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Festival of the Sea 2026!

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Woohoo! I’m delighted to announce that there will be three storytelling events on Saturday 18th July 2026 at St Mary’s Chapel, St Nicholas Kirk as part of Aberdeen’s #FestivalOfTheSea2026 @AberdeenCC

The first event from 1 to 2.30pm, is a shadow puppet workshop, “Silhouettes of the Sea” aimed at children aged 8 upwards and their grown ups(s). Workshop attendees will learn the basics of creating shadow puppets with a nautical theme connecting to Aberdeen’s maritime past and stories – fish, whales, fishermen and fishwives, even our 17th century privateer! Tickets are £5 per child (plus booking fee) – accompanying adult is free.

Tickets here – https://www.tickettailor.com/…/paulinecordinera…/2178847

Then from 3 to 4pm, join us for “Salty Stories and Tales from the Tides” – A 1 hour family storytelling session with Aberdeen Storyteller Pauline Cordiner. Suitable for age 4 to 104!

Tickets are £3 for children and £5 for adults (plus booking fee)

Tickets here – https://www.tickettailor.com/…/paulinecordinera…/2178939

And finally, from 7 to 8.30pm, Sheena Blackhall and Pauline Cordiner will be telling Local ghost stories and singing traditional north east ballads from Aberdeen and the North East’s haunted and horrible past, age 18+

Tickets are £15 (plus booking fee).

Tickets here – https://www.tickettailor.com/…/paulinecordinera…/2179003

Check out this years Festival of the Sea – https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/…/festival-of-the-sea…/

Arduthie Primary Hoolie in the Schoolie!

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Weel, I’ve had a fantastic time working on this project with Arduthie Primary School in Stonehaven!

The pupils:

– Created 6 rhymes!
– learned about the plague, crime and punishment, how to play the comb n paper, all about a very important fossil, heard the tale of a ghost and a fishwife and admired the sculptures in the bay
– Created 6 songs!
– Illustrated the songs and some of the rhymes
– Performed our new songs in a concert
– Learned and sang “Jeannie Jenkins” at the concert (P1-3)

And since then, Ewan McVicar and I have been hard at work creating a booklet which arrives today – plenty for the pupils, the schools, the folks at Hands Up For Trads Wee Grants Scheme, The Tolbooth and The Stonehaven Folk Festival!

… and I have been busy creating videos of each song. Aye, I’ll be plaisterin them aa ower the socials in the next few days!

All the songs, rhymes and illustrations are now up on my web site at https://paulinecordiner.co.uk/hoolie-in-the-schoolie-2026/

Hae a look and let me know what you think! 🙂

Stories and Sangs at the Portsoy Haal!

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It’s aff tae the Portsoy Haal this weekend for Sheena Blackhall an masel!

There’s heaps gaen on, but come find us at the following times for Stories and Sangs:

Friday 5th June, late night storytelling at the Town Hall – 11pm to 1am. Come tell us a tale or just listen!

Tales of Mythical Monsters, stories for the young and the young at heart – Saturday 6th June, 12 to 1.30pm in the Scout Hall

Doric Sangs an Stories – Sunday 7th June at Macrae Court – 11.45am – 12.45pm

See ye there!

It’s Spring in Aberdeenshire! Two wonderful storytelling sessions on one lovely warm day!

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I’m not bragging or anything… but I’ve had the most wonderful day!
It’s truly spring in the NE and today i had two wonderful storytelling sessions which were full of fun and joy!

First I was at the Broomhill Primary School Spring Fair where Fizzy and I told some of our favourite folk tales from around the world… to an amazing audience of bairns and their grown ups!

Then it was off to a private party at the GORGEOUS Ballogie House

Oh wow I was seriously in awe at the Fantasy, Mythical and absolutely Legendary costumes! 🥰
Fairies! Faun! Atlas, Medusa, Icarus , a rogue Anubis, Green Men, Green Women, Green Bairns, Mushroom Fowk and all round wonderful people!

(I seriously need to up my headdressing 😂🥰)

Thanks so much to both events for having me (and Fizzy the Fairy) along to tell our tales! 🤩😘😍🥰

Teaching Supernatural Ballads!

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I’ve had a grand afternoon teaching Scots Song for SC&T Youth in an Aberdeen City School. The team are off doing their fourth week of “Taster Sessions” in another school, so I was asked to visit and teach some Scots songs to a group of P7s who are having a bit of an activities week while others are off on their residential trip. P7s you say? So I chose a couple of supernatural ballads that are great for engaging an older age group.

You know it’s been a good session on murder/supernatural ballads when you move on to “Twa Corbies” with a class and you ask them “What would you do if there was a deid knight behind a dyke?”

And the answer is “Make a fiddle out of his corpse?”

They learned well.

(The image is Twa Corbies by Jessie M King, 1902)

Girvan Folk Festival – part 2!

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And a second post from Girvan! On Sunday I was working with the fab team at CRAG Community Arts in the Wee School Arts Space!

We made shadow puppets based on David’s story of the Cottar and the Devil. Unfortunately I only got a couple of photos because it was time to tidy up all too soon!

In the evening Wee Imp and I went to CRAG’s amazing fire show on the beach. My phone’s camera is not great so I’ll be sure to share some of the official images!

The other two pics are of amazing wicker lantern Pikachu and chip scoffing scurry at the Wee School ☺️

Girvan Folk Festival – part 1!

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Aye it’s only taken me a week to post these photos from last Saturday at Girvan Traditional Folk Festival !

On Saturday morning I had a brilliant time telling stories to wee fowk and their grown ups at Girvan Library – what a great bunch who had fun joining in! Then Natalie Chalmers and I had a spot at the Bobby Rob concert.

Later on it was back to Glasgow (no starting late in Girvan for sessions as the caravan was stuck in Abz!) where we had a relaxing walk along the Clyde with Wee Imp

Thanks Amy for the photos! 😁

Girvan Traditional Folk Festival 2026!

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Somehow it’s been 15 years since I’ve telt tales at Girvan Traditional Folk Festival (time disnae half fly!) – but this year I’m delighted to say I’m going back for another visit! Yaaay, cannae wait!

On Saturday 2nd May I’ll be telling some Folkie Stories for Wee Fowk an their Grownups at Girvan Library from 11am – drop in for a tale or two! ( https://girvanfolkfestival.org.uk/family-events/ )

On Saturday afternoon at 2.30pm, I’ll be doing a couple of songs (hopefully wi ma amazing pal TBC) at the Bobby Rob Memorial Concert in the Catholic Hall https://girvanfolkfestival.org.uk/concerts/

And on Sunday afternoon 1.30 – 3.30pm (thanks for the lie in folks! 😉 ), I’m joining the fab fowk fae CRAG Community Arts to tell the tale o Coultart the Cottar and the Devil, written by David Powell – we’ll then be making shadow puppets to tell the tale! This event will be held in the Wee School Art Space and links in to the shoreside fireshow at night! Children must be accompanied by an adult.

See https://girvanfolkfestival.org.uk/family-events/ for the workshop and https://girvanfolkfestival.org.uk/concerts/#seilach for the fireshow!

(Now ye can see fit wiy I cannae wait?)

Puppet Workshop at Whitehills

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A wee photo fae last wik’s Bring A Puppet To Life workshop at Whitehills Playing Field !
The bairns (and their grown ups!) worked with the puppets learning to make them talk, move and most importantly… come to life!

We then had some stories and songs before a Scots Variety Concert in the village hall in the evening.

Thanks to the organisers for having us along!

House and Home at the GREC Language Cafe!

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We had a lovely session today at the GREC Language Cafe!

First we heard from two speakers, Shelter and Aberlang; then I told a story about a challenge to become a queen.

Afterwards, the Cafetistas wrote words in English and their own languages (and there were so many in the room) – words relating to house and home 🙂

We made a bit of word art!