From the Isle of Man we take the ferry back to Belfast and from there across to Cairnryan in Dumfries and Galloway in the far south-west of Scotland.
This is very much Robbie Burns country. The Scottish bard was born in Ayrshire, but this is where he lived most of his life and worked as an excise officer. The local accent of the area is the closest modern day equivalent to the Scots used in Burn's poetry. Until recently I didn't know that the region also had its own dialect of Scottish Gaelic. Òran Baghraid is a colaborative project of 10 musicians from all over the UK and Ireland to recreate the only surviving song in Galloway Gaelic from the Middle Ages. This is their story:
Then they went on to make an album out of that in 2018, which I can heartily recommend. Here are some samples off this album:
Although originally from Edinburgh, harpist Wendy Stewart now lives in Dumfriesshire. She often performs together with piper Gary West, who is originally from Pitlochry in Perthshire. The two met when they were both members of legendary folk band Ceolbeg. Here's a pair of tunes called Ian Green and Miss Proud from their 2009 album Hinterlands:
Singer and accordionist Emily Smith was born in Dumfries and Galloway and has racked up numerous awards in over a decade of performing. This a tune from her 2005 debut album A Day Like Today with the title Riggs O' Barley:
Moving north we head for Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, where we meet Heather Heywood, who has been singing Scottish ballads since 1968. Here is an early recording of from 1974 from a compilation album called Ayrshire Folk, which sadly is no longer available. The song is called Land o' the Leal:
Guitarist Tony McManus from Paisley, Renfrewshire plays Celtic tunes on finger-style acoustic guitar. He has been hailed by John Renbourn as the best Celtic guitarist in the world, which is high praise indeed. His recorded output has been prolific. Here's a few tunes from a live performance:
He is pretty nimble-fingered, wouldn't you agree?
This is it from the south-west of Scotland, next stop Glasgow. As usual you can follow my virtual trip on Tripline, even if it insisted on taking me to Scotland via Liverpool.
Then they went on to make an album out of that in 2018, which I can heartily recommend. Here are some samples off this album:
Although originally from Edinburgh, harpist Wendy Stewart now lives in Dumfriesshire. She often performs together with piper Gary West, who is originally from Pitlochry in Perthshire. The two met when they were both members of legendary folk band Ceolbeg. Here's a pair of tunes called Ian Green and Miss Proud from their 2009 album Hinterlands:
Singer and accordionist Emily Smith was born in Dumfries and Galloway and has racked up numerous awards in over a decade of performing. This a tune from her 2005 debut album A Day Like Today with the title Riggs O' Barley:
Moving north we head for Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, where we meet Heather Heywood, who has been singing Scottish ballads since 1968. Here is an early recording of from 1974 from a compilation album called Ayrshire Folk, which sadly is no longer available. The song is called Land o' the Leal:
Guitarist Tony McManus from Paisley, Renfrewshire plays Celtic tunes on finger-style acoustic guitar. He has been hailed by John Renbourn as the best Celtic guitarist in the world, which is high praise indeed. His recorded output has been prolific. Here's a few tunes from a live performance:
He is pretty nimble-fingered, wouldn't you agree?
This is it from the south-west of Scotland, next stop Glasgow. As usual you can follow my virtual trip on Tripline, even if it insisted on taking me to Scotland via Liverpool.
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