Category: Truth.

These are full-length true stories in sound from around Scotland. JB produces By The Way in the heart of Perthshire; Scotland’s Big Tree Country.

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Blairgowrie: River Ericht to The Wellmeadow

Morning cobweb

A walk in sound along the bank of the River Ericht to the Wellmeadow in the centre of Blairgowrie, Perthshire by John Boyd.

John has been recording sounds for more years than he cares to remember. Many of his recordings are included in the audio drama and podcasts he’s produced.

John made these recordings along the popular walk beside the River Ericht, which was in spate, at the play-park and outdoor gymnasium in the Sir William MacPherson Park, then by the path and the road leading to the green space of the Wellmeadow lying at the centre of Blairgowrie. These are the actual sounds of the place. There’s an ASMR feel to it.

The image montage comprises pictures taken on John’s iPhone and compiled into a video using iMovie. So nothing too technical.

LISTEN TO “A WALK ALONG THE RIVER ERICHT TO THE WELLMEADOW IN BLAIRGOWRIE, PERTHSHIRE“.

YouTube video opens in a new tab.

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Audio drama in production.

RMSP Arcadian

The story of Boswell’s Galloping Farmers tells how a volunteer regiment of mounted yeomanry from the Ayrshire farming community were retrained as grenadier infantry and sent to fight The Turks in Gallipoli.

Jill Korn and I are working on an ambitious adaptation of a memoir written by Sandy Barclay in 1975. Sandy was there and he captures the struggles, horrors and, yes, humour of daily life in the trenches during the last three months of 1915.

Sound Escape Theatre logo

Jill is writing the script with Martin Gallagher. I’m dealing with the audio and post production, and we hope to publish four episodes of the audio drama early in 2025.
It’s astounding to see the number of people it can take some others to produce an audio drama, and what that must cost. We’re doing it for the love of it.

I enjoy little better than Field Recording; collecting sounds for my effects from real life. Recently on a weekend away I took the chance to record the sounds of a 1900s steam ship to repurpose as RMSP Arcadian, the troop ship that took sandy and his mates through the Med to Gallipoli.

We need the help of actors, singers and musicians to bring the story alive, and we want to pay them for their work. Please click the image or this link to Jill’s Crowdfunder page, for more details and to make a donation towards helping those people feed their families. All of the money raised will go to the creative people who bring their skills to this project.

The featured image is licensed for use under Creative Commons CC0 License; text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.

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The Glad Giver by Jill Korn.

Julian of Norwich lived between the 1340s and 1416. In her thirties, she survived a severe illness, and attributed her recovery to visions of Christ on the cross.

Living at the same time a Geoffrey Chaucer, and after teaching herself to read and write, Julian wrote the Revelations of Divine Love, the first book surviving in English written by a woman. 

She became an Anchoress and chose to be enclosed in a hermitage attached to a church where she would offer counselling and spiritual advice, and completed the final version of her book.

Author Jill Korn was inspired by Julian’s story to write an audio drama, The Glad Giver. The Friends of Julian of Norwich featured the drama in celebrations to mark Julian’s 650th anniversary in January 2024, and I’m delighted to have produced the audio and sound design.

The audio drama was also featured in a BBC Upload programme where you can hear an interview with Jill, the author, Zana Foley-Davis, the voice of Julian, and yours truly.

Listen to THE GLAD GIVER now.

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The Wee Magic Stane.

A replica of the Stone of Destiny - The Wee Magic Stane

The Stone of Destiny that some call The Wee Magic Stane is where Scottish monarchs sat to be crowned until it was stolen by Edward Longshanks in 1296 as a deliberate affront to Scottish Nationhood.

On Christmas Day 1950 four students from Glasgow recover the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey where it’s been since it was stolen.

The Stone of Destiny is then sent to London in 1952 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, and doesn’t arrive back in Scotland until 1996, 700 years after it was stolen.

A new monarch will be crowned on 06 May 2023, and the southern neighbour will ask to borrow a stone for their ceremony. Will it be the real one?

LISTEN TO THE STORY NOW.

Continue reading “The Wee Magic Stane.”
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Autumn view from the studio. Perthshire, Scotland's Big Tree Country

The By The Way podcast is for lovers of Scotland.
It’s a thoughtful and eclectic mixture of Truth, Fiction, Unsolicited Opinion and Extra Information from around the best country in the world.