N EP O R E PW IN OSIROT&N V I E W S
Geordie McIntyre
Landscape and Song Geordie McIntyre is a singer and songwriter well known for his repertoire of traditional songs, ballads and poems
Reflected in song, poetry and prose, Scotland has a rich legacy and clear connection with our flora, fauna and diverse natural landscape. This treasure trove also demonstrates the enduring themes of pride of place and identity with place. Landscape has been, and is, a source of inspiration, spiritual and physical renewal or, more simply, a necessary background or stage where everyday life, its joys and sorrows, its comedies and tragedies, are played out. This overview will not include the rich Gaelic legacy. Enough to say, this deeplyrooted vocal tradition is permeated with nature references. Hollin Green Hollin Alone in Greenwood must I roam Hollin Green Hollin A shade of green leaves is my home Birk and green hollin. Where naught is seen but boundless green And spots of far blue sky between. A weary head soft pillow finds Where leaves fall green in summer woods. Enough for me, enough for me To live at large with liberty.
This evocative song is attributed to James Douglas of Cavers, in the Scottish Borders. It is said to date from the early 19th or late 18th Century. What is remarkable is its powerful identity with the forest habitat and, above all, the liberating impact of the forest.
Photo, previous pages: Alex Scott, www.alexscott photography.co.uk
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The musical and poetic creations of our national bard, Robert Burns (1759-1796) are peppered with nature references. In this extract from his love song Now Westlin Winds, he demonstrates his acute observational powers of both flora and fauna.
The partridge loves the fruitful fells, The plover loves the mountain. The woodcock haunts the lonely dell The soaring heron the fountain. Through lofty groves the cushat roves The path of man to shun it. The hazel bush o’erhangs the thrush The spreading thorn the linnet.
The weaver-poet and songsmith of Paisley, Robert Tannahill (1774-1810), who was in many ways a disciple of Burns, was a keen walker and outdoors man. The Braes of Balqhuidder Noo’ it’s high summer time And the flowers are a’ bloomin And the wild mountain thyme On the breezes perfumin’ Will ye go lassie go Tae the Braes o’ Balqhuidder Whaur the blueberries grow Mang the bonnie purple heather.
Looking north and to the west of Stuc-aChroin, Tannahill could see these Braes on his rambles in the Gleniffer Braes and Renfrew Heights - visible on a clear day, across the Clyde valley. In his fine song Gloomy Winter’s Noo Awa he writes So my lassie let us stray O’er Glen Killocks sunny braes And blythly spread the gowden day Midst joys that never weary.
The writer was certainly enchanted by the ‘joys’ of nature, so much so that one observer stated that his enchantment was such that in his love songs, the lady in question often comes in distant second-best to the countryside.