This week’s project is dusting off the knitting needles to make a more authentic shawl for my fishwife’s costume. It has been a fair while since I picked up any knitting – I used to knit when I was a student (before it was trendy) to chill out and to make myself chunky jumpers that weren’t in the shops… but it was only ever knit, purl or rib. Then I went through a phase in the early noughties when hand made gifts, floofy wool and knitting in the pub were en vogue. (My apologies to anyone who received a squinty knobbly scarf that probably went up in flames when merely in the same room as a candle!)

Now that I’m happy with my Pictish, Viking and the prospect of making my own Medieval clothing… I was unhappy with my rather modern Fishwife’s shawl which you can see in the photo below.

After a fair amount of peering at old photos of fishwives (including one of my g-g-grandmother Mary Ann McConnell) and finding that there was nothing in the charity shops or available online that looked like what I needed, I decided the best thing to do would be to learn a few new stitches and knit my own!

Watch this space! 😀

(The apron isn’t correct for the North East of Scotland. Photos from our coast tend to show a dark cloth with some texture… but it’s what people imagine when they think of Scottish fishwives – the big colourful aprons worn by the Newhaven Fishwives – so I decided to go with that for my storytelling costume! I’ve already got a fantastic pair of (much mended) Victorian style boots too. )

A few photos from my visit to Leslie Castle last night with Fizzy the Fairy. What an amazingly beautifully restored medieval fortification with wonderfully friendly staff who told me a bit of the history of the place! (And the supper smelled amazing too!)

Yesterday my daughter and I had a brilliant time at St Andrews Castle with our amazing friend Nick. We were there to talk about the Picts for our friends at History Matters Limited and Historic Environment Scotland.

Although the castle itself is temporarily out of bounds to visitors (it needs masonry checks after the recent storms), they could still learn a chunk of Scottish history and see some replica items from ancient times.

History Matters have loads of reenactors visiting HES properties throughout the summer and October holidays and you can find out more by going to their
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/historymattersltd
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/historymattersltd/
Webpage – http://www.historymattersltd.com/

You can find out which HES properties have visits from their many characters by going to Historic Environment Scotland’s Events page and filtering the results by “Living History” – but here’s a handy link that will do all that for you! 🙂

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/whats-on/?event_type=4

The Easter holidays are fair knipin on!

I’m still going to fit in a Pictish visit to St Andrews Castle with Nick of History Matters Ltd and a storytelling session for a family at Leslie Castle (which is the castle in the photo below for them that dinna ken).

(I do love a #story and a #castle) #ys2022#TalesOfScotland#yearofstories2022

Yesterday was a day of Unexpected Heroes with two storytelling sessions at Turriff Library. My Wee Imp and I were fair taen wi this intriguing painting of “Letter Jean” who looks right like a photo I have of my great great grandmother. I bet there’s an interesting story there!

It was really nice to be given some feedback by those attending the session (remember folks – feedback means funding!)

“I really liked boath storys”
“Storytelling was very good, thankyou”
“So engaging – fantastic storyteller. Thoroughly enjoyed it”
“Thoroughly enjoyed the storytelling. Thank you!”
“Very enjoyable.  Great storytelling and expression and tales we have not heard before. Would come again. Would like to learn about story writing too. Thank you.”
“We really enjoyed Storytelling with Pauline Cordiner and would love to hear more.  Thank you for 2 new stories we get to share”
“I really liked the storys I can’t wait for next time”
“Thankyou for telling a story. I liked the first one.”
*Picture of a smiley face*
“Thank you so much for the brilliant storytelling. I enjoyed the farting story the best.  More storys @Turriff please!”
“I loved the storrys. I’ve never heard the one about the old lady and the Vikings. (smiley face)”
“My daughter really enjoyed the stories, which she had not heard before. Would definitely take her back and recommend to family and friends”
“Fantastic stories, daughter really enjoyed it.  Would come again of course. Loved the comedic aspect of stories with real meanings & doesn’t shy away from death.” 

I’ve got two storytelling sessions at Turriff Library this coming Tuesday – tales of Unexpected Heroes!

It looks like the earlier session for 5-8 year olds is already booked up, but there are still a couple of tickets for the 9-12 year olds!

https://tinyurl.com/etbb2mts

(The image is my favourite depiction of my favourite hero by saskiadekorte!)

My Wee Imp and I had a wonderful weekend at the Historic Saltire training weekend and I had the help of some amazing people to get these photos taken to show my Pictish, Viking and Medieval clothing which I can wear for storytelling sessions (in addition to Fish Wife, Pirate, Fairy, Witch etc etc!)

Thanks Carolyn for Peplum tucking and photographic expertise, Beatrice for Viking pinning/advice and Leslie for Medieval outfitting and wimple instructing!

Iron Age/Pictish clothing – that dress-like thing is called a peplum. It is basically a (gigantic) tube of cloth pinned at the shoulders by fibula style brooches (which you can’t see in this photo). It is a LOT of material – showing how posh I am. You can also tell I’m posh by my massive bronze torc and amber beads. It is a big improvement on my previous dress tunic and breeks. I have gone up in the world.

Viking clothing. This time I’m wearing a Hangerok. It was based on the old Viking kit at Archaeolink which was possibly incorrect interpretation of finds – so it will have more of an apron dress look by the time I’m finished with it. You won’t see so much of the white under-dress. The brooches attached to the front are called tortoise brooches and the beads are mainly glass – rather posh too!

And finally the Medieval Costume – most of which I have on loan from Historic Saltire, but I’ve already made my undershift from linen and got hold of some posh shoes. Next I’ll be making my cote (the blue dress in this image) from some nice olive green linen) and a surcote (which is the brown sleeveless overdress in the photo). Leslie is also helping me to come up with an alternative to the wimple which might be better at holding back my voluminous un-authentic hair!

Today I am telling stories in Kaimhill School where the theme is diversity and inclusion. What a fantastic bunch of pupils who have been so much fun and have interacted so well with the stories!!

2 girls in P4 said “We’ve already heard that story!” … now that surprised me!
“Where did you hear it?”
“Two of our friends in P6 heard you in Wednesday and told it to us!”
And that’s another reason I love what I do 

Photo is of the P2’s Katy Morag drawings 

Don’t know what to do with the kids this Easter holidays?  Take them along to the Mansion House at Aden Country Park on the 7th April for storytelling and hands-on living history

There will be three sessions during the day (links below) where you and your family can learn all about the lives of the Picts, the Monks of Deer and the Viking invasions of the North East – then get your hands on some ancient crafts – grinding corn, making butter, making pots… all done the historical way. See below for the Eventbrite links to each session. Tickets are only £2.67 per person, so grab them while there are still spaces!

Thursday 7th April 12.30-1.30pm
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-and-hands-on-activities-for-families-tickets-252032685547

Thursday 7th April 2-3pm
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-and-hands-on-activities-for-families-tickets-252046777697

Thursday 7th April 3.30-4.30pm
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-and-hands-on-activities-for-families-3-tickets-252050278167

I’m delighted to announce that I’m taking part in this year’s Soutar Festival of Words. You can get tickets now from the @cpklibraries website https://bit.ly/cpksoutar22 #CPKSoutar22 #YS2022

Join storyteller Pauline Cordiner for family fun in the Soutar Festival of Words 2022 – expect upbeat tales of magic and mystery featuring famished fairies, havering heroes, mighty monsters and gralloched giants!

Pauline is a storyteller from the fishing and farming traditions of the North East of Scotland. She enjoys telling a variety of traditional Scottish tales, fairy tales, folk tales, creation myths and the occasional home-grown tale of her own.

Previous life in the oil industry and continuing involvement in living history allows her to share her enthusiasm for science, history, and the environment through her stories – occasionally incorporating the odd Scottish ballad, comedy song, or audience participation.

Pauline is a regular at schools, care homes, special needs groups, castles and museums, and festivals like Spectra, Glastonbury and Cambridge Folk Festival. Anywhere there is an audience for the stories she loves. Her current obsessions include sea monsters, imps, Vikings and tales of Scotland’s dark past!

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Time, Place and Ticketing

Date and time: Saturday, 23rd  April 2022 from 12 pm – 1 pm.

Venue: North Inch Community Library, Gowans Terrace, Perth, PH1 5BF.

Admission: Free, but booking required. Tickets can be booked via Eventbrite. Please note a free adult ticket must be purchased alongside any children’s tickets.

Please note: Attendees will be asked to adhere to social distancing guidelines during this event and provide information for NHS Scotland’s Test & Protect upon arrival at the library. We recommend that all attendees take a lateral flow test before attending any event.

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You can see what other events are happening across Perth and Kinross on our Soutar Festival of Words page.