Category Archives: Scotland

Great Scot! Music Monday – Julie Fowlis – An Eala Bhàn/The White Swan

As those of you who follow my personal Twitter feed (@rtidwell730) may have noticed, I have been completely caught by a new BBC series The Crimson Field.  TCF is the story of a WWI field hospital and the nurses and doctors that work there.  Richard Rankin (@RikRankin, who did the Scottish words and noises videos for the Heughligans) is one of the stars. Oona Chaplin from Game of Thrones is another and Outlander’s own Richard Clark directs 2 episodes. I really hope that this series is brought to US television at some point as it is excellent.

Anyway, to make a long story short (too late, I know), this week’s music is a beautiful song in Gàidhlig sung by Julie Fowlis called ‘An Eala Bhàn (The White Swan)’.  In addition to being beautiful, this song was written by Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna (Donald MacDonald of Coruna), a Scottish-Gaelic poet from North Uist, whilst fighting in the battle of the Somme, in the trenches of the Great War, for his love, Mhagaidh Nic Leòid (Maggie MacLeod).  (http://youtu.be/6qWWgntTdO0)

I also really like this video as it has lyric subtitles in both Gàidhlig and English.

Julie Fowlis – An Eala Bhàn/The White Swan

 

Who would have thought…

When I started the Great Scot! blog a couple of months ago, I had no real expectations. I was really just looking to add in a unique  way to the Outlander universe. However, thanks to you guys out there, Great Scot! has just hit 10,000 page views. I think that is a great achievement for such a niche part of the Outlander blogosphere.

Thanks so much for all the support! I look forward to continuing to provide exposure for the Gàidhlig culture so many of us have come to love and treasure! Thanks also to those like Àdhamh Ó Broin and Fiona Mackenzie who don’t mind me sharing their work through this blog.

Here’s to the next 10,000 views!

Great Scot! Music Monday – The Dirty Beggars – Come Away With Me

Today’s music recommendation combines two of my favorite things, Scotsmen and bluegrass.  Thanks to a tweet from Brian Ferguson (@brianjaffa) looking for help finding a venue for this guys in DC for July, I was introduced to the music of The Dirty Beggars. In addition to covers of some really great songs,  they have some original material as well.

The Dirty Beggars –  Come Away With Me.

Also, here is a great video of them playing on the roof of Studio Fàs on the Isle of Skye.

The Dirty Beggars – Unforgiven

 

Be on the lookout for these guys touring the USA this summer. You can follow them on Twitter (@TheDirtyBeggars) or find them on Facebook.

 

Great Scot! Music Monday – Fiona Mackenzie ‘Stories That Tie’/’Hallelujah’

This week’s music recommendation is courtesy of Fiona Mackenzie. You may remember that we were introduced to Fiona in a blog post a few weeks ago and that she has been helping to add to the Outlander Clan’s Gaelic expertise on Twitter as @gaelicsinger.

The song that is being featured today I feel is particularly relevant as it is about an American (Margaret Fay Shaw) who went to Scotland and ended up creating a very important collection of Gaelic folklore.

The song is hauntingly beautiful and has lyrics in both English and Gaelic. Some of the lines vividly recall for me my trip to Scotland:

Safe in shadows of peaks in the veil of dawn
Embraced in green blanket where bluebells abound

Bluebells in Perthshire

 

As you listen to ‘Stories That Tie’ here be sure to read the full lyrics as well. You can find much more about Fiona and her music on her website.

As a bonus, I also couldn’t resist including this version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah sung by Fiona in Gaelic. Enjoy!

Great Scot! Music Monday – Eilidh Grant – The Lea Rig

After a brief hiatus, I’ve decided to make the Great Scot! music recommendation a weekly occurrence.  So today marks the first Great Scot! Music Monday. I am featuring a Scottish singer named Eilidh Grant. Although the song featured isn’t in Gàidhlig, her first name is! Ginger and Summer over at the Outlander Podcast had the wonderful opportunity to speak with her in Episode 6 of the Outlander Podcast here.

Eilidh was born in Glasgow and grew up in and around folk music. She won the Danny Kyle Award at the 2004 Celtic Connections music festival and also won a Scottish New Music award for best Folk/Traditional Recording of the year in 2011.

This particular song is a favorite. I hope you enjoy and check out Eilidh’s web site.

 

Eilidh Grant – The Lea Rig

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