Orcadian music and poetry
As I wrote in a previous blog, one of the high spots of Cambridge Folk Festival for me this year was seeing Orcadian band play live and really lift that damp field of people and set it aflame...
Their gusto (a funny old word, but apt, I think) and their musicianship were terrific and, after the gig, I managed to get hold of Bob and Brian from the band for an interview which goes out on my programme on the 27th of this month.
While I was interviewing the lads, two things struck me: one was how musical the Orkney accent is, soft and lilting with more than a hint of Norse in it; the other was how incredibly productive is in terms of music and literature. It's as though island life, as on and on the Blasketts off West Kerry, somehow makes a truly fertile bed for the imagination and for inspiration.
Yesterday I took down a book of poems by one of my favourite writers, the Orkney poet and novelist, George Mackay Brown, and read his great poem, Hamnavoe. Even people who "don't like poetry" should have a look at it, and perhaps even listen to the poet reading it, and chill at images such as...
'And lovers
Unblessed by steeples lay under
The buttered bannock of the moon'.
Comment number 1.
At 20th Aug 2008, The Mighty Montagu wrote:I’ve recently been listening to Ivan Drever - I think he’s the father of Chris – and find his pleasant sounding voice and guitar-playing simply delightful. I was introduced to his music nearly 10 years ago by a former boss who had a special compilation album (from a whiskey manufacturer, I think) and one song has stuck in my memory all that time. I thought it was called ‘Isles Ne’er Forgotten’ but have recently learned it is a setting of T S Peace’s poem ‘Orkney Anthem’. The chorus conjures up such a beautiful thought:
"Isles ne’er forgotten, be your sons afar alone
Or ringed they be by their ain native sea
Waes hale, they drink tae their own."
Orkney does appear to have a special, timeless atmosphere, which Ivan Drever has certainly captured in music and song. Evidently, he’s not the only one.
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Comment number 2.
At 20th Aug 2008, The Mighty Montagu wrote:Who put all those question marks in my message?
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Comment number 3.
At 28th Aug 2008, Keith wrote:The question marks seem to come from someone NOT testing the software properly and not noticing that it renders apostrophes as question marks. It did the same to me on one of the Steve Knightley blogs.
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