Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2007
Wow Janice you’ve touched the heartstrings here ! Call me a romantic if you want, though I know you share my feelings, but nothing can move me more than listening to Scottish music. I’m quite a novice in the field but I know how Scottish people do love music. Indeed a number of them are born musicians, either they sing, play the fiddle or the piano, the harp or the accordion, the Scottish melodeon, the guitar too…
Glencoe Visitor Center 2004
…and, of course, bagpiping ! I can’t listen to that music without shedding floods of tears ! You’d think they have put all the melancholy of the celtic mood in their tunes, love and death, the loneliness of man … and what a ringing voice to stir up such values as pride, courage and patriotism among soldiers. No wonder Scottish bagpipers were put ahead of British armies… poor of them… playing music amidst fire and dying in their beautiful tartan uniforms, far from their beloved country… but what impact on the enemy !
Fortunately, Scottish people have found more peaceful occasions to play their music today though we can hardly speak of peacefulness when referring to football or rugby matches for example …
I’m only an occasional fan of these sports but I do like watching the first minutes preceding matches or following the victory when players and supporters sing their national anthem… you know how strong the nationalist feeling has always been in Scotland.
Maybe it’s an old story but, believe me, it’s going on in the stadium today… so no more of ‘God Save the Queen’ for the Scottish teams on Murray Fields… it has to be ‘Scotland the Brave’ or ‘Flowers of Scotland’. No wonder the 250 th anniversary of the birth of the great Scottish bard has been celebrated with such enthusiasm all over the world among Scottish communities.
Robert Burns was second to none to sing his country. Were I a musician I think I’d have a try at playing ‘Scots wha hae wi’ Wallace bled!’ !!! By the way, it seems the song has not lost it’s nationalistic connotations today. Did you know that it had been chosen by the SNP as its party song? But that’s another story.
Be happy Janice, I’ve just fallen on a beautiful photo of Wallace’s sword in our files. I keep it for my next post but it makes me think, didn’t you buy, among the many books you’ve bought at Wigtown, a beautiful old one called The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter? I’ve heard it got the same popularity with 19 th century readers as that of Braveheart with contemporary film-goers today…
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