This
weekend features two outstanding Scottish traditional music
celebrations, In the west on Saturday (12 August 2006) pipe band
enthusiasts will thrill to the 60th World Pipe Band
Championships, as 200 of the world’s best pipe bands descend on Glasgow
Green for the most prestigious competition in the piping calendar. ‘The
Worlds’, as they are now termed, is a celebration of the very best of
Scottish music, culture and dance. A not to be missed date as thousands
of spectators will enjoy not only the finest bands but the added
attraction of the European Highland Games Heavy Events Championships,
Glasgow has been limbering up all week for The Worlds as Piping! The
Glasgow International Piping Festival has taken place all week. Visit
www.pipingfestival.com for full details.
In the
east, folk song and music fans will, once again be heading for the Fife
town of Auchtermuchty for the annual Auchtermuchty Festival (TMSA)
Traditional Music Weekend (Friday 11 August – Sunday 13 August 2006).
The town’s population will swell as folkies enjoy the many concerts,
ceilidhs, dances, competitions, workshops and open-air events. Sessions
in local howffs add to the variety and colour of the weekend. Guests
include the cream of Scottish folk and include – Sheena Wellington,
Sheila Stewart, Margaret Bennett, Gordeanna McCulloch. Karen Hannah,
John watt, Neil paterson and Jimmy Hutchison. Both The Worlds and Muchty
Festival offer a great opportunity to meet friends, old and new, over a
refreshment.
Folk song
inspires this week’s recipe – Bramble Jelly. Glasgow songwriter Adam
MacNaughton caught the Scots love of a jeelie piece (jam sandwich) when
he wrote hir braw ‘The Jeelie Piece Song (Skyscraper Wean)’ and the
great advantage of this recipe is that the basic ingredient is available
FREE from countryside hedgerows!
Bramble Jelly
Ingredients: 2 lbs blackberries; juice of two lemons; ¼ pint
of water; sugar
Method:
Rinse the berries and remove any stalks. Put into preserving
pan with the lemon juice and water. Simmer until the fruit is soft, then
strain overnight in a muslin bag. Add 1 lb sugar to every pint of juice.
Return juice and sugar to pan, simmer gently until the sugar has
dissolved, then boil fairly fast until a spoonful of the mixture will
set when put onto a cold plate. Spoon into prepared jars, seal and
label.
