The annals of Scottish
folk music are rich in song - both lowland
and highland (which latter must include
the heritage of the Gael) - an infinite
variety of melody.
I have no doubt that
many of the songs on this disc will
be well known to many listeners who
yet, quite probably, have never heard
of Lady Nairne (1766-1895). In fact
the young poetess - emulating Burns'
practice of writing lyrics to fit existing
melodies - deliberately concealed her
identity (later writing under the pseudonym
BB, or Mrs Bogan of Bogan!) since it
was then not thought proper for a well
bred young lady to indulge in such things.
Born Carolina Oliphant
of Gask in the county of Perthshire
her beauty and grace earned her the
soubriquet of "The Flower of Strathearn"
and led to her marriage in 1806 to her
cousin Major William Nairne, later elevated
to the peerage. Carolina's mother's
family, the Robertsons of Strowan (Struan),
were loyal supporters of the Jacobite
cause. This is expressed in many of
her songs such as 'Wi’ a hundred pipers'
and 'Wha'll be king but Chairlie' and
the evocative 'Will ye no come back
again'.
This brief background
is much amplified in the expansive notes
written by Dr Anne Lorne Gillies herself
with an enthusiastic erudition that
reveals this recording to be rather
more than a simple account of the lyrics
of Baroness Nairne. One can readily
imagine the delight that the poetess
might have shown had the instrumental
and harmonic resources deployed here
been available in her day. These are
truly "nineteen highly individual tracks",
whose treatment, pace the purist,
is rich in its variety with the most
subtle touches of instrumental colour.
The setting of so many traditional and
folk melodies presents problems of harmonisation
that refuse to fit neatly into the conventions
of quasi-classical procedures - but
here, in the hands of an imaginative
group of musicians, the result is quite
ravishing.
From the simple sentiment
of "The Auld Hoose" to the quasi-puirt-a-bheal
of 'The women are a' gaen wud" - from
the beautifully harmonised "The Rowan
Tree" to the almost classical "Caller
Herrin' " - from the exquisite "The
Land o' the leal" (where the tune 'hey
tutti tattie' is quite transformed from
its usual 'Scots Wha' Hae' and accompanied
so evocatively by Rhona MacKay on clarsach)
to the cheery double-tonic dance measures
of "The County Meeting" - there are
gems. The "White Rose o' June" is certainly
one: the limpid clarinet of Stuart Forbes
in "The Banks O' the Earn" is another,
surely recalling Schubert?
Above all however no
voice is more suited to express the
sheer beauty of these songs than that
of Anne Lorne Gillies - and it may be
sentimental - or perhaps a spirit of
my own ancestry - that for me raises
a lump in the throat. But this is music
of universal appeal.
No texts are provided
… at which some may cavil - yet Anne's
voice is perfectly clear in the quieter
moments - and in the quicker, then often
the sense is in the rhythm! I recommend
this disc for lifting the spirits
Colin Scott-Sutherland