scottish borders today

[gio67]

That's the problem right now, earning money. I'm between major clients (I'm a consultant) and the little bit I do for a handful of small clients barely lets me scrape by. My job is always feast or famine!
Dusty

well, heres hoping good things are just around the corner for you

[David Kilpatrick]

Hmm, bagpipes in the Borders - yes, we have them, but in fact the kilt and bagpipe (of the type most people know) is alien to this area. The correct dress is trews or breeks (trousers) in a cloth called 'hodden grey' (which Burns mentions in 'A Man's a Man for a' That') - a type of shoddy (hodden) made from recycled fibres from wool spinning, often dyed, and when mixed creating a grey blend. The sark (shirt) should be of Holland (linen spun in Flemish fashion, established by Flemish immigrants in the Middle Ages), over which a jacke (non-diminutive term for a jacket, the modern word) of reversed leather (suede, or ideally deerskin in white) was worn, later replaced with a waistcoat (vest) and topcoat.

The pipes for the Borders are entirely different, blown from a bag under the arm, not by mouth, and the tunes are often quite alien to modern ears (and do not necessarily sound Scottish). Tonight I got out for a couple of hours and played a lot of accompaniment to smallpipe tunes (some Highland tunes, some Border). Here is something from one of my good friends and occasional musical collaborators, though I do not have time to do this properly:

http://www.dragonflymusic.co.uk/page4.html

There's a sample of Scottish Border pipe music you can listen to.

Here is a song from the Borders as sung by me with guitar - it is in good plain English/Scots, but I doubt that it will be easily understood! The background photo was taken by daughter Ailsa when she was about 13, with a Lomo Sport Russian camera. The small photo for the broom flowers and hills was taken using a 7D and Sigma 18-125mm - it actually does show the subject being sung about, it was taken on the farm of Cowdenknowes, where a few broom bushes survive.

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single ... i&newref=1

No place in Britain has a higher concentration of songs and tunes associated with individual farms, fields, houses, rivers, towns, families, etc. Almost any spot in the Borders you visit, there is a ballad poem, a story, a song or tune connected with it. I could show a tourist round the Borders and without even a page of notes, tell a hundred stories just by stopping every couple of miles on the road. And I have only been here 20 years (but I love the legends and the music, and know more about it than many folk born and bred here).

It is also a wonderful area for photography combined with walking or cycling. We do not have any high mountains. On December 28th, our daughter met a friend and walked to the top of all three Eildon Hills, surveying the Borders, between 11am and 4pm. Unfortunately she used a Canon 400D and all the pictures are useless - horrible colour, camera shake no matter what shutter speed (they were so COLD), and just really awful compared to anything from a Minolta/Sony.

David

[bakubo]

I listened to both. Wonderful! Your playing and singing on the second one is great.

[Dusty]

You are a multi-talented man, indeed, David! I tried to follow the song with the lyrics, but as you noted, you don't always follow them!

Dusty

[aster]

Lovely winterscape!

We barely had any snow this winter in Istanbul, therefore I'm most envious of any sight of nicely-accumulated snow hills, bending roads, curves, loaded trees...and all that's related to snow.

A very choosy shot from a good spot. I like it both with and without the so-called cloud in the corner.

Thanks for sharing,
Yildiz