Books & Music
May 2023
Black Rood
By David WillemReviewed by Kate
MacRitchiesymbolismandwhatdo youget?Itmightsound likethetrappingsofaDan Brownthriller,but The Black Rood isthetrue storyofScotland’s missingcrownjewel.
Takeoneancient artefactshroudedin mystery.Addasmuggler princess(andfuture QueenofScotland), Normaninvaders,anda potentblendofnational
SmuggledintoScotland bypiousMargaretof Wessex(alsoknownas ‘ThePearlofScotland’), theBlackRood symbolisedthe“infinitely valuable,immutable, incorruptiblenatureof eternallife”.Itsbejewelled andgildedexterior supposedlyconcealeda treasurebeyondmeasure: asplinteroftheTrue Cross,thetreeupon whichChristbledand diedforhumanity’ssins.
Why,then,hassucha treasurefadedinto obscurity?
Forthefirsttime,David Willemtellsthetaleof Scotland’slostreliquary, theBlackRood,whichis everybitasworthyof commemorationasthe famousStoneofScone.
withaninfluentialfamily (theHouseofWessex) oncemoredownontheir luck,reducedtofleeing refugeesbytheNorman invasionandseeking succourintheunlikely armsofanoldenemy: Scotland.
Ahistorywriterand diarist,Willemtakesuson awell-researchedbutfar fromdryjourneytoa turbulenttimeof bloodshedandpower struggle.
Itbeginsasallgood originstoriesoughtto;
Butthecompelling interpersonal conflictsare eclipsedby headyquestions ofnationhood andspirituality, asreadersare invitedto considerthe symbolic importanceof thislongforgottentotem,andwhat implicationmightarise wereittoberediscovered.
Willemexplainsthatthe BlackRoodisn’ttheonly mysteriousrelicofitsilk.A largepartofthebook’s excitementisstirredby
drawingtogetherThe BlackRoodofScotland withcousincrossesY GroesGnethofWalesand theIrishCrossofCong. Couldthesethree reliquariesoftheTrue Cross,belongingtothe UK’sthreeCelticnations, pointtoasymbolicand sacredcoalition?With rumblingsofasecond referendumonScottish independence,it’sa tantalisingtheory.
YGroesGnethwaslikely destroyedbyCromwell duringtherevolution,and theCrossofCongis currentlydisplayedatthe NationalMuseumof Ireland.ButtheBlack Roodhasvanished, leavingonlyechoesofits existence.
SignificantScottish placestaketheirname fromthismysterious, gemstone-encrusted relic—nonemoreso
significanttothenational psychethanHolyrood parliament.
DavidWillemhas followedtheseechoes throughhistory,skilfully piecingtogethera heretoforeuntold narrativeofaforgotten nationaltotem.Present duringmanyiconicturns intheUK’shistory,one mustask,whathappened totheBlackRood?Why hasitnotattainedthe
hallowedstatusofother nationalsymbolslikethe StoneofSconeorthe DeclarationofArbroath?
Whetheryouenjoy The Black Rood isaquestion ofhowyoulikeyour history.Ifit’swithadash ofnarrativeflourish, compellingcharacters, andtantalizingbut ultimatelyunsolved mysteriestoponder,then thisabookforyou.
Whatcan’tbedeniedis that The Black Rood sheds
lightonashadowyrelic that’sundeservedlyfallen fromScotland’scollective memoryandoffersafresh perspectiveonthebonds thatonceexistedbetween Scotland,England, Ireland,andWaleswith intrigueandclarity.Thatit doessoatatimewhen theUK’snationsfindtheir relationshiptoone anotheronceagainon shakygroundonlymakes thereadmorecompelling.
Visitthepublisherswebsite tofindmoregreattitles.
The A-Z of Whisky Place Names
By Jake King
Haveyoueverwondered abouttheplace-namesthat appearonScotchwhisky bottles?Whatlanguagethe namescomefrom,whatthey meanoriftheyareevenreal places?TheA-ZofWhisky Place-Namesdiscusseseach place-namethatis concernedinsomewaywith Scotchwhisky,eitherasthe nameofthewhiskyitself,or asthenameofthedistillery. Foreachofthesenamesthe authorprovidesan informativediscussionofthe origin,historyand developmentofthename fromalinguisticand historicalperspective.
Thetextonabottleof Knockandoclaimsthatthis namemeansinGaelic‘the blacklittlehill’,presumably asif*AnCnocanDubh, althoughoftenglossed
ungrammaticallyas‘Cnocan-Dubh’.Thiswouldbea reasonableassumptionif onewerelookingatthe nameintextonly.Infact,the realGaelicformisquite different,beingCnoc Cheannachd‘thehillof
buying’.Theearlyspelling alsosupportsthis. Presumablythehillwasthe siteofamarketofsomesort, butthishasbeenlostto history.
ThenameEdradouris fromanolderGaelicname EadarDàDhobhairmeaning broadly‘betweenthetwo waters’InmodernGaelic,the nameisEadraDhobhair.The tworiversarenowcalled KinnairdBurnandTheBlack SpoutorEdradourBurn,but inGaelictheywereknownas AlltDobharShuas‘upper burnofDobhar’andAllt DobharShìos‘lowerburnof
Dobhar’respectively.Thisis anexcellentplacefora distillery.Atthefootofthe BlackSpoutisapoolinthe rivercalledPollDobhair‘the poolofDobhar’.
Dobharisanoldwordfor ‘water’whichisnolongerin useinmodernGaelicbut hereisreallyusedasthe nameforthewatercourse. DobharinmodernGaelic means‘otter’,inthesenseof acreaturethatlivesinwater, althoughthisisnotthe meaninghereashasbeen claimed.Thisisparalleledby theEnglishwordotterwhich isrelatedtothewordwater.
Auchentoshanissaidtobe fromAchadhant-Oisein‘the fieldofthecorner’oreven ‘thecornerofthefield’.This, however,isnotverygood Gaelic;theformwouldbe *AchadhanOisein.Aplace nearbyAuchentoshanis OceanFieldwhichlooksto beaparttranslationofthe name,wherebyGaelic achadhistranslatedas ‘field’,andthe-oshenpart adoptedandreanalysedas Englishocean.OceanField waswell-knownasasite
containingRomanartefacts. Whilstthename
Auchentoshaniscertainly Gaelicandthefirstwordis achadh‘field’,theidentityof thesecondelement-toshan isunclear.
likely,however,itisrelated totheGaelicwordfiodh ‘wood,timber’,thus perhapsmeaning‘the woodedglen’,orperhaps ‘theglenoftheFithich’ whereFithichmeans‘the woodedriver’.
Glenfiddichcomesfrom theGaelicformGleann FithichorFidhich.Gaelicspeakinglocalslatterly understoodthistobeeither fitheach‘raven’orfiadhach ‘rough’.Fiadh‘deer’toois commonlyunderstood nowadays,andadeereven appearsonthewhiskybottle withtheexplanation:“The ValleyoftheDeer”.Most
Bunnabhainisalsoa Gaelicname:BunnahAbhainn‘thefootofthe water’.BuninGaelicmeans thefootorbaseof something,whilstabhainn means‘river’.Theriverin questioniscalledAbhainn Araig‘theriverofAraig’.This
nameAraigisofNorseorigin,perhapsfromÁrvik‘riverbay’, whichissimilarinmeaningtoBunnah-Abhainn.Since whiskyneedsflowingwaterforthedistillationprocess,itis nosurprisemanyoftheplace-namescontainwaterwords.
This is a small selection of place-names discussed in The A-Z of Whisky Place-Names published by Whittles Publishing (£16.99) 978184995-503-4.
Doric
Whatadelight.Children’sbooksareagreattooltointroduce theirvocabulary.Thiscollectionoftitlesbringsallthatand Simplestoriesandhistoryaretoldinawaydesignedto challengetolearnanewlanguage.Alanguagethatisreal, theyknow.
Bedtimestoriesoranytimereadingaddsadifferentdimension mayhereeverydayarenowvalidatedinprint.Thisisavaluable andcommunicationarefluidandchangingentitiesatthe NorthEastofScotland.
Thebooksalsoworkwellforadultswhomayneverhave morecomplexstories.
TofindoutmorevisittheDoricBookswebsite.
Books
introducenewideas,widentheimaginationandexpand andmuchmore. holdachild’sattentionatthesametimeassettinga real,livingandusedeveryday,perhapsevenbypeople dimensionwhentoldlikethis.Familiarwordsthatachild valuablelessonreaffirmingtherealitythatlanguage thesametimeasformingageographiclinkwiththe haveheardDoricbeforeandwouldperhapsstrugglewith
Skerryvore
Their new single “Eye of The Storm” out now. Catch them & others at The Reeling in June
Lisabett Russo
Lisabettlauncheshernewandfifthalbumthisspring.Sheis accompanyingthiswithatourroundScotland.Ifyouhave missedherdatesthenwesuggestyouputanoteinyour diarytocatchhernexttime.
ShehastouredextensivelythroughEuropeandAsiawhile makingherhomeandbasehereinScotland.NationalUK radiostationsandmajorfestivalshavefeaturedherwork overthelastfewyearsbringinghertonewaudiences.
WeweregoingtowritealongpieceaboutLisabett,hermusic andlifestylebutwefeelitisbetterifyouwatchthevideo whichnotonlytellsitallinherownwordsbutalsofeaturesa numberofliveperformancesshowingoffherincrediblevoice andtheguitarskillsofheraccompanistGraemeStephen.
Hamish Hawk
IfyouareunawareofHamish,wesuggestyouremedythat nowandbecomeafrontrunnersupportinganewScottish talent.
Hehasjustreleasedhisthirdalbumandisnowatthestage ofgatheringfollowersatanalarmingpace.Thisis unsurprising,hislyricsarevivid;tellingstories,releasing thoughtsandideasbackedbypiano,guitarorhandclap percussions
Hisloveofwordsisobviousandhisstrongvoicetakesus onatouraroundsmallScottishtowns,Berlin,ElvisandThe Smiths.Thisnewalbumisourcurrentofficefavouriteandwe thinkwewillnotbealoneonthat.