After a bit of a year off in 2012, I was really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things in 2013. It turned out to be a very busy year!
My first event of 2013 was totally out of this world! From 11am – 3pm on Saturday 26th January, I told space themed stories at Peterhead’s Arbuthnot Museum who had some special exhibitions from Astro-Gnome.It was a perfect chance to brush up on my constellation myths as well as lots of stories about the sun, moon, and stars from different cultures all around the world. There were stories for all ages and I even got to throw in a couple of songs for the very little ones! Click here for a photo from the event!
Storytelling is my favourite hobby, so 
it fitted in nicely that I could be found telling stories at Banchory Museum and Library’s Hobby Happening event on Saturday 16th February from 10.30 to 12.40.
This was part of World Community Arts Day. Aberdeenshire Celebrates aims to paint a picture of the rich arts and crafts scene in Aberdeenshire by profiling the many drama, dance, singing, musical, visual art and craft groups that work in the area.
On the 13th March – (despite heavy snowfall!) I headed out to the reopening of the Burn O Vat Visitors Centre at Dinnet. It was such a beautiful day for it – with my Iron Age kit on and the sun beaming down on us, it didn’t feel cold at all! Well, I do admit my historically accurate bog shoes didn’t stand up to the snow as well as a pair of wellies – but there was so much jumping around with the Scottish Wildlife stories that I was telling to the children of Logie Coldstone Primary School that my feet soon forgot the cold. It was a wonderful day that I won’t forget for a very long time! Click on the photo to the left if you’re interested in seeing those shoes!
On the 16th March I was glad my voice had returned after the Burn O Vat reopening! I took part in some of the Aberdeen TMSA (Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland) competitions. I came second in the work song/sea shanty category, joint first in the songwriting competition and first in the ladies traditional singing! But best of all was when my little one, Molly and some friends of ours came third in the Freestyle singing. We sang “Three Craws” with able percussion from Molly!
My amazing storytelling friend, Anna Fancett of www.uponmyword.co.uk/, asked me along to the Aberdeen Choral Ensemble (or ACE!) to tell stories and sing songs to their members at Airyhall Community Centre on the 23rd March. I’m pleased to say my new banjolele made its first appearance at a storytelling session and it was wonderful to be telling stories with Anna again.
On Easter Sunday I had a brilliant time telling stories at Brechin Castle Centre where I told stories about Easter, Spring and bees to some really enthusiastic families who were there for egg hunts, train rides, easter egg and bonnet decorating competitions and lots of other entertainment. I was there in full Spring Fairy mode in the hope that I’d encourage Spring to come out of hiding!
In April I was telling some local stories and old favourites at The Gaitherin in Inverurie over the Easter holidays. Click on the link to find out what a fantastic opportunity The Gaitherin is for children.
And… at the end of April The Rhynie Wifies were booked to do their first wedding! We leapt at the chance to dress as the fairies of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and sang and told stories to entertain the wonderful bride, groom and guests.
The Rhynie Wifies have also been busy at Castle Fraser and BA Stores and featured at the Breemie Midsummer Festival.On Tuesday 7th May, I told stories and sang some Scottish songs, ballads and bothy ballads to some of the residence at Nazareth Care Home reminiscence group. I really enjoyed myself – and it was just lovely that my Granda was there to listen! He was aye good for a story or bothy ballad was Granda!
On Friday 17th May, I took part in the Strichen Festival competitions and was delighted to win the Doric Story Writing competition!
During May and June I have been spending some time working with the ladies of Skirts and Tales and some of the children from Gilcolmstoun Primary School in Aberdeen. We worked on the story of the Fisherman and the Flounder and wrote our own sea shanty based on the story! The children’s drawings and prints from the story will decorate the train of a huge wicker skirt which will be the centerpiece of the group’s contribution to the Aberdeen International Youth Festival parade at the end of July!
On the 8th of June, Thistle the Fairy told Tales From The Riverbank at Banchory Museum and Library. Frogs were croaking, boats were rowed, mice got married, raven was up to his usual cunning and Mother Nature was finally allowed a nice cup of tea and a cake after all the animals were created. What a wonderful bunch of families as always! I love telling stories there!
Despite a bit of laryngitis, I spent the last week of June storytelling in the Green Fields and the Kidz Field at Glastonbury. For the (mostly adult) audience in the Green Futures Field I got to tell some of my favourite folk tales that I don’t often get to tell! Thistle The Fairy made her first appearance in the Kidz Field where I was singing songs and telling stories to babies and toddlers, children and teenagers, mums, dads, grannies, grandas, aunties, uncles and whoever else fancied popping in! (I was also be accompanied by wee fairy, Molly!)
On the 7th July I was back at the Burn O Vat visitors centre for their yearly open day. It’s always a great day with lots of outdoor activities, fantastic walks round the nature reserve and the visitors centre was just re-opened a few months ago after a nice spruce up! The weather was just stunning and I’m pretty sure the midgies came to listen to a few stories as well – going by my lumps and bumps anyway!
On Friday 19th July, I was back Arbuthnot Museum in Peterhead. Actually… I should have said “Ahoy me hearties! Tales of scurvy laden rapscallions, swashbuckling buccaneers and pillaging privateers!” (or thereabouts) as the museum hosted a pirate themed fun-day where visitors could learn about pirate history and invasions of Peterhead. There was a lot more except the storytelling – balloon modelling, crafts, games, facepainting and pirate makeovers! Friday 19th July, 11am – 3pm
On Friday the 26th July, I was singing Scottish songs and telling stories at Pitmurchie Care Home in Torphins. (The banjolele made an appearance for a few of the songs!)
And on Friday 2nd August, I returned to Arbuthnot Museum for another of their summer events. This time the theme was “Under The Sea” – so mermaids, selkies, fishies, sea goddesses, sirens and Morag the Sea Serpent was be the order of the day!
The weekend after that, baby Molly and I headed up to Fort George with the Rhynie Wifies for the Celebration of The Centuries weekend which is always a wonderful show! See the top photo from this post to see our costumes!
And on the 17th August I was on SHMU FM’s Literature Show. Please click here to listen to the show on Mixcloud – http://www.mixcloud.com/LiteratureShow/pauline-cordiner/
For the weekend of the 7th September, Molly and I toddled down to the Kirriemuir TMSA festival where I tried my hand at diddling for the first time! For some reason I won the trophy – which means I’m really going to have to practice my diddling for 2014!
I went to visit my storyteller friend, Anna Fancett, for a week in Northumberland in October. She told stories and I sang a couple of songs at a care home and we visited Bede’s World where she volunteers and tells stories – it made me yearn for my Roundhouse days at Archaeolink! (The roundhouse is still there but the attraction remains sadly closed.)
On the 22nd October, I had the pleasure of telling stories to some of the children at Clinterty Travelling People’s site. Organised by Aberdeen Play Forum, we had a tarpaulin shelter, a wee camp fire, hot chocolate, marshmallows and ghost stories round the fire! Some of the kids were just as eager to tell their ghost stories as I was – and let me tell you, I was right hooked in!
The Rhynie Wifies and I headed up to Banff Castle on Saturday 26th October for some Halloween fun! I was telling stories in my own Fairy Grotto for most of the afternoon and in the evening the Wifies led a ghost tour of haunted Banff round the old town and graveyard. But the Halloween Weekend wasn’t over for me yet! I was telling stories on the 27th in the Library of Castle Fraser. A most haunted place! Luckily I was placed in the Library and had the dashing Charles Fraser watching over me, so I felt perfectly safe. (Click on the image for a closer look)
Finally, the Rhynie Wifies and I headed up to Inverness and the Ironworks where our friends from The Time Travellers Tavern had asked for our help in saving Santa Claus from the bad fairies! With the help of Mrs Claus, we managed to get him out of the castle dungeons in time for Christmas. I got to tell stories in a Rocking Chair in front of a Christmas Tree with the help of some Elves! I was SO excited ;
I was definitely supposed to be having a rest by this point but figured that one last storytelling session before the birth wouldn’t cause any harm! This year’s Banchory St Ternan fair had a bit of a royal theme going with the Queen’s jubilee being just around the corner, so The Rhynie Wifies and I fitted in some themed crafts and stories at the Banchory Library and Museum.
On the 3rd July I told stories at the Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve Open day – it was sunny again despite it being the coldest summer I can remember (probably punishment for trying to steal the Glastonbury sunshine!)
The 24th July 2011 was the 600th Anniversary of the Battle of Harlaw – one of the bloodiest battles to take place in medieval Scotland. I entered a song competition ran by 
As their resident storyteller, I was storytelling throughout the year at Archaeolink Prehistory Park. With differently themed weekends between easter and Hallowe’en, Archaeolink had something for everyone and I set myself the difficult challenge of fitting my stories to their themes!
The best thing about the Glastonbury Festival is that there is so much more to discover than the music – leave the main drag heading up towards the Stone Circle and you’ll find poetry, art, crafts, wonderful cafes and stalls and many spontaneous, frivolous, crazy goings-on 🙂 Not forgetting the storytelling of course! From the 24th to the 27th June, I once again joined 
On the 25th July, I joined poets, musicians and other storytellers performing from The Performance Shack, one of a group of shacks made from recycled materials which popped up in Union Terrace Gardens, on Schoolhill and on St Nicholas Square. This was a Peackock Visual Arts Project called the “Mobile Creative Village” – one of a number of events taking place to publicise the London 2012 Olympics in 2 years time. Read more on the 
I told stories at the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival for the first time on the 6th and 7th August in the Tweedledum Tent – Everything I’ve heard about Belladrum was true – it’s such a friendly festival! Fellow storyteller Anna Fancett and I dressed up as the White Queen and Red Queen respectively and she helped me out with a couple of stories. 
I was also excited to be going back to the Wee Wizards Tent at 2010’s Wizard Festival. The kids were great, telling stories with a mic was easier than I thought and I discovered a previously unknown talent for making balloon dogs!. 
On Saturday the 4th September, I represented 
I was one of the organisers of Gadiefest 2010 – a celebration of storytelling, arts, crafts and music in the North East of Scotland which took place on Friday the 10th and Saturday 11th September 2010. The festival was organised by GAS and Archaeolink and we enjoyed a great weekend of tales round the fire in the round house. There were events in town (Aberdeen) too though, so have a look at the 
I always feel that Hallowe’en is best spent exploring a spooky castle… So it was with great delight that Anna Fancett and I took on the role of storytelling witches at Castle Fraser this Hallowe’en. We told our favourite ghost stories to fellow witches, devils, ghosts and werewolves in the library which had been wonderfully decorated for the occasion.
Sadly it looks like this years Wickerman at 
Finally, to round off the year, I told local stories and Scottish Folk Tales at Stonehaven’s Hogmanay Event, Open Air In The Square. I went to see the fireballs afterwards of course!
On Sunday the 5th April between 1 and 4pm, 
Along with the rest of the nation, storytellers have been celebrating Homecoming. One special event on the 16th May in the Lemon Tree saw 
Also on the 16th May (which was a very busy day for me!) I was puppeteering at Aberdeen University’s Zoology Dept’s “Night At The Museum” event along with members of the department and the Aberdeen Street Entertainers. I’m very please to say that the shadow and black light puppetry show was a complete success! It was a very different type of storytelling from the norm! – Have a look at the “Museum’s At Night” web page here – 
The Macaulay Institute held an Open Doors event on the 6th June and GAS storytellers, including myself, were there. Have a look at their 
The Darwin/Evolution theme continued with a series of events in the David Welch Winter Gardens at the Duthie Park this summer organized by the Natural History Centre entitled “Darwin: Discovery, Dinosaurs and Dodos” All events were free and took place weekdays from Monday 13th July to Friday 31st July between 10am and 4pm. On Wednesday 15th, I told stories from Darwin’s various ports of call on his journey on the Beagle, and on Wednesday 22nd, to coincide with the week of Dinosaur events, I told stories about Scotland’s Monsters and Mythological Creatures!
The next big event was Gadiefest 2009, a weekend of of Storytelling, Drama, Music, Ballads, Arts, Crafts and Poetry – I was very excited to be one of the organisers! The Grampian Association of Storytellers and Archaeolink Prehistory Park, both of which I have been involved with for many years, joined forces to present “Gadiefest 2009 – A Festival of Storytelling and Traditional Arts in the North East of Scotland.” We hope this will become an annual event and look forward to 2010. 
The Grampian Association of Storytellers held their first Satellite Meeting of 2008 on the 23rd February at 
In June, Stanley Robertson took a group of us out to the Old Road at Lumphanan to meet Auld Craobhie, the ancient oak tree from the story in his book “Exodus to Alford.” We heard a lot of the history of the area, with special relevance to the Scottish Traveller folk who regularly used to camp up the old road. We had a right fine picnic in the shade of Auld Craobhie and sang some of the ancient scots ballads we have been learning from Stanley.
My second last event of the year was a Hallowe’en storytelling session at the Burn O’Vat Visitors Centre. Hallowe’en really is my favourite time of year for storytelling – and dressing up! There are so many ghost stories associated with the North East of Scotland. Here’s a link to the event – 
The year’s grand finale was, once again, Wickerman at Archaeolink and the storytelling challenge that is the Haunted Caves! This year we covered the tale of an Aberdeenshire graverobber, The Big Gray Man of Ben MacDhui, Osbarn the Smith and the Aberdeen witch trials – noting specifically the wicked deeds of one Jonet Wishart who was eventually burned for her sins on heading hill. I’ve already got a few plans for 2009, but I’m keeping them to myself for now!
2007s Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts was my first time in the Green Futures Earth House – it was a wonderful experience, despite all the rain and that mud! 
Then more stories were to be had on the 30th June up on the Kincorth Hill (aka the Gramps!) as part of Aberdeen’s Treefest. Thankfully the sun came out and we had a good audience (both human and canine!) for our tree stories.
On Sunday 12th August 2007 GAS Storytellers coudl be found telling stories at the MRI 2007 Harbour Festival in Stonehaven. 
My next event was on the 16th October where I told fireside tales out on the shores of Loch Kinord at the Muir of Dinnet Nature Reserve. An audience of adults and children were made comfortable on waterproof beanbags and were warmed by a campfire while they heard tales of Battles, Beasts, Myths and Legends of the area. See the 
On the 28th October, I could be found guiding a terrified public through the haunted caves at Archaeolink’s Wickerman event while other GAS storytellers were performing up at the round house.
Pauline Cordiner - Scottish Storyteller 
