Every rock has a name

Chris and Mary's house - where we're staying on Berneray

Guest spot by  Loz Kaye :

Monday was a significant day for me, with a visit to Lews College on Benbecula which hosts a Gaelic music course. In our conception of the show, traditional music has always been a vital thread, or piece of grass, to weave in to the overall production. For many of our shows recently the soundtrack has been recorded, or had a minimal element of live music or song. However with the Angus show right from the very first discussions we have wanted to have a live musician or singer. This is in particular to reflect the musical and bard traditions of the islands themselves. 

Equally, I am keen that the music of the show is grounded in folk song and melody. Music is very good at evoking a sense of place - as I have found with the Horse and Bamboo shows Veil and Little Leap Forward for example. But it is particularly important for this project where the musical tradition is so related to songs evoking specific places in the Isles, the villages, causeways, seascapes, rocks and fields that make up the setting of the narrative.

The college is quite a small building, but it comes alive with the sound of lilting song from one practice room and vigorous fiddle playing from another. I met with course head Anna-Wendy Stevenson, renowned fiddle player and composer, to outline the project and enlist help for my search for the right material and performer. She arranged for me to meet the students, a bright, varied and engaged bunch. They quickly assembled a song list centering on the key ideas of home, exile, and loss. We had a wide ranging discussion, including the importance of the landscape in local culture, as student Kathy put it, "every rock has a name". 

I also met with singing tutor Paul McCallum. He was very helpful pointing me in the direction of useful source materials as well as providing perspective on the music itself. As well as singing a couple of the tunes he mentioned for me himself in his beautiful and distinctive tone. He was very interested in the project and seems assured of its success - a confidence we would do well to communicate to funding bodies and potential sponsors. 

I had already discussed with the students the question of what traditional music is, and issues of authenticity, accuracy and innovation. Literally thousands of Gaelic songs have existed, in various versions according to different singers, and new lyrics are still written - it is certainly not a question of a canon set in stone or a museum piece. Paul's answer to these questions was this: "What is traditional music? It is music that has not been put in a straitjacket and is free." 

Paul also had insights in to Angus McPhee's life, having been cook at Uist House where Angus ended his days. He described him as a very private person, he would get up to have a bath at 2 in the morning, and also a very spiritual man. As Paul put it "He was crucified" - by being taken to Craig Dunain. On the one hand he was perhaps more damaged than saved by being sent there, yet in Paul's opinion, he would not have begun the weaving without it.

One of the main themes that recurred in today's discussions was the necessity for Angus of making his creations to survive. To all of us it was an idea that resonated, that art, craft and music are not just a luxury or add on, it is fundamental to the survival of our culture, and who we are as human beings. 

Perhaps I'll leave the last words to one of the songs Paul directed me to:

Fhir a théid a null a dh'Uibhist

'Nad fhear turuis air a bhàta,

Gheibh the eachdraidh ann ad uidhe,

'S gheibh thu spionnadh ann ad shláinte.

You who travel over to Uist by boat will find history on your route and will strengthen your health.

I'm feeling better already.

Weaver of Grass

Yesterday Helen sent off the application to Creative Scotland. If we're successful in the bid it will enable us to work with and alongside a large number of Scottish artists and organisations to create a performance about Angus McPhee - and a whole lot more besides. 

Taigh Chearsabhagh, Theatre Hebrides, the Gaelic Music Course at Lews Castle College, Kildonan Visitor Centre and Museum, all on the Outer Islands, will be directly involved. Joyce Laing and the Art Extraordinary Trust in Fife will also be part of the project, as will artists Joanne B.Kaar, Andy MacKinnon and Chris Spears - again, based on the Islands or Highlands. So with the exception of Horse + Bamboo Theatre a bid entirely based on work in Scotland. 

Now it's waiting to see what happens....there's also a bid been made to Scotland's Islands Festival. So time to remember where it all started. Joyce Laing's lovely little book, Weaver of Grass *, published by the Taigh Chearsabhagh Trust. 


* ISBN 0 9535814 1 1

A Celtic pantheon

The Gundestrup Cauldron. I photographed this at the Nationalmuseet in Copenhagen last summer. An awe-inspiring object that I think shows a Celtic pantheon. You can just glimpse Cernunnus, the horned god, to the right at the back, on the inside of the vessel. I want our story of Angus to hint, just hint, at the Celtic stories and culture that remained in the Uists and other Western Islands when they have all but disappeared from mainland of Europe.

Here, one last image from Horse + Bamboo's 1984 journey to the islands, courtesy of Dennis Thorpe of The Guardian. The second has now started in earnest - Helen has almost completed the first application for support for touring a production about Angus McPhee. It has to be submitted by Monday. The past few days we've been discussing the final details with partners such as Theatre Hebrides, Taigh Chearsabhagh and Lews Castle College on Benbecula.