Culloden Anniversary

Fiona MacKenzie sings the lament "Mo Rùn Geal Òg," in the National Trust for Scotland's video, published today to mark the anniversary of the short, bloody Battle of Culloden. On April 16, 1746, in an hour's time, about 1,500 Jacobite soldiers lost their lives. This devastating ending to the 1745 Rising had a similarly devastating aftermath in the Highlands in the form of government retaliations.

Large swathes of society and tradition were upended by stringent laws, stringent enforcement, or by those fleeing from the same, but the sorrow of the song here is keenly personal. It was composed by Christiana Fergusson, the widow of one William Chisholm, who died at Culloden. One Victorian scholar verbosely but accurately referred to the composition as the "wail of a mateless dove."

There is an English translation of the song on Fiona MacKenzie's own Bandcamp page.

A Bit of Music

After such a hiatus in posting, what can I offer those of you who still check this blog (love you, Mom), but a sea shanty? I do love a good shanty, on any pretext, but I like the wistful ones most of all.

The group is from Poland. They are called Brasy. They can also, to nobody's surprise, and everyone's edification, sing in Polish.

A Bit of a Toe-Tapper

Okay, I'm not a dancer in the least, nor can I tell you the difference between clogging and flatfoot (a difference which, I understand, is considerable). . .but this is cool. Very cool.
I typed in the webpage he advertised, and had a big surprise--Stompin' Dave Allen is English, and performs mostly in the UK! Somehow, I way didn't see that coming!

Mark Your Calendar!

In mundane news, I was wrong about the internet. I don't get my own until tomorrow night.

In News of Grandeur, the online magazine PipesDrums posted this today:

BBC Scotland to stream World's live from Glasgow Green

For those who are not automatically jumping up and down, giddy with delight at this information, "The World's" are the World Pipe Band Championships. The title, by the way, is not exaggerated: the bands you would see in this broadcast truly are the finest. As the article explains, too, this will be the first time the stream has been available outside the U.K. So, write it down, and start counting the days!

Sean Nos Singing

While looking for a good recording of "Caoineadh na dTri Mhuire" last week I came across Lorcán Mac Mathúna, another new (to me) singer. For anyone who admired his rendition of "Caoineadh na dTri Mhuire" on Friday. . .oh boy, are you in luck! The man is very generous with his videos, so you can have a listen (or several) to some other songs, or sample the tracks from his CD. I have been listening mainly to Scots Gaelic singers for the last few years and it had been some time since I'd had a reminder of how rich the Irish sean nos style is, so the discovery of this website was quite a treat.

Good Friday

Just about everything that needs to be said for the day is in this traditional Irish piece: the title translates into English as "Lament of the Three Marys" and it is an account of the Passion, reflected in the conversation of Our Lady. To give the first couple of verses a rough translation:

"Oh Peter, apostle, have you seen my fair love?"
Ochón is ochón ó
"I saw him crucified on high"
Ochón is ochón ó

"Who is that fine man on the tree of suffering?"
Ochón is ochón ó
"Don't you recognize your Son, Mother?"
Ochón is ochón ó



The singer is Lorcán Mac Mathúna.