A Scottish Storyteller

Being a storyteller and really into folklore, traditions and all that kind of thing, I do enjoy a good fire festival. Nothing like celebrating a particular time of year by getting a bit rowdy and setting fire to something. In fact I remember well a conversation with a few friends a couple of years back... Me: Ah yes, nothing better than a good old fire festival Friend: Fire festival? Is that a Scottish thing then? Me: Not at all! It's done all over. I admit I can think of a good few though. There's the Viking one up in the Shetlands - Up Helly Aa. Vikings march through the streets, set fire to a full size Longship and then revelry happens. Ummmm. The Burning of the Clavie at Burghead... Ancient tradition. A New Year thing. Set fire to a big barrel of tar and other burny things. March round the village and then revelry happens. Stonehaven Fireballs - that's Hogmanay - set fire to big balls of burny stuff. March up and down the High Street. Revelry Happen...

So, the other weekend, I was storytelling for Scottish Natural Heritage at the Burn O Vat. For those of you that don't know, the Burn O Vat (part of the Muir Of Dinnet Nature Reserve) is just the most amazing place to go of a weekend - no matter what time of year it is. The Vat is a giant pothole carved by a huge meltwater stream during the last Ice Age, and the whole area is great to walk round, picnic in and so on. Whenever someone comes to visit me, we tend to take a visit there. As a child, my parents would go walking a lot. I wasn't too fond of this generally, being particularly attractive to midgies for some reason... but getting me out of the house to go to places like Dinnet was just fine! One year, on the September monday holiday my mum and dad took me, and a friend, to the Burn O Vat. To cut a long story short - we ran on ahead to the vat itself and as we got closer we could hear humming and chanting. On entering the Vat, we saw a group of pleasant looking grey ...

And now head over to The Other Scottish Storyteller's blog to read about the concert party (entitled "A Scots Handsel - Traditional Scottish Concert Party") she organised to raise funds for Ellon Academy pupils' trip to Ecuador. It was a great night and now that it's over and the sweaty hands and dry mouth have gone, I can say I had a brilliant time performing Hazel Murdoch's doric song "Learning To Be A Fairy." The acts were all really entertaining and Storyquine did an amazing job of organising the whole thing! (P.S. Thanks for putting up flattering photos of me Storyquine! ;)

Aye, The Ither Scottish Storyteller and myself will both be taking part in AROHA's Traditional Concert Party this Saturday 17th November. I will be a fairy. Stop laughing. Here's the link - http://www.arohascotland.org/news/eventdetails.php?id=25

The autumn edition of the Grampian Association of Storytellers newsletter (GASlight) is now out! click here to see it.

The Rhynie Man is a pictish stone carving of a fierce man with sharp teeth and an axe which was ploughed up in 1978 at a farm at Barflat, Rhynie. (A good description can be found here http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/archaeology/sites/pictish/rhynie.pdf ) Now I always wondered why The Rhynie Man was so angry looking, until I heard a couple of neighbours arguing one night and was inspired to write the following poem. THE RHYNIE WIFE - by Pauline Cordiner He bade up there on the Hill at Rhynie: A fearsome giant that wis far fae tiny! He wiz 12 ft tall, or mair, I’d say And he reeked of stale sweat and decay It could be said that his farts smelt like death But that wis nithin when compared tae his breath! For a’ hopes of dental hygiene were lost For the Rhynie man never, ever flossed. His stinkin feet were a sicht tae be seen The corns and the bunions were jist obscene And a terrible insult to anyone’s nose And he had puir squished sheepies between his toes! He’d stomp a’ roo...

I have heard this story told many times. Sometimes the story is attributed to "a stone circle in Auchterless," but in some versions the stone circle involved is the Hatton of Ardoyne recumbant stone circle on the road from Oyne to Old Rayne in Aberdeenshire. This is interesting as one of the circle stones has been used as a gate post - and has been returned to its original place! Nine stones of a possible original thirteen still stand. Only one flanker remains. The story is set in relatively modern times - in the last 100 years or so when farming methods were becoming more modern, yet animals were still used to pull things. And perhaps when attitudes towards the old traditions were becoming more modern, yet some superstitions held fast. There was once a farmer who lived a hundred years ago or so, at a farm not too far from here. The farm had been left to him by his father and he was becoming a wealthy man. He grew crops on his land and kept sheep, cows and had a couple o...