Tag: scots language

Posted on

Kate’s Keekin-gless

Wee Folk in the sunset

Kate’s Keekin-gless is a renowned Arran fairy tale written in the Scots language. The story is a bawdy romp around the Isle of Arran in the 18th century.

A beautiful but vain island girl bids to leave Arran – preferably with a rich husband, but not everything goes to plan after she receives the gift of a mirror, and the Wee-Folk turn against her.

LISTEN TO THE PLAY NOW.

SUBTITLES

Read along while you listen to the audio.
A loose translation of the dialogue in Kate’s Keekin-gless that will help those who don’t have the Scots to understand the subtleties of the language and to follow the story. 
Scots speakers may even crack a smile.

Continue reading “Kate’s Keekin-gless”
Posted on

The Strathaven Weaver

The Boo-backit brig near the centre of Strathaven

James “Purlie” Wilson, the Strathaven Weaver, was a local leader of the Radical Movement seeking social reform in early 19th century Scotland. He was tried on trumped-up charges of treason and executed on Glasgow Green on 30 August, 1820. His ghost returns 40 years later to confront a doctor with his own demons.

The watercolour above is of the Boo-backit Brig, which features in The Strathaven Weaver. The watercolour was painted in the 1960s by local teacher and artist, Stewart Frame.

LISTEN TO THE DRAMA NOW.

Click here for a glossary of Scots words to accompany the drama.
Continue reading “The Strathaven Weaver”
Posted on

The Selkie.

A Selkie holding her sea-skin.

The Selkie is a mythical sea creature of Scottish folklore. In the sea a Selkie is a seal, but when they occasionally come onshore they take the form of a beautiful woman. Men should be wary in case they are beguiled and end broken-hearted when a Selkie they’ve met returns to the sea. What surprise awaits my Selkie when she falls for a special man she meets on land?

It’s a challenge to record audio with other contributors in these plague straightened times. I hung my story on the Selkie legend and produced a solo drama combining faerie tale and love story.

LISTEN TO THE DRAMA NOW.

Continue reading “The Selkie.”