Scottish Studies (E-Journal)
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Iain Peatarsan (1916-1990), Neach-chruinneachaidh Bearnaraidh na Hearadh
No full textA native of the Isle of Berneray, Ian Paterson (1916-1990) was among Scotland’s most prolific voluntary fieldworkers in the latter half of the 20th century, undertaking nearly two decades’ worth of folklore collection amounting to several thousand recordings. In addition to important recording work for the School of Scottish Studies in Edinburgh, nearly half of his total output was gathered in his home community of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides. Due to his skill, erudition, community connections, and enduring passion for the Gaelic oral tradition, Berneray enjoys one of the most complete folklore collections in the islands during this period, between 1960 and 1990. The article explores Ian Paterson’s life, work, connections, interests, and methodology, making extensive use of his fieldwork recordings from the Isle of Berneray. It will show how he made use of his own family in his collection work and undertook repetitive fieldwork with the same informants to produce a valuable thick corpus from a single geographic community over a generation. It will also consider his legacy within the context of the School of Scottish Studies and shine a fresh light on a productive, if lesser known, folklore collector
Jock Duncan - The Man and his Songs: Traditional Songs and Bothy Ballads from the Repertoire of Jock Duncan of Fyvie and Pitlochry, Ed. Peter Shepheard
No full textCumha do Mhuinntir a Bharra-Bhric: An Eye-witness Account of Evictions in 1840s Argyll
No full textThis article considers two songs by a previously unrecognised Gaelic poet, Catrìona Nic an Fhlèisdeir (Catherine Fletcher), both composed in the period 1839−40 and preserved in the late nineteenth-early twentieth century press. The first is an elegy to the young heir of Innistrinich; the second, which is the main focus of the article, is a lament occasioned by the eviction of tenants on the Barbreck, Lochaweside, estate of Alexander Campbell of Monzie c. 1840. The lament captures a specific moment in time very shortly after the tenants had received notice of their eviction but before the evictions had taken place, and conveys something of the lived experience of this township at this moment of crisis. The article considers how the poet draws on panegyric motifs to praise this flourishing community − rather than to praise individuals – and considers how she expresses her distress, anger, and acceptance, placing her responses within the wider context of the traditional role of women as keeners in Gaelic-speaking society
Memories of Musical Lives: Music and Dance in Personal Music Collections from Australia and New Zealand, ed. Rosemary Richards and Julja Szuster
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The Complete Songs of Robert Tannahill: A Timely Appreciation
No full textA remarkable project to record the Complete Songs of Robert Tannahill, the Paisley weaver-poet, has concluded with the 2024 release of a fifth and final disc, a fitting tribute marking the 250th anniversary of Tannahill’s birth. This review article discusses why Tannahill is an important and distinctive voice in the Scottish traditional song repertoire, and assesses the achievements of the recording project
Both sides of the Tweed: Relations, Tensions and Identity of Scottish Backhold and Cumberland and Westmoreland Wrestling
No full textLittle academic attention has been given to two closely-related styles of traditional wrestling in Great Britain: Scottish Backhold (‘Backhold’) and Cumberland & Westmorland (‘C/W’) Wrestling. Both sports are represented by the Scottish Wrestling Bond and the Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling Association, and while each organisation maintains its own traditions and practices, they are able to participate in each other’s competitions as well as in international tournaments. Many areas of mutual satisfaction and respect exist between the two organizations and especially amongst the wrestlers themselves. There have, however, been areas of tension between the two groups. This article will explore several such issues that arose between 1998 and 2002, including regulations concerning dress, number of falls to a bout, and alleged non-recognition of certain techniques. We shall then discuss developments in Scottish Backhold between 2014 and 2019; and lastly, we shall examine the recent rise in female participation in what has historically been a male-dominated sport. This analysis raises questions of tradition, as well as potential breaks from tradition, in the development of both types of traditional wrestling. It also attempts to partially redress the lack of academic scrutiny, particularly with regard to Scottish Backhold
Bàrdachd Baile – Ath-mheasadh
No full textIn the twentieth century, several prominent Gaelic scholars argued that nineteenth-century bàrdachd baile (‘township poetry’) was cliché-ridden, and therefore of limited literary merit. In reassessing such opinions, this article considers a representative sample of the poetry from two points of view. First, it demonstrates through close analysis that these local poets used a wide range of literary techniques to convey meaning and sentiment. Second – and perhaps more important – it shows how expressions which some have considered clichés are in fact vital to the effect of the poetry. The argument is informed by insights from the field of ethnopoetics, and by a detailed consideration of the imagery used. Finally, the author argues that proper evaluation of this poetry, much of it orally composed and transmitted in a society in which the oral traditions were still strong, requires different aesthetic criteria from those applied to poetry that depends upon the written word
Volunteer Bands and Local Identity in Caithness at the Time of the Second Reform Act
No full textCaithness lay outside the national railway network in 1868, but as this article demonstrates, used the band music of its local volunteer military units, embedded within a wider contemporary British context of imperial music-making, as a means to express and shape local political identities. The second Reform Act of 1867, enacted in Scotland by the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868, prompted wider reimagining about what it meant to be a citizen of Scotland and Britain. Regular references to civic bands in contemporary newspapers and carefully posed photographs in local archives provide evidence for the popularity of Silver and Brass bands connected with the Caithness Volunteer movement. As they marched around towns, villages and countryside, especially around the time of the national elections and local by-elections of 1868-9, their music created powerfully affective soundscapes that connected traditional local identities with the modern British fiscal-military state, helping people to imagine their place as citizens in a period of widening political engagement. The county’s band music provides a microhistory that allows exploration of contrasts between rural and civic patterns of political behaviour in this period