See Dates in History in our Features Section
 

I like to have quotations ready for every occasions - they give one's ideas so pat and save one the trouble of finding expression adequate to one's feeling.

Robert Burns

Statements in prose and verse which reflect all aspects of Scottish life and outlook from the 1^st century to the present day.  New quotes added every week.  The quotations are not restricted to native Scots but include observations from abroad which help us, in the words of our National Bard, Robert Burns, "To see oursels as others see us"    

Anonymous (18^th Century)

Call this war by whatever name you may, only call it not an American rebellion; it is nothing more or less than a Scotch Irish Presbyterian rebellion.

(Hessian Officer on American War of Independence 1778)

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)

America would have been a poor show had it not been for the Scots.

Professor Arthur Herman

The amazing story of the Scottish National Party’s rise and eventual triumph in the face of tremendous official hostility and bitter factional infighting closely follows the decline of traditional British politics. The SNP came to fill the void created by the demise of the Liberals and classical liberalism: as the other political parties made the class struggle and whether to extend or demolish the welfare state their principal issues, Scottish voters began to turn to a party that, if nothing else, offered a way out of Scotland’s malaise. Whether it was devolution, or autonomy, or outright independence (the SNP leadership often quarrelled bitterly over which they wanted), it was at least something different – and something that struck a chord that most Scots deeply felt but had been afraid to acknowledge: a sense of national pride.

(How the Scots Invented the Modern World – How Western Europe’s Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It, New York 2001)

David Hume (1711-1776)

Is it not strange that at a time when we have lost our Princes, our Parliaments, our independent government, even the Presence of our chief Nobility, are unhappy in our accent and pronunciation, speak a very corrupt Dialect of the Tongue which we make use of, is it not strange, I say, that in these Circumstances, we shou’d really be the People most distinguished for Literature in Europe?

(1757)

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

Breathes there a man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself has said
This is my own, my native land!

(The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Canto vi)

See Scottish Quotations in our Features Section 

SONGS AND BALLADS
from The Blairgowrie Festival - 1968

Twenty-one Scottish songs, as sung by a variety of traditional singers at the Blairgowrie Festival in August 1968 and published by The Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland, priced 1/- (5p).

Having completed ‘The Blue Toon Song Book’ published in September 2000, our new feature looks at songs in a much older publication from August 1968 which was published in duplicated form , priced 1/- (5p) by The Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland. This was one way of ensuring the passing on of traditional song from the lips of some of the finest exponents of the art during the Scottish Folk Revival and the copy we are using was purchased at the St Andrews Folk Club by the late Bill MacBride. Bill, a leal fier, was one of the many folksingers who provided the supporting acts at the monthly folk nights I ran to raise funds for the Scottish National Party from the late 60s to 1973/4. Happy Days!

Introduction to Songs and Ballads
At the first Blairgowrie Festival in 1966 many people asked where they could get hold of the words of some of the songs they had heard during the weekend. To cater for this demand a booklet containing a few songs from each of the guest-artistes was produced for the 1967 Festival and this proved extremely popular. We are therefore very pleased to present a new selection of songs as sung by some of the guest-artistes at the Blairgowrie festival 1968. We would like to thank the singers for permission to print their songs.

The booklet contains traditional songs both old and new, some have passed down from generation to generation for several hundred years, others made up in the Farm Bothies or deriving from the Music Hall, several quite recent songs and one industrial song from the Jute-Mills of Dundee.

There are, of course, as many versions of a song as there are singers, and the older the song the greater are the differences between one version and another. The songs are printed here just as sung by each singer. One of the great things about traditional song and music is the variation it shows and you may well find you know some of the songs with different words from those given in the book and perhaps sung to a different tune.

We hope that many singers will find this book useful in helping them to pick up a few new songs.

The gaffer's looking worried,

The flett's a' in a steer,

Jessie Brodie's gettin' merried,

And the morn she'll no be here.

 

Chorus :

Hurrah, hurro, a daddie o,

Hurrah, herro, a daddie o,

Hurrah, hurro, a daddie o,

Jessie's gettin' merried o.

 

The helper and the piecer went

Doon the toon last nicht,

Tae buy a wee bit present

Tae mak' her hame look bricht.

 

They brocht a cheeny tea-set,

A chanty fu' o' saut,

A bonnie coloured carpet,

A kettle and a pot.

 

The shifters they're a' dancing,

The spinners singing tae,

The gaffer's standing watching,

But there's naething he can dae.

 

Here's best wishes tae ye, lassie,

Standing at yer spinning frame,

May ye aye hae full and plenty

In yer wee bit hame.

 

Ye'll no make muckle siller

Nae maitter hoo ye try,

But hoard ye love and loyalty,

That's what money canna buy

See the SONGS AND BALLADS in our Features section
 

SCOTTISH FOOD, TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS 

According to tradition every year on the anniversary of the raising of the Jacobite Standard at Glenfinnan (19 August), James MacIntyre of Beglan, standard-bearer to Colonel John Roy Stewart (Jacobite Edinburgh Regiment) would carry the Green Banner of Kincardine to the summit of Cairngorm. There he would unfurl the banner in memory of John Roy Stuart and the other men from Strathspey who fought for the Jacobite cause. He had successfully carried the banner from the field of Culloden thus ensuring its safety.

Next month will see a re-enactment of James MacIntyre’s yearly homage when a replica of the Green Banner of Kincardine will be carried to the summit of Cairngorm on Sunday 19 August 2007. As in his day the banner will be unfurled and a short commemorative meeting held. This will form an important part of a free festival in memory of Colonel John Roy Stuart (1700-1752), the noted Gaelic poet, piper, swordsman and soldier, who fought in every major battle of the ’45. Of the Jacobite defeat at Culloden John Roy Stuart wrote – 

Mo chreach, armailt nam breacan
Bhith air sgaoileadh ‘s air sgapadh ‘s gach àit,
Aig fìor-bhalgairean Shasuinn
Nach do ghnathaich bonn ceartais ‘nan dàil;
Ged a bhuannaich iad baiteal
Cha b’ ann d’an cruadal no ‘n tapadh a bhà,
Ach gaoth aniar agus frasan
Thighinn a nios oirnn bhàrr machair nan Gall.

(Woe is me for the plaided troops scattered and routed everywhere at the hands of these foxes of England who observed no fairness at all in the conflict; though they won the battle, it was not from courage or the skill of them but the westward wind and the rain coming down on us from the flat lands of the lowlanders.)

(Latha Chul-Lodair. Culloden Day)

Feis Iain Ruadh Stiubhart, the John Roy Stuart Festival will be held over Saturday 18 August to Sunday 19 August and forms part of Highland 2007, Scotland’s Highland Year of Culture. The festival will be held at the Hayfield, Glenmore, near Aviemore and will open on the Saturday at 12 noon with marchers arriving from Beglan with the replica Green Banner of Kincardine. A day’s programme of entertainments will follow including displays from the re-enactment group Glenbucket’s Highlanders and a ceilidh featuring Gaelic singers Ishbel MacAskill and Calum Alex MacMillan. Visit www.johnroystuart.co.uk for full details and much material about John Roy Stuart. The website also contains how you can register for the Sunday’s walk up Cairngorm – registration is essential.

Oatmeal in the form of drammoch (a mixture of raw oatmeal and cold water which will be familiar to all readers of ‘Kidnapped’) would have been familiar to John Roy Stuart when he was on the run after the Jacobite defeat, but this week’s oatmeal recipe – Oatmeal Bread – is much tastier!

Oatmeal Bread

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:  450ml (16fl oz) milk; 55g (2oz) dark brown sugar; 25g (1oz) butter; 2 teaspoons salt; 1 tablespoon active dried yeast; 65ml (2fl oz) lukewarm water; 390g (13¾oz) Porridge Oats; 700g - 850g (1lb 8oz - 1lb 14oz) strong flour

Method:  Scald the milk. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, brown sugar and salt. Leave aside until lukewarm.

Combine the yeast and warm water in a large bowl and leave until the yeast has dissolved and the mixture is frothy. Stir in the milk mixture. Add the flour and 10oz (285g) of the porridge oats and to obtain a soft dough. Transfer to a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, cover with a plastic bag and leave until doubled in volume - this will take 2-3 hours.

Grease a large baking sheet. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, divide in half and shape into two rounds. Place on the baking sheet, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise until doubled in volume (approximately 1 hour).

Pre-heat oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Score the tops of the dough rounds and sprinkle with the remaining oats. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the bottoms of the loaves sound hollow when tapped.