We introduce our album with a tribute to beer and to the tenacity for survival of a tune. 'Oil of Barley,' a tune of unknown origin, pops up in the 1651 edition of John Playford's Dancing Master as both the tune of a 'country dance' entitled 'Lulle Me Beyond Thee' and a song entitled 'Oil of

Tradition has it that during one of the Scottish wars for freedom, a piper from, arguably, the most famous family of pipers, the MacCrimmons, had a premonition of his own death in an impending battle. It was claimed that his premonition was due to his gift of 'second sight.' The premonition was, perhaps, not that original but the tune he is credited with composing on the occasion was exceptional. 'Cha Till Mi Tulle,' also known as 'MacCrimmon's Lament' has become a great pipe tune. Moving as it is, it reaches its hair-raising zenith as a song - and the song curls our hair best from the singing of the late Jeannie Robertson and (a very alive) Heather Heywood. Wayne's pipe rendition was based on memory of Jeannie's phrasing - not a pipe arrangement. We segue to Jeannie Adams singing a great Eric Bogle song, 'No Man's Land,' written upon a chance encounter with the gravestone of a casualty of the Great War - no explanation needed. 'No Man's Land' is timeless. This is followed by 'Flowers of the Forest', a tribute to the Scotsmen killed in the Battle of Flodden with James IV - an English victory that history is still loathe to credit its major organiser - Catherine of Aragon - with. 'Flowers of the Forest' is a Scots equivalent of Dan Butterfield's 'Taps.' In memory of George Bakeman, Moses Sherman and James Clark who all died in 'No Man's Land,' Virginia. 

A set about loss and failure and the slight promise of hope in a new world. Bheil Inse (or Valentia) is an island on the West Coast of Ireland. The opening lament was composed upon the occasion of a tragic loss, circa 1700. A fellow opted to walk to Valentia - but sent his library by sea and his precious books were drowned within sight of the destination. Therefore, it is also known as 'Amhran na Leabhar' or 'Song of the Books.' Wayne thinks that it is the saddest and most evocative lament in the whole world and it has become the introduction to this set that we put our name to. Jeannie follows with a song that defines our group name more than anything. 'Hush, Hush' is a lullaby sung to a baby as the mother is being evicted from her home in the Highlands of Scotland to make way for model farming and sheep raising - 'progress.' The first victims of the Highland evictions were put on board the Hector and sent to Pictou, Nova Scotia. The song is followed by 'The Mist Covered Mountains', the pipe tune to which the song was written. Dedicated to all exiles - geographic or spiritual, the great town of Pictou and Reuel Ian Bean who spent 21 years in exile and got himself back to the islands. 

We call this 'The Presbyterian Set.' It opens with a tune that was originally used for a Highland dance called Sean Triubhas - which belies the fact that this was a dance performed by affluent males wearing the highland trousers called trews - which one only wore if rich enough to ride on a horse. This is another resilient 'survivor' as far as tunes go - somehow, it made it's way down to Southern Scotland and some prurient Presbyterian endowed it with a title that contains an ominous threat to a fellow parishioner although the tune retains its lofty, aristocratic feel. Kirn (or quern) is a Scots word with many meanings. It can mean: 'churn', 'a set of stones for grinding grain', 'a worn out piece of pasture land', a 'Harvest Home' ('Maiden Kirn') or 'an over-nursed child.' Take your pick. This and the following - 'The Kerry Slide' dates from the original lineup of Pictou and are the arrangements of Jeff Terry. A 'slide' is a dance that is not uniquely Irish - although they have preserved it. Slides were popular in London with 'highbrows' in the 17th Century and the word, 'slide', refers to a maneuver that involves a 'sideways skip.' Jeff isn't a Presbyterian - he is a heathen like the rest of us and a hell of a fiddle player. He left the group about the time Ginger joined - and she replaced his intensity on the fiddle with wonderful, sweat-dripping forays on the bodhrán. For Andrea.

This is a set inspired by the Scottish group, Heritage - in particular, two of the founder members, Davy Lockhart, the violinist and Jack Beck, singer and guitarist. Another unifying characteristic is the fact that both instrumentals are compositions by J. Scott Skinner - one of Davy's heroes and a virtuoso violinist who's musical niche plagues folks who have to demean themselves by splitting Scottish music up into neat categories. The introductory tune (gotten from Willie Lumsden of the Lomond Kornkisters) was chosen for its virtues as a successful violin-to-guitar candidate and for its pastoral associations - which lead nicely to the song - one of the first we heard from Jack Beck, whose rendition sets the standard. 'Bogie's Bonny Belle' was a favourite of The Travelers (or 'Gaun-Aboot' Folk). It reflects their subtle, tongue-in-cheek humour.  A man has 'fee'd' or bound himself out to a farmer named Boghead O' Cairnie ('Bogie') at Whitsun ('Mercat Day') for the agricultural season. He introduces himself as the driver of Bogie's 'twa best horses' which implies that he was the 1st Horseman - high in the hierarchy of farm workers and well in line to marry Bogie's beautiful daughter, Belle. He is quite successful in his pursuit and his forays with Belle around the farm result in the inevitable. In a sudden twist, however, Belle runs off and marries a 'Tinker' (a skilled Traveler) and leaves the narrator of the song with Bogie's horses. We follow it with a beautiful Skinner piece, 'The Music of Spey', that, so we understand from George Haig (who arranged it), Davy Lockhart used to play but never recorded. Jean and George recorded it for him. This set is dedicated to Davy - Scotsman, educator, socialist, artist, musician and honourary citizen and musician of Occitan France. He is another Scotsman who is too complex for adequate description - and we love him!

This set centers around what, in the popular imagination, was the last war for Scottish independence - the '45 - which was, actually more along the lines of a civil war with odd allies on both sides. This particular war was and is as misunderstood as the man who gave us the introductory tune. James Oswald preserved 'Roslyn Castle' for us. Did he write it? Probably not - it also appeared in print, elsewhere with the title, 'The Howe of Glamis.' Oswald was born in Elie in The Kingdom of Fife and became a dancing master, composer, publisher, chamber music director for King George III and a collector of traditional songs and tunes. He lived squarely in the period when 'music was music' and he is a driving force behind our thrust to be 'reprobators.' He collected music from the countryside of Scotland. He left some of it intact, elaborated some of it and composed pieces based on what he had collected - in other words, he was 'in' a tradition and became a big part of it. . He is, at best, called a 'Pre-Classical' composer, which is a half-arsed description that belies the failure of 'neat categories.' However, amongst other things, he was an early Scottish 'guittarist' and wrote for the instrument. Whether 'Roslyn Castle' was a transcription for guitar is questionable - but it sits well. Jean follows it with 'Culloden's Harvest' which is a 19th century, pretty realistic, appraisal of the Battle of Culloden - all tragedy with all of the hints about 'strange bedfellows.' Jack Holland follows it with an Irish lament entitled 'Anach Cuain' - another sad piece about a wedding party on their way to a fair who were drowned when their boat sank in a lake after either a pig or a sheep had pierced the bottom of the boat with a hoof. This was the set that immortalised us on the Discovery Channel's 'Travelers' programme. We are glad that somebody recognised tragedy instead of emphasising the pseudo-glory of 'lost causes.' For Mike Ward and Lindsay Porteous who pretty much invented 'Pictou' and addicted Wayne and Jack to the tinwhistle.

Jean's demonstration of the palette of colours in the rich tradition of violin-wielding in Scotland. The first is an air, collected by Simon Fraser, which demonstrates the requisite 'feel' for the frequently encountered manuscript instruction: 'pathetically slow.' We move to 'Donald MacLean's Farewell to Oban' for, ironically, a taste of a style from far further Northeast than Argyll - the unique Shetland style that was powered by the jazz guitar technique of Willie Johnstone. The next tune - just from the title - 'Devil in the Kitchen', implies that you should get off your arse and dance - wherever you are! For Archie Adams, MBE, from his daughter and son-in-law who are so proud of him. (Thanks for the Kornkisters' album!)

A song about funfair workers as they dismantle the rides on one fairground preparatory to moving to the next one. A parable of farewells of all sorts, this was always our show-closer. It is easy to grasp despite the bits of English slang and the names of the 'rides' A well-crafted, timeless song and one of our favourites. For Danny.

Inspired by the painting with the same title - featuring a reflective old man at the gunwales of a ship who is watching the coastline of Scotland slip from his gaze forever. Originally, this was just an exercise in applying bagpipe gracing to guitar. Jack Beck has always liked it. Phil liked it, too, and he picked it to end the album. Dedicated to Jack and Phil.