disastrous
loss at the Battle of Culloden, April 16, 1746. After the battle, many
of the captured Scottish soldiers were taken by the English to
Carlisle, where they were imprisoned at Carlisle Castle. The English
treated the Scotsmen rather capriciously, selecting some -- apparently
at random -- to be hanged. Others, also seemingly chosen at random,
were simply released, and told to walk home, over the roads, to
Scotland.

One of the captured Scottish soldiers was Donald MacDonald. He felt
sure that he would be one of those hanged by the English, and he
wrote this song. One can suppose it was meant as a memorial, a message
of hope for his fellow Scotsmen, and a last love letter to his beloved
Moira, who lived back in the Scottish highlands, near Loch Lomond.

The song is written to be sung not by Donald, but by Moira. It tells of
the journey of Donalds spirit after his death. He returns to Scotland
not by the high road -- the ordinary road over which his countrymen are
walking home -- but by the low road of death, a much faster and surer
route. Donalds spirit visits Moira and makes love to her one last time.
But she can tell that he is gone, and that she will not see him again,
in this life.

Loch Lomond

O whither away my bonnie May
Sae late and sae dark in the gloamin?
The mist gathers gray oer moorland and brae.
O whither sae far are ye roamin?

O, yell tak the high road and Ill tak the low.
Ill be in Scotland afore ye.
For me and my true love will never meet again
By the bonnie, bonnie banks o Loch Lomond.

I trusted my ain love last night in the broom,
My Donald wha loves me sae dearly.
For the morrow he will march for Edinburgh toon,
Tae fecht for his king and Prince Charlie.

O, weel may I weep for yestreen in my sleep.
We lay bride and bridegroom together.
But his touch and his breath were cold as the death,
And his hairtsblood ran red in the heather.

(chorus)

As dauntless in battle as tender in love,
Hed yield neer a foot tae the foeman.
But never again frae the fields o the slain
Tae his Moira will he come by Loch Lomond.

The thistle may bloom, the king hae his ain,
And fond lovers will meet in the gloamin.
And me and my true love will yet meet again
Far above the bonnie banks o Loch Lomond.

(chorus)

I'm still interested in finding out more about this Donald MacDonald
(that was the subject of my original posting in this thread). If
anyone can point me to likely sources, I would appreciate it.

[100.9] William McBride
I'd just like to post these excellent lyrics here and
thanks to Howard Evans for sending them to me!
Howard Evans <10063...@CompuServe.COM>

--- Message from Howard ---

These are the words (and original title) as sung by the author
Eric Bogle at the Cottage Theatre Folk Club, Cumbernauld
on 19th Feb, 1977. All other versions are corruptions :-)
Iain Mackintosh (to my mind) does the *best*cover version.
(But I would say that as he's a friend)
Chords are what I play (to Eric's tune)
Most "modern" (post 1980) versions are based on
the Furey's version which as I told you before is
very different. They also changed the title between
"Willie McBride" and Green Fields of France"
Bogle calls in William McBride.

Enjoy it - but for god's sake, don't Wild Rover it
(i.e. don't get them all swinging to the chorus)
You should finish it with a lump in your throat.

Slainte (my only word of Gaelic)

Howard Evans.
= = = = = = = = =

William McBride

(c)Well how do you (F) do Private (Dm) William McBride
Do you (G7) mind if I sit here down(C) by your grave(G7)side
And I'll (C) rest for a (F) while in the(Dm) warm summer sun
I've been (G7) walking all day and(F) I'm nearly (C) done
And I see by your gravestone you were(Dm) only 19
When you(G7) joined the glorious fallen back in (c)1916 (G7)
Well I (C) hope you died quick and I (F) hope you died (Dm) clean
Or (G7) Willie McBride was it (F) slow and obscene (C)

Did they (G7) beat the drum slowly
Did they (F) play the fyfe (C)lowly
Did the (G7)rifles fire o'er you
As they (F) lowered you (C) down
Did the (F) bugles play the Last Post in (Dm) chorus
Did the (C) pipes play the (F) Flooers o the (G7) Forrest (C)

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart does your memory enshrine
And though you died back in 1916
In some faithful heart are you forever 19
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Enshrined forever behind the glass pane
Of an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame

Ah the sun's shining now on these green fields of France
The warm winds blow gently and the red poppies dance
The trenches have vanished under the plough
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now
But here in the graveyard it's still No-Man's Land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To Man's blind indifference to his fellow-man
To a whole generation who were butchered and damned

And I can't help but wonder now William McBride
Do all those who lie here know why they died
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause
Did you really believe that this war would end wars
Well the suffering and the sorrow and the glory, the shame
The killing the dying, the dying, it was all done in vain
For Willie McBride, it all happened again
And again, and again and again and again.

[100.10] Fields of Athenry
THE FIELDS OF ATHENRY Time: 4/4 Tenor: G Bass: D-E
- Pete St. John, 19?? (modern)
- Record: Paddy Reilly, Greatest Hits

By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young girl call-ing
Michael they are taking you a-way____
For you stole Trevelyn's corn, so the young might see the morn
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay____

CHORUS:

Low lie the fields of Athen-ry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly____
Our love was on the wing, we had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely round the fields of Athen-ry____

By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young man call-ing
Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free____
Against the Famine and the Crown, I re-belled, they ran me down
Now you must raise our child with digni-ty____

By a lonely harbour wall, she watched the last star fall-ing
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky____
Sure she'll wait and hope and pray, for her love in Botany Bay
It's so lonely round the fields of Athen-ry____

[100.11] Doon in the Wee Room
From: t0...@lambton.on.ca (George Allan)

Hello everybody. Here's a source for "Doon in the
Wee Room", courtesy of another respondent:

The Marlettes
Songs of Scotland (Lyrics included)
Tape # KITV 457
Produced by Bill Garden
Recorded at Scotty's Sound Studio, Kilsyth

Scotdisc,
B.G.S. Productions Ltd.,
Newtown Street,
Kilsyth, Glasgow
G65 0JX

The Lyrics:

The Wee Room Underneath The Stair

Now if yer tired and weary, feelin' sad and blue
Don't let your cares upset ye 'al tell ye what tae do
Just tak a cor tae Springburn go inta Quin's Pub there
Go doon intae the wee room underneath the stair

For it's doon in the wee room underneath the stair
Everybody's happy everybody's there
And they're all makin' merry each in his chair
Doon in the wee room underneath the stair

A king went a huntin' his fortunes for tae seek
He lost his cor at Partick went missin' for a week
Days and nights they hunted sorrow and despair
They foun' him in the wee room underneath the stair

Fur it's doon in the wee room underneath the stair
Everybody's happy everybody's there
And they're all makin' merry each in his chair
Doon in the wee room underneath the stair

Noo when am gettin' auld and ma bones begin tae set
I'll never worry naw I'll never fret
For I'm savin' up ma pennies tae buy a hurrly chair
Tae tak me tae the wee room underneath the stair

Fur it's doon in the wee room underneath the stair
Everybody's happy everybody's there
Adn they're all makin' merry each in his chair
Doon in the wee room underneath the stair.

Thanks again for your help and encouragement.

See you at "The Royal Oak".

George Allan

[100.12] An teid thu leam a Mhairi
Words from Christine Primrose

Seist/Chorus:

An teid thu leam a Mhairi

Am falbh thu leam thar saile
An teid thu leam a Mhairi dhonn
Gu tir nam beanntan arda

Rann1/Verse1
Tha crodh againn air airigh
Is laoigh an cois am mathar
Tha sin againn is caoraich mhaol' (=Cheviot sheep)
Air aodann nam beann arda

(seist)

Rann2
Dh'aithnichinn fhin do bha\ta
Si\os mu Rudh' na h-Airde
Bre\idean geala anns an t-seol
Is clann MhicLeoid 'gan ca\radh

(seist)

[100.13] Ailein duinn - from Rob Roy
Due to the sucess of Rob Roy (and Capercaillie!) a lot of people have
asked me about these lyrics - here they are and a story about them

"Allan Morrison was a sea captian from the isle of Lewis. In the spring
of 1788 he left Stornoway to go to Scalpay, Harris, where he was to
marry Annie Campbell. Unfortunately they sailed into a storm and all
the crew sank with the vessel. This is the lament she composed. The
broken-hearted Annie wasted away through grief and died a few months
afterward. Her body was washed ashore near where her fiance's was found.
There are quite a few variants of this song."

Gura mise tha fo e/islean,
Moch `s a' mhadainn is mi `g e/irigh,
O\ hi\ shiu\bhlainn leat,
Hi\ ri bho\ ho\ ru bhi\,
Hi\ ri bho\ ho\ rionn o ho,
Ailein duinn, o\ hi\ shiu\bhlainn leat.

Ma `s e cluasag dhut a' ghainneamh,
Ma `s e leabaidh dhut an fheamainn,
O\ hi\ shiu\bhlainn leat,
Hi\ ri bho\ ho\ ru bhi\,
Hi\ ri bho\ ho\ rionn o ho,
Ailein duinn, o\ hi\ shiu\bhlainn leat.

Ma `s e `n t-iasg do choinnlean geala,
Ma `s e na ro\in do luchd-faire,
O\ hi\ shiu\bhlainn leat,
Hi\ ri bho\ ho\ ru bhi\,
Hi\ ri bho\ ho\ rionn o ho,
Ailein duinn, o\ hi\ shiu\bhlainn leat.

Dh'o\lainn deoch ge boil le ca\ch e,
De dh'fhuil do choim `s tu `n de/idh do bhathadh,
O\ hi\ shiu\bhlainn leat,
Hi\ ri bho\ ho\ ru bhi\,
Hi\ ri bho\ ho\ rionn o ho,
Ailein duinn, o\ hi\ shiu\bhlainn leat.

on the single, they sing:

Gura mise tha fo eislean
Moch sa mhaduinn is mi g'eirigh

O hi shiubhlainn leat
Hi ri bho, ho rinn o ho
Ailein Duinn, o hi shiubhlainn leat

Ma 's'en clusag dhuit a ghaineamh
Ma 'se leabaidh dhut an gheamainn

Ma 's en t-iasg do choinlean geala
Ma 's na Righ do luchd-faire

This song is also in Orain nan Gaidheal, Vol 1 by Bruce Campbell.
ISBN 901771 85 6, published by Gairm, 29 Waterloo St, Glasgow G2 6BZ
Song appears with 4 verses in Gaelic, English translation and music in
sol-fa format

[100.14] Ca the yowes
Ca' the Ewes
-------------------
Ca' the ewes to the knowes,
Ca' them whare the heather grows,
Ca' them whare the burnie rowes,
My bonnie dearie!

As I gaed down the water side,
There I met my shepherd lad,
He row'd me sweetly in his plaid
And he ca'd me his dearie.

Will ye gang down the water side,
And see the waves sae sweetly glide,
Beneath the hazels spreading wide?
The moon it shines fu' clearly.

I was bred up at nae sic school ,
My shepherd lad, to play the fool,
And a' the day to sit in dool,
And naebody to see me.

Ye sall get gowns and ribbons meet,
Cauf-leather shoon upon your feet,
And in my arms ye'se lie and sleep,
And ye shall be my dearie.

If ye'll but stand to what ye've said,
I'd gang wi' you my shepherd lad,
And ye may rowe me in your plaid,
And I shall be your dearie.

While waters wimple to the sea,
While day blinks in the lift sae hie,
Till clay-cauld death sall blin' my e'e,
Ye shall be my dearie.

Recorded by Sileas and others

[100.15] Alasdair Mhic Cholla Ghasda

barrachd faclan aig an orain "Alasdair Mhic Cholla Ghasda" air an
clar "Sidewaulk" aig Capercaillie.

More words for the waulking song "Alasdair Mhich Cholla Ghasda" on
Capercaillie's Sidewaulk album. With minor changes this could be
sung in English!

As do la\imh-sa (ho/ ho\) dh'earbainn tapachd (ho/ ho\)
From your arms, I'd expect valour
Mharbhadh Tighearn' (ho/ ho\) ach nam Breac leat (trom eile + seist)
Achinbreck's laird was killed by you

(2nd couplet)
Mharbhadh Tighearn' (ho/ ho\) ach nam Breac leat (ho/ ho\)
Achinbreck's laird was killed by you
Thiolaigeadh e (ho/ ho\) an oir an lochain (trom eile + seist)
And was buried at the lochside

(vocables and repeats omitted in subsequent couplets purely to save
space here)

Thiolaigeadh e, etc
Ged 's beag mi fhin chuir mi ploc air
Though small I may be, I cast a sod on him
'S chuir siod gruaim air Niall a' Chaisteal
Which made Neil of the castle gloomy
'S dh'fha\g e lionndubh air a mhac-sa
and left his son melancholy
'S bha Ni Lachlainn fhe/in ga bhasadh
Lachlann's daughter herself was lamenting
'S bha Nic Dho\mhnaill 'n de/idh a creachadh
and Donald's daughter her hands was wringing
Cha b'iaonadh sin, b'fhiach a mac e
Tis no wonder, her son was worth it
Dronncair, po\iteir seo\lt' air marcraichd
Copious drinker, clever horseman
Ceanndard an airm an tu\s a' bhatail
Army leader foremost in battle
Sheinneadh piob leat mho/r air chnocan
You'd play the great pipes on a hillock
Dh'o\ladh fion leat dearg am portaibh
You would drink red wine in houses
Chuala mi'n de/ sgeul nach b'ait liom
I heard today a tale amazing
Glaschu bheag bhith 'na lasair
That little Glasgow is a-blazing
'S Obair-eadhain an de/idh a chreachadh
and Aberdeen has been plundered

[100.16] Nighean nan geug
On the Cathy Anne MacPhee album "Canan nan Gaidheal", I don't think
these words are in print elsewhere. Words from Morag MacLeod (School of
Scottish Studies) via Cathy Anne (at Feis Rois Inbhich)

A nighean nan geug , o hao ri iu\
Tha muigh leis an spre/idh, o hao ri o han , o hao ri iu\
(Girl of the branches out with the cattle)

Nach truagh leat mo chlann <vocables> bean eile nan ceann <vocables>
Do you not pity my children another woman looking after them
Dham bualadh gu teann dham biadhadh gu gann
hitting them hard and often feeding them short
's an athair 's a ghleann a nighean nan geug
and their father in the glen (+repeat of first line)

[100.17] Boneparte

Bonaparte from Capercaillie, Secret People

O gu sunndach mi air m'astar
I'm happy on my journey
Falbh gu siubhlach le bheag airtneul
travelling swiftly without flagging
Dol a chomhrag ri Bonaparte,
heading off to do battle with Bonaparte
'S e bha bagairt air Righ Deors'.
He it was who threatened King George

'Illean chridheil, bitheamaid sunndach,
Brave lads, let's be merry
Seasaibh onoir ar duthcha,
Stand for the honor of your country
Fhad's a mhaireas luaidh is fudar,
As long as lead and powder last
De rud chuireadh curam oirnn?
What could worry us?

Chan eil faillinn ann ra chunntas
There is no weakness to be described
Anns na h-armainn nach diultadh,
in the young heroes who never retreat
Chan eil gealtachd nan gnuis-san,
cowardice is not in their countenance
Cha toir iad grunnd do luchd a'bhosd.
they will never give ground to the boasters

Luchd nan osan gearr 's nam feileadh,
Men of the short hose and the kilts
Cota sgarlaid orr' mar eideadh;
with their uniforms of scarlet coats;
Gum bu ghasd' iad an am eirigh -
splendid they were in attack-
'S iad nach geilleadh an deidh an leon.
they would never yield though wounded.

Ann am Bruxelles a chaidh innse
In Brussels it was told
Gun robh Frangaich tigh'nn nam miltean:
that the French were coming in their thousands
'S cha bhreug bhuam gur h-i an fhirinn,
I tell no lie but the truth
'S iomadh fear bhois sint' gun deo.
many a man will be stretched out without breath of life

[100.18] Sguaban Arbhair
From Play Gaelic - outstanding tune and lyrics.

Na Sguaban Arbhair - The stacks of corn

Rann/Verse 1
Bha mi raoir a' siubhal drathair
Last night I opened a drawer
'S thainig dealbh do mo laimh
and a picture came to hand
Dealbh mo sheannmh'ar is mo shean'ar
a picture of my grandmother and grandfather
'S balach og na shuidh' ri'n taobh
and a young boy sitting by their side

Rann 2
'S iad ag obair aig na sguaban arbhair
They were working on the corn stacks
Shuidh mi g'an coimhead fad' na h-oidhch'
I sat and looked at this all night
Thainig cianalas na m'chridhe
A deep sorrow came to my heart
'S thainig cuideam na mo laimh
and a great weight came to my hand

Seist/Chorus
Uair eile gu bhith dhachaidh
Another chance to be home
Uair eile gu bhith beo
Another chance to be alive
Ruith mu'n cuairt na sguaban arbhair
Running around the stacks of corn
Uair eile gu bhith og
A chance again to be young

Rann 3
Cha'n e aois a tha mi sabaid
It isn't age I'm fighting against
Cha'n e mo bheatha nach eil slan
It isn't my life that's unwell
'S e bhith fuireach ann a' saoghal maide
It's living in a world of sticks (not sure what is meant here)
Le chuid daoin' nach tuig mo chainnt
With it's people who don't understand my language

Rann 4
Dh'fhalbh mo sheannmh'air 's mo shean'air
My grandmother and grandfather passed on
Thuit na sguaban arbhair sios
The stacks of corn fell down
Dh'fhalbh mi gu saoghal eile
I left to go to another world
'S dh'fhalbh a' Ghaidhlig bho mo bheul
And Gaelic went from my mouth

[Seist a-rithist/Chorus again]

Written in 1975 on the M8 from Glasgow to Edinburgh.

[101] Shetland and Orkney info

Shetland and Orkney are both old norse holdovers. Shetland was a dowry
to the king of scotland when he married the norwegian princess in 12??
or 13??...These islands were speaking forms of old norn up to the last
century and the language used there is still filled with special loan
words. The place names show heavy norse influence as do half the west
coast names (and in many there is a direct combination of the gaelic
and norse influences, indicating the level to which the norse came
into the already present gaelic communities and assimilated
successfully. Examples would include places like Inverness from Inbhir
(Gaidhlig for an estuary, or river mouth) and Nese (Norse for nose or
headland). Another example is Suilven from Sula (Norse for column) and
Bheinn (Gaidhlig for mountain (Feumaidh sibh a bhith
ceart-chainnteach, is Beinn am facal....)). On this point it is worth
noting that there are written records indicating that the Norse Earls
of Orkney had Gaidhlig, no doubt to foster trading relations with the
Gaidhealtachd.

Most islanders (natives, not incomers) in these places still consider
the islands as their own communities and Scotland as a seperate
entitiy. This is not to say they want to split off or achieve
independence, just an indication of how different they see themselves.
In Orkney, one goes to the mainland to go to Kirkwall or Stromness. If
you want to go to Aberdeen or Scrabster, you are going to Scotland!-)

[102] Braveheart information
http://www.foresight.co.uk/braveheart

[103] Celtic knotwork and art
http://www.ctnet.com/drew/celthome.html
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~craig/joscelin.html
http://www.ctnet.com/drew/knotwork.html
link off Dick Gaughan's home page