Re: [Taransayfiddlers] Silence falls after a decade of musical bliss for the fiddlers of Taransay
And I’m thinking of that Rayburn forlornly cold with it’s clinker filled ash pan and half burnt, congealed, 6 pack wrappers. Good riddance to the antiquated horror! But of course I’ll miss the early morning bird craick with Chris and others as we restored the kitchen to a condition fit for the arrival of our queens of the kitchen across the dew dappled grass form the “lairds” house.
Ten years and ten summer highlights to recall, a slice of musical education and island co habitation which I suspect will now assume legendary status. Everybody has their highlights and we were there and saw it all from Sumo wrestling to the views of Scarp and St. Kilda from the trig point and that run back down the ridge over the slabs and short grass was one of the best. Sometimes keeping the eyes open during a warm midday lesson was hard but then there was the time when I may have been the only one awake enough to look and catch Buddy repeating the wrong jig measure. He caught my eye cross the room and gave a slow Cape Breton wink and one of his understated Buddy smiles. I still remember that time and of course the famous camper van expedition around Cape Breton which was a uniquely special experience and one of the best holidays ever.
But I agree that the greatest part of what Dolan and the team have done is to fire up fiddle music in the outer Hebridies and to acquaint musicians from everywhere else with the area’s culture and landscapes.
Well done guys, you have helped retrieve the music from some of the reputedly fiddle unfriendly ayatollahs in your past.
Alex. Sutherland