Lochinver Gaelic singer is Scotland's Young Traditional Musician of the Year
Murchadh
the Year
James Graham (22) of Badidarroch, Lochinver, is this year's BBC Radio
Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year.
Following his success in the semi-final of the competition in August
last year, when he was selected as one of six finalists, James took
the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall's Strathclyde Suite by storm last
Sunday with a virtuoso performance of four Gaelic songs.
Not only is this a great honour for Sheila Viemeister's home county.
but it alsi marks one of those rare occasions when a Sutherland
success has been won by someone not called Mackay...
Murchadh.
S Viemeister
>
> Not only is this a great honour for Sheila Viemeister's home county.
> but it alsi marks one of those rare occasions when a Sutherland
> success has been won by someone not called Mackay...
>
Sheila
Murchadh
Well, of course, otherwise he wouldn't be allowed to live in
Sutherland!
Murchadh.
S Viemeister
Seriously, though, you might be surprised at the number of non-Mackays.
There are even quite a few non-Scots.
Sheila
Murchadh
<firstname...@which.net> wrote:
I seem to remember that in Sutherland the most important survival tool
is a large tube of midgie repellent. (I used "Dimp".)
What attracts the incomers? Viking gold or masochism run amuck?
Murchadh.
S Viemeister
>
> I seem to remember that in Sutherland the most important survival tool
> is a large tube of midgie repellent. (I used "Dimp".)
>
Besides, I've been introducing the concept of midge-proof window screens.
Mine have been up for years now. And I keep midge jackets on hand, in a
number of sizes.
> What attracts the incomers? Viking gold or masochism run amuck?
>
Well, there are those who think some of Tearlach's gold is still waiting to
be found in Lochan Hakel.
Watching fingers of sun filter between the peaks of Ben Loyal while I have
my morning coffee. Looking out the window is like viewing constantly
changing exhibits in an art gallery.
The smell of gorse and heather (rather than exhaust fumes).
Being able to hear individual sounds - birds, sheep, the wind through the
grass, the roaring of the waves on a stormy day.
People who still care about their neighbours.
Sheila
S Viemeister
>
> In article <401E64C6...@which.net>, S Viemeister
> <firstname...@which.net> writes
> I find living by the sea reduces them to a negligible problem around the
> house and garden.
>
We have quite a few trees and loads of shrubbery, so when I work in the
garden on an apparently midge-free day, I try to remember to wear midge
gear.
> >Well, there are those who think some of Tearlach's gold is still waiting to
> >be found in Lochan Hakel.
> >
> Have you looked?
>
Not yet. Do metal detectors work on gold?
Any remaining coins are likely to be well covered by silt - it was in 1746
that the gold was thrown in the water. The last _reported_ finding was
over 100 years ago, when a cow wading in the lochan got one of the coins
stuck in her hoof.
> >Being able to hear individual sounds - birds, sheep, the wind through the
> >grass, the roaring of the waves on a stormy day.
> >
> Hmm, are you sure you can hear any birds, sheep or waves above the
> incessant roaring of the wind....?
>
It's not _always_ that windy!
Sometimes it is so still, that the hills reflected in the water look just
as solid as the real ones.
Sheila
MacRobert
<firstname...@which.net> paused to reflect but wrote anyway:
>Malcolm Ogilvie wrote:
>>
>> In article <401E64C6...@which.net>, S Viemeister
>> <firstname...@which.net> writes
>
>> I find living by the sea reduces them to a negligible problem around the
>> house and garden.
>>
>
>We have quite a few trees and loads of shrubbery, so when I work in the
>garden on an apparently midge-free day, I try to remember to wear midge
>gear.
>
>> >Well, there are those who think some of Tearlach's gold is still waiting to
>> >be found in Lochan Hakel.
>> >
>> Have you looked?
>>
>Not yet. Do metal detectors work on gold?
>Any remaining coins are likely to be well covered by silt - it was in 1746
>that the gold was thrown in the water. The last _reported_ finding was
>over 100 years ago, when a cow wading in the lochan got one of the coins
>stuck in her hoof.
Oh, yes they do! What kind of soil is it; are you searching a salt
water beach? If so, then go rent or borrow a PI (Pulse Induction)
detector and right after a storm, search. Gold is heavy and buries
itself rapidly due to vibration in sand. You should expect to find
bags and bags of debris, but taking it away is a public service.
Then, when you are ready to quit, there it is...
Stephen
S Viemeister
>
> On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 11:44:13 -0500, S Viemeister
> <firstname...@which.net> paused to reflect but wrote anyway:
> water beach? If so, then go rent or borrow a PI (Pulse Induction)
> detector and right after a storm, search. Gold is heavy and buries
> itself rapidly due to vibration in sand.
>
> You should expect to find
> bags and bags of debris, but taking it away is a public service.
>
Especially if it's small, yellow, and shiny.
Sheila
MacRobert
<firstname...@which.net> paused to reflect but wrote anyway:
>MacRobert wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 11:44:13 -0500, S Viemeister
>> <firstname...@which.net> paused to reflect but wrote anyway:
>> >Not yet. Do metal detectors work on gold?
>
>> Oh, yes they do! What kind of soil is it; are you searching a salt
>> water beach? If so, then go rent or borrow a PI (Pulse Induction)
>> detector and right after a storm, search. Gold is heavy and buries
>> itself rapidly due to vibration in sand.
>>
>No, it's a small fresh water pond, with loads of peaty silt.
In that case, any detector will do as long as you don't submerge the
control box. There are fully submersible detectors too. The reason
it matters is that the PI detectors, while able to ignore interference
from mineralization and salt, will sound off for every scrap of metal.
That means more junk. A "discrimination" detector is less able to
ignore bad soil, but you can tune out certain responses, such as
ferrous metals. That means more coins, and maybe more gold. Some
machines are specifically tuned for gold, with an appropriate search
frequency in the coil.
My bet is that, Scotland being chockablock with Scots, you won't be
the first detectorist on scene! The other side of the coin (heh) is
that Britain is considered to be the most highly concentrated treasure
ground in the world. Let's see: You can get Whites, Tesoro, Minelab
and I'm sure other types of detectors in Britain. I'd loan you mine
and ask Helen to bring it over but it is a genuine pain in the rump to
learn. You'll enjoy the hobby more if you rent/borrow one locally,
have someone show you the basics and sweep your own garden with it.
When you know what you want, you start looking for a good price on a
good machine.
>
>> You should expect to find
>> bags and bags of debris, but taking it away is a public service.
>>
>Especially if it's small, yellow, and shiny.
My Elaine may just be your soul sister, Sheila. She insists on doing
the digging, on the principle that she who finds da loot, keeps da
loot.
Stephen
Murchadh
Ach, you're a poetess.
Sěle MacAoidh nan Ňrain/Sheila Viemeister of the Songs.
You have the gift of making me homesick.
Murchadh.
Murchadh
Here, I'll write a wee poem for you about my experiences in that line!
le Murchadh Mòr nan Òrain (by Big Murdo of the Songs!)
I stood for a while on the shores of Loch Arkaig
hoping to track down the Cameron gold,
buried by Gentle Locheil's younger brother
for Bonnie Prince Charles in the brave days of old.
I looked up above to the hills of Lochaber
where a cave hid the Prince through the winter's dark cold
and thought that perhaps I should let well alone,
for the secret is one that is best left untold.
There's many a man has ploughed the shores of Loch Arkaig and its
environs, but to this day - nada!
Murchadh.
S Viemeister
>
> In that case, any detector will do as long as you don't submerge the
> control box. There are fully submersible detectors too. The reason
> it matters is that the PI detectors, while able to ignore interference
> from mineralization and salt, will sound off for every scrap of metal.
> That means more junk. A "discrimination" detector is less able to
> ignore bad soil, but you can tune out certain responses, such as
> ferrous metals. That means more coins, and maybe more gold. Some
> machines are specifically tuned for gold, with an appropriate search
> frequency in the coil.
>
> My Elaine may just be your soul sister, Sheila. She insists on doing
> the digging, on the principle that she who finds da loot, keeps da
> loot.
>
Sensible woman, your Elaine.
Sheila
S Viemeister
> Ach, you're a poetess.
>
> Sěle MacAoidh nan Ňrain/Sheila Viemeister of the Songs.
>
Quite a compliment, from one who writes as well as you do.
> You have the gift of making me homesick.
>
It's time you came back for a visit. I'll lend you one of my midgie
jackets.
Sheila
S Viemeister
> le Murchadh Mòr nan Òrain (by Big Murdo of the Songs!)
>
> I stood for a while on the shores of Loch Arkaig
> hoping to track down the Cameron gold,
> buried by Gentle Locheil's younger brother
> for Bonnie Prince Charles in the brave days of old.
> I looked up above to the hills of Lochaber
> where a cave hid the Prince through the winter's dark cold
> and thought that perhaps I should let well alone,
> for the secret is one that is best left untold.
>
> There's many a man has ploughed the shores of Loch Arkaig and its
> environs, but to this day - nada!
>
Well, if YOU found it, would you go around telling everyone?
I wouldn't.
I think that's why I only know of two findings of the Lochan Hakel trove -
one, the cow with the coin stuck in its hoof, and one other.
I was poking around in local Melness family history, and found reference to
a man whose by-name, translated from the Gaelic, was
'John-who-found-the-gold'.
Sheila-who-has-found-no-gold.
Sally
I found while on vacation in the White Mountains of New Hampshire -
the deer flies were what drove me indoors, buzzing around my head and
biting any skin left uncovered. Midges are a smaller version? Need
goggles aroung midges as well as a jacket?
Murchadh
<firstname...@which.net> wrote:
>Murchadh wrote:
>> le Murchadh Mņr nan Ņrain (by Big Murdo of the Songs!)
>>
>> I stood for a while on the shores of Loch Arkaig
>> hoping to track down the Cameron gold,
>> buried by Gentle Locheil's younger brother
>> for Bonnie Prince Charles in the brave days of old.
>> I looked up above to the hills of Lochaber
>> where a cave hid the Prince through the winter's dark cold
>> and thought that perhaps I should let well alone,
>> for the secret is one that is best left untold.
>>
>I like it.
>
>> There's many a man has ploughed the shores of Loch Arkaig and its
>> environs, but to this day - nada!
>>
>Well, if YOU found it, would you go around telling everyone?
>I wouldn't.
Depends. I have a thing about preserving archeological finds.
>
>I think that's why I only know of two findings of the Lochan Hakel trove -
>one, the cow with the coin stuck in its hoof, and one other.
>I was poking around in local Melness family history, and found reference to
>a man whose by-name, translated from the Gaelic, was
>'John-who-found-the-gold'.
>
>Sheila-who-has-found-no-gold.
>
Murchadh-who-found-gold-in-his-goldpan
and was then informed by his wife that she had just found some claim
stakes on the property, so I was illegally claim-jumping.
No, I didn't put the gold back in the stream!
Murchadh.
Murchadh
<firstname...@which.net> wrote:
>Murchadh wrote:
>
>> Ach, you're a poetess.
>>
>> Sěle MacAoidh nan Ňrain/Sheila Viemeister of the Songs.
>>
>Quite a compliment, from one who writes as well as you do.
Co-dhiu... Whateffer...
>> You have the gift of making me homesick.
>>
>It's time you came back for a visit. I'll lend you one of my midgie
>jackets.
>
>Sheila
I know, but I can't afford it right now.
Murchadh.
S Viemeister
>
> I found while on vacation in the White Mountains of New Hampshire -
> the deer flies were what drove me indoors, buzzing around my head and
> biting any skin left uncovered. Midges are a smaller version? Need
> goggles aroung midges as well as a jacket?
>
Midges are tiny black specks, like bits of soot, but they descend on you in
vast armies. Like no-see-ums, if you're familiar with them.
Midgies can be quite particular as to their victims - if John and I are out
walking, they'll practically ignore him, but attack me mercilessly. And
any bites he does get, vanish quickly. I have a bad reaction to them, and
the discomfort lasts for days.
The midge jackets are made of lightweight, very fine mesh, and cover your
head and face as well as body.
Sheila
S Viemeister
>
> On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 16:54:20 -0500, S Viemeister
> ?Well, if YOU found it, would you go around telling everyone?
> ?I wouldn't.
>
> Depends. I have a thing about preserving archeological finds.
>
have been cleverly incorporated into a very old stone wall. But I haven't
disturbed them, either.
My cousin and her husband had a great deal of difficulty getting permission
to put up a new house near the family home (currently owned by her father,
my uncle), because the officials concerned with old things said that it was
too close to what they insisted were the remains of a prehistoric stone
structure. A cousin of my mother's (he's the keeper of local and family
history), isisted that it was the remains of a sheep fank, and that he
actually saw my Greatgreatgrandfather building it. I think they're both
right.
Sheila
MacRobert
to reflect but wrote anyway:
>On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 16:54:20 -0500, S Viemeister
><firstname...@which.net> wrote:
>
>>Murchadh wrote:
>>> le Murchadh Mòr nan Òrain (by Big Murdo of the Songs!)
If the Almighty wanted that gold to remain in the stream, would it
have come up on your pan? Get back to your Presbyterian roots, man!
MacR
Murchadh
Sheila, I occupy no moral high ground in this respect because it is
only with age that I began to appreciate the preservation of the old.
In particular I am somewhat distressed about my cousin's cavalier
attitude towards the Sutherland heritage property we discussed
privately, especially as all he had to do to own it was to outlive his
father.
Leaving aside that aggravating situation, I have no doubt that many
archeological sites have been recycled to become fanks, piers,
cottages and God knows what else. The best example I've ever seen was
a Roman amphitheatre in Tunisia in North Africa at a village called El
Djem, where the east side of the building was in perfect condition,
with stone benches, staircases, animal and prisoner cells all
perfectly preserved but where the west side had mostly leaked away to
become an Arab village.
http://www.leser-service.de/bookinist/content/cover/geobild2/!a-eldje.jpg
The attraction is of course being able to get dressed stone or at
least flat-sided stone without having to quarry and dress it oneself.
Not far from where I live there is some excellent columnar basalt
(this whole region is volcanic) which comes apart neatly in many-sided
flat slabs, rather like Fingal's cave. Yet the local natives, who
built one of the world's great civilizations in wood - who has not
heard of Haida art - never used it to build, instead developing the
long house which is now a style of housing widely used here because it
gives excellent additional space and deflects bad weather well.
Wherever drystone dykes are found, there is usually a local
commandment that if you knock down a stone or find a fallen stone, you
must replace it. I've actually seen drystone dyking underway from
scratch and I was entranced by the speed and accuracy with which the
dyke builders worked.
The key seems to be to have a really good eye for angles and sizes and
to be able to transfer that mental picture to the stones lying on the
surrounding ground and instantly pick out a good fit by eye and
transfer the stone to the wall.. Most of the expert dykers are now in
the US, building decorative walls and fireplaces. The degree of skill
and decorative art which goes into a drystone dyke is almost
unbelievable until you actually see it being done with your own eyes.
Here's a really carefully built example where the stone may have been
selected beforehand, rather than just from what is lying to hand round
about.
http://www.craftmasonry.co.uk/pastprojects/godor2.html
Here's a more typical example of a Scottish drystane dyke, taken in
the Borders at what looks to be St. Mary's Loch, although the cottage
the dyke fronts is called Eala Cottage, Gaelic for Swan Cottage.
http://www.eala-cottage.nl/media/jpgs/dyke250x150.jpg
This is a small picture but the the style of drystane dyke building
can be clearly seem with flatter stones forming the body of the dyke
and then larger, more rounded stones placed on edge (up and down) on
the top to complete the dyke. Similar walls and techniques are found
from Hawaii to Croatia, but I have always felt that the Scottish
drystane dyke is the finest example and, because it is still in
regular use, by far the best preserved example of the art.
Murchadh.
Murchadh
<nodding vigorously - can't speak because of the need for absolute
silence while stealthily helping a local cattle herd to expand its
horizons by leaving with me for parts unknown...>
Murchadh.
S Viemeister
>
> In particular I am somewhat distressed about my cousin's cavalier
> attitude towards the Sutherland heritage property we discussed
> privately, especially as all he had to do to own it was to outlive his
> father.
>
> Leaving aside that aggravating situation, I have no doubt that many
> archeological sites have been recycled to become fanks, piers,
> cottages and God knows what else.
>
That's what I found so fascinating about the old wall incorporating the row
of standing stones. With all the trees and bushes around, it's not
particularly obvious most of the year, but in the winter, if you've spent
any time visiting known examples of standing stones, the pattern
practically SCREAMS at you - the spacing, the orientation (east-west), and
the shape, which is a much smaller version of the stones of the Ring of
Brodgar. The wall forms part of the enclosure of a piece of property which
has been shown on surveys in its current shape since the 1800s, but may
date from even earlier. If I were going to enclose a park, and there
happened to be a nice straight line of sturdy stones in a convenient
location, I would certainly make use of it, and fill in the spaces.
> The attraction is of course being able to get dressed stone or at
> least flat-sided stone without having to quarry and dress it oneself.
>
I suspect that's what my g-g-grandfather did.
> Wherever drystone dykes are found, there is usually a local
> commandment that if you knock down a stone or find a fallen stone, you
> must replace it. I've actually seen drystone dyking underway from
> scratch and I was entranced by the speed and accuracy with which the
> dyke builders worked.
>
As it happens, the relative who swore it was a fank, was one of the best
drystane dykers around, and he's taught a few of the younger men.
There's another fine dyker just outside Lairg. He came up from England
many years ago, and is/was a well known folksinger, but he's at least as
well known for his wall building.
When we drive into Thurso, I find it fascinating to observe the gradually
changing style of the stone walls, from the large, rounded ones common in
Sutherland, then the flatter, smaller ones, then the stacks of thin flat
stones, ending with the upright paving stone 'fences' of Caithness.
Sheila
Sheila