-
The Drummond Castle Manuscript, Book One – Border Pipe Settings
–
The Drummond Castle Manuscript, dated 1737, was compiled by David Young for James Drummond, the 3rd Duke of Perth, a prominent Jacobite and lieutenant-general of the Jacobite army in 1745. read more…
-
Auld Tunes – Woo’d An Married An A
–
Here is a 9/8 jig that testifies to the centuries old desire of pipers to play tunes that don’t quite fit the instrument. The tune first appears in print around the middle of the 1700s but as a song melody is thought to be much older… read more…
-
Auld Tunes – Soor Plooms o’ Galashiels
–
A fine Lowland air from the early 1700s with an interesting title. The story goes that in 1337 an English raiding party were returning south and stopped near Galashiels to feast in the fruit from some plum trees… read more…
-
Auld Tunes – Stumpie
–
As The Traditional Tune Archive says, “The melody “Maggie Lauder” (and its many variant spellings) has had astonishing longevity from its first publications in the late 17th and early 18th centuries read more…
-
Auld Tunes – Maggie Lauder
–
As The Traditional Tune Archive says, “The melody “Maggie Lauder” (and its many variant spellings) has had astonishing longevity from its first publications in the late 17th and early 18th centuries read more…
-
Auld Tunes – Jack Lattin
–
Jack Lattin is a tune once popular across these islands. Composed in Ireland sometime in the early 1700s it quickly spread across the Irish Sea and appears in many music collections of the 18th century. read more…
-
Auld Tunes
–
It is remarkable that tunes like Corn Rigs (first appears c1671) or The Roke (first appears c1663) have been part of our repertoire for at least 350 years but there are plenty more that that have fallen out of favour and countless others that have been forgotten completely. read more…
-
Portugal, Autumn 2023
–
In October 2023 we returned to Portugal, this time travelling with the motorhome, our fist time driving the whole way […] read more…
-
Carnival 2023 – Scotland to Sardinia by Train – Day Four – Feldkirch Carnival
–
With this being my eleventh carnival trip I’ve learnt that it is not unusual when travelling in Europe at this time of year to stumble serendipitously across some sort of carnival event. read more…
-
Carnival 2023 – Scotland to Sardinia by Train – Day Three – Höchst to Bludenz
–
After drinking numerous pots of mispelchen the previous night we expected to wake bleary, thankfully the apple brandy from Frankfurt […] read more…
-
Carnival 2023 – Scotland to Sardinia by Train – Day Two – Ijmuiden to Höchst
–
Predictably, everything was smoother, cleaner and more efficient as soon as we disembarked and set foot on Dutch soil. Although […] read more…
-
Carnival 2023 -Scotland to Sardinia by Train – North Shields to Ijmuiden
–
We chose the ferry to the Netherlands from the north of England over the Eurostar for a few reasons. First, […] read more…
