The Death of Sir Walter Scott

When Sir Walter Scott died in 1832, a jubilee of dramatic performances based on his works were performed in Abbotsford and Dryburgh Abbey to celebrate his life and works. His influence is still present in the literature and culture of Scotland to this day.
In the recent past, many have passed away who have been a significant influence in our lives. My own ballet teacher- Richard Ellis, my ballet mentor and friend-Alexander Bennet and my close friend and company pianist-Wayne Simpson have left a void in my life. While dancing at the Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church on the longest night of the year to comfort those who are grieving lost ones, I found a way to celebrate the lives of those who made my life worth living more fully while offering a spirit of praise and jubilation to those present.
May you all be uplifted with tidings of comfort and joy in this season of celebration.

Jacksonville Symphony Chorus

Are the arts promoted in your schools? Many schools cut the arts because the economy. What are we missing or rather what will we miss as a result?
Beethoven was reputed to have first picked up Handel's Messiah with these words, "Here is a different fellow" and proceeded to play the most interesting looking passages. On another occasion he is said to have remarked, "Handel is the greatest composer that ever lived", and spoke of the oratorio as having "sublimity of language". The music of Messiah so permeated Beethoven's being that on his deathbed he is reputed to have quoted from The Messiah stating that if there were a physician that could help him "His name shall be called Wonderful".
Fortunately, this work will be with us forever and ever because there will always be someone to sing this music. Here is a link to a public performance with the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus and several local choirs at the Riverside Arts Market (I had to miss this because of a Nutcracker rehearsal, but my wife was there singing for the both of us): http://www.viddler.com/explore/jaxsymphony/videos/27/
What does this have to do with my Scottish Bookwraith? Beethoven also wrote music to some Scottish songs written by Sir Walter Scott which are excellent in quality and performed to this day saved from the bookwraith because of an abiding interest in the arts.

Richard Ellis

Have you read "A Leap Across the Atlantic" by Christine Duboulay? This memoir of her life and that of her husband, Richard Ellis, should be read by every ballet enthusiast. Richard Ellis passed away this month but the efforts of his life and talent still live through the careers of his students.
What does this have to do with my bookwraith blog? Many great talents who dedicated decades of their own careers followed by passing their skills on to their students have left us and a great void is left in their place.
The Ellis' trained me and as a result I danced many times for the late Alexander Bennett in the USA and abroad. These tours included Scotland where I saw the monument of Sir Walter Scott in Edinburgh. Since I recently posted about the passing of Joan Sutherland, I would like to youtube Lucia di Lammermoor (based on a novel of Scott) once again to celebrate the beautiful life of a great talent with the great talent of another international star: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFRiFWKsnEk

The Bride of Lammermoor

Sir Walter Scott was ailing when he wrote The Bride of Lammermoor and referred to it as dismal. Fortunately, Scott worked very quickly and the novel was sent to the publisher before he could scrap it and we can still enjoy the work in print and on stage. One of my favorite scenes in all of opera is the Sextet from Donizetti's opera, but here are two links to share a few moments of the many hours of sheer joy provided by the talent of a great singer who is no longer with us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xToxhv_Y9nc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X1cGPpiBGU

The Sad Demise of Lowland Malts

In 1974, there were fourteen Lowland malts available to blenders:

Auchmtoshan, Auchtermuchty (closed 1926), Auchtertool (closed 1927), Bankier (closed 1928), Bladnoch (closed 1993), Glenkinchic, Inverleven (closed 1991), Kinclaith (closed 1992), Ladyburn, Littlemill (closed 1993), Provanmill (closed 1929), Rosebank (closed 1993) and St Magdalene (closed 1983).

Glengoyne, on Loch Lomond, is also listed as a Lowland, although its current owners prefer to call it a Highland.

Glenkinchie and Auchentoshan remain. Join us for a Scotch and Murder Mystery evening to sample some of Scotland's finest products. R.S.V.P. by invitation only or start your own Scotch tasting club with an evening of spirited gaming.

This week's book is The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott. Have you read it? If you have attention deficit disorder because of our media oriented society, watch King Richard and the Crusaders with Rex Harrison in celebration of Sir Walter Scott's birthday on August 15th. Toast the great bard with a wee dram of GlenKinchie.

Scotch Tasting

There are now less than 100 distilleries in Scotland out of approximately 800 constructed. Have your friends over for a wee dram and support an important part of Scotland's economy. We just had our second scotch tasting here in Jacksonville and sampled seven malts:
Scapa Flow 16 year old
Isle of Jura 10 year old
Ledaig Isle of Mull 10 year old
The Arran Malt 10 year old
Talisker 10 year old
Highland Park 1985 19 year old
Laphroaig 18 year old
Do the Orcadians really not consider themselves to be Scots? That would be too bad because the Highland Park 1985 was most excellent.

Ivanhoe

Did you know an American was the model for the heroine of Scott's Ivanhoe? Read the blog post at http://blog.loa.org/2010/07/washington-irving-and-model-for-rebecca.html

Brownie of Bodsbeck

The Brownie of Bodsbeck is James Hogg's first novel and is set in the 17th century when the Covenanters were hiding from the king's forces during what is know as the killing times. This book not only depicts an important period of Scottish history but also provides an excellent portrait of rural life and folklore.
Brownies are peculiar to Scotland and England and can be very helpful if treated properly. Feed your brownie cookies and milk and your housework will be done for you leaving you time to read this excellent book.

The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott

The works of Sir Walter Scott spawned plays, operas and musical works which filled theaters around the world in the nineteenth century. The plays themselves were similar to the musicals of the 1950s with songs and sword play which could still appeal to the current audiences if only a playwright or screenwriter would be so inclined (Rob Roy was immortalized by Scott and the most recent film about this highland rogue had one of the best sword fights in the history of film). The Jacksonville Scottish Country Dancers will celebrate Scott's birthday in August with dancing, food, piping and a film based on The Talisman.

Hebridean Weaving Lilt

A few years ago the Scottish Country Dance teacher in Jacksonville moved. Even though I had many years experience as a professional ballet dancer and as an open level Highland Dancer, my experience with this form of dance was very minimal. Nevertheless, I volunteered to teach classes while learning the formations, patterns, music, etc. Fortunately my wife had a music degree from Columbia University and gradually took over the bulk of the teaching as I developed my knowledge of this form of dance. We now have a growing class which frequently has enough dancers weekly for two sets and there are three teens who are earning school credit by taking our classes.
The Hebridean Weaving Lilt was the first dance I learned 25 years ago while performing in Scotland. This was long before I ever took Scottish Country Dancing and did not realize it had very unique characteristics and seldom appeared on dance programs. I saved it from the dance wraith yesterday by teaching it in Jacksonville.

James Hogg

The University of Stirling would be pleased to hear that their edition of Hogg's Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner is now available at The Jacksonville Public Library in Florida. Will this classic receive the attention it deserves or will it sit on the shelf for a couple years then be discarded to make room for lesser works that are more popular?

Marbh & Uisge Beatha

Jacksonville's piper Bill Stewart conducted our first Scottish Whisky tasting session on Friday, February 6th. Several fine single malts were sampled with guidance from Mr. Stewart and Michael Jackson's book, Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch which is available at The Jacksonville Public Library. The malts were sampled after each round of a Murder Mystery game along with dinner and dessert.
The diversity of malt sampled during the evening:
Speyside-12 year old
The lowland Auchentoshan Select
The Islay Bowmore-12 year old
The Highland Glenmorangie/Quinta Ruban-port cask non chill- filtered

Do murder & Scotch go together? The Bookwraith says, "Yes." The Bookwraith also won the game.

Murder

Sir Walter Scott received Sharpe' s permission to include "The Murder of Caerlaverock" in his effort to preserve those ballads surviving through oral tradition. It was also printed as "The Murder of the King of Scott's" by Percy and collected by Childe as "Earl Bothwell." Murder is a literary gift that keeps on giving and is found throughout Scott's works indicating Scots were a somewhat less than peaceful people.
Read Scott's works to learn from history. Read my next entry which provides an account of the first meeting of Jacksonville's "Marbh & Uisge Beatha." Do murder and whisky go together. The bookwraith says, "Yes."