Sunday, July 29, 2018

Fair Maid of Perth

The Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club is tweeting this novel.  Should be interesting how they tweet 3 volumes.  I have not read this one yet so I will read the original text then see what they do with the tweet version.  Somehow I think something will be missing.  More on this later.

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Campbeltown

When I purchased the Mull of Kintyre cheese at the local grocery store, I was unaware that I was delving into popular culture.  I thought it was just a cheese from Scotland.  When I discovered Paul McCartney wrote a song with that name and he lived on the Mull of Kintyre, I decided Campbeltown Scotch whisky would be a good choice for last night's murder mystery/scotch tasting evening. Campbeltown has a unique geography which provides very interesting malt whiskys.  We sampled the 10, 12 & 15 year old Springbank, Hazelburn, Longrow and Kilkerran single malts.  Kilkerran was one of the twelve apostles of Ireland who studied under St. Finian making this whisky even more interesting.  Here is a link to a recording of Paul McCartney's song with some impressive imagery of Kintyre.  https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=AwrDQ2oEeSZbSVgA4Y40nIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBzdmtvYW9lBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDMjA-?p=mull+of+kintyre&vid=794af4058d881f996c09996bc17ae9dd&turl=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOVP.gtXPuCRgVKk3Z245ylacFwEsCo%26pid%3D15.1%26h%3D168%26w%3D300%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F61221966&tit=Mull+Of+Kintyre&c=19&h=168&w=300&l=271&sigr=10qmq2don&sigt=10f3a4osb&sigi=12r79sf7t&age=1362620841&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=yhs-prodege-prodege_001&hsimp=yhs-prodege_001&hspart=prodege&tt=b

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Lammermuir Hills

One of Sir Walter Scott's finer novels and still popular thanks to the operatic repertoire that repeatedly performs Lucia di Lammermoor.  Scott was very ill while writing this book and almost destroyed it when finished.  Happily he changed his mind  A must read for a Scott fan.
Lammermuir Hills is also the title of a Scottish Country dance.  Unfortunately most Scottish Country dancers ignore the inspiration for the titles..  This dance was created by one of the more talented choreographers.  Scottish dancers miss a great deal by passing through the countryside and history of Lammermuir without enjoying the scenery.   https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/video/lammermuir-hills.html

Monday, January 15, 2018

Heart of Mid-Lothian

It has been almost 200 years since Scott published this highly readable novel based on a true story about a young lady who walked from Edinburgh to London to save her sister's life.  As usual many musical plays were produced including an 1819 production featuring music by Henry Rowley Bishop.  Operatic creations included Jeanie deans by Hamish MacCunn which was broadcast on BBC in 1968.