Fit a grand day for a tour of Peterheid! Thanks so much everyone who came along to today’s tours of Peterhead based on The Peterhead Trail
The sun was out and it was truly the start of spring as we had tales of magistrates with double lives, the De’il causing a stooshie in kirk, a disorderly drinking den and of course Fa Hingit The Monkey!
Hopefully the tours will run again during the summer holidays as they proved to be very popular. And thanks so much to everyone who gave me their own stories of The Bloo Toon or emailed me resulting in more intriguing information! 🙂
The last few weeks have been a quiet one for me – not having a voice does enforce no storytelling!
However I’ve been able to spend that time learning even more about the Cordiner family toon of Peterheid! My dad aye made sure I knew loads of stories from Boddam and the Bloo Toon, but thanks to the The Peterhead Trail, there’s so much more to share!
For those of you booked on the tours, I’m looking forward to sharing it all on Saturday!
Guided tour of The Peterhead Trail this Easter School Holiday
Embark on a historic adventure and step back in time as our knowledgeable guide, Pauline, leads you through the streets of Peterhead. From familiar landmarks to stories of krakens and witches, uncover the stories that have shaped this coastal town into what it is today.
Explore hidden treasures whilst discovering hidden corners and secret spots that even the locals might not know about! This tour takes you on a journey to reveal the lesser-known tales and intriguing anecdotes that add depth to Peterhead’s history.
Learn from local expert Pauline who is a passionate historian and storyteller ready to share her expertise and insights with you. Gain a deeper understanding of the town’s heritage, from its modest beginnings to its pivotal role in maritime trade and beyond.
This tour is aimed at families with children aged 8 and over due to the amount of walking and the stories that will be told
I have been reliably informed that it is World Puppetry Day! So here’s a big “HELLO!” from me and all my vociferous pals! Except for Doyle the hedgehog. He’s still hibernating.
A grand day of stories last week for #worldbookday2024 at Gilcomstoun Primary School ! Their theme this term was Scotland and I loved hearing from the pupils what they’d been focusing on in their classes. (A special hello to the class who showed me everything they’d been doing relating to the Picts!)
A wonderful morning today at Greyhope Library with the bairns from Primary 1 at Greyhope School – parents, carers and wee brothers and sisters were invited to see the new library and enjoy some stories with myself and Fizzy the Fairy!
Well today was our last week in Aberdeen’s primary schools as tutors for SC&T Youth! Cornhill Primary School – thankyou for your amazing enthusiasm and wonderful singing!
Once again, pupils from three classes had 4 hours – only 4 hours! of tuition in penny whistle, clarsach, guitar and … Scots Song!
Despite my ever-worsening laryngitis, the pupils of P4, P4/5 and P5 learned to sing The Silver Darlings, The Fisherman’s Lassie and The Barnyards of Delgaty as well as learning all bout the history of the songs and how they describe life in the North East of Scotland. I’ve posted in greater detail about all of these songs in the past few weeks, but I’ve not yet posted about the songs the pupils have been learning for their grand finale!
It is of course Billy Connolly’s The Wellyboot Song – which probably doesn’t need much of an introduction! One of the teachers managed to find this recording of Billy singing it in 1976 -which I can share here cos there’s no swearing! 😀
Some photos from the weekend where I had a fun time telling stories of Dragons and Monsters for Chinese New Year at Confucius Institute Aberdeen ‘s Spring Festival Family Fun Day! 🐲🐉
Just as you’ll be bored of photos of me yapping, the other two pics are of Wee Imp and friends who had a great afternoon dressing up for photos and doing crafts !
Well Spectra Festival 2024 is fast becoming a distant memory!
4 days of storytelling 16 hours of storytelling Well over 1000 audience members (final numbers still to come in) 32 stories 5 bags of Irn Bru Jellybabies 2 annoying fairies Numerous repeat visitors And a wonderful, wonderful experience for Lindsey and I too!
Thankyou so much to the Spectra Festival team for having us along again – we loved our new location of the Cowdray Hall, our campfire and Granny’s Blankets! Thankyou to the Showsec security who did a marvellous job in all weathers, welcoming the crowds in. Thankyou of course to my storytelling partner in crime Lindsey Gibb who has joined me for her 3rd year as Guest Storyteller! And Thankyou to all the listeners who made it all worthwhile every night!
Here are some photos 😀 (Thanks to Alice, Lynne and Adele for the kind permission to share their photos!)
Anither grand day today at Ashley Road Primary School! The P3, 4 and 5 pupils (2 classes of each!) are fair gettin on wi their class songs – The Fisherman’s Lassie, The Barnyards O Delgaty and The Silver Darlings which I spoke about yesterday. (They’re also learning a fourth song which everyone is to join in with, but more on that in another post!)
There are a few videos online, but I like this one the best – the recording is the original by Alastair McDonald and the film that has been put to the song shows old footage of the fishing fleets and the fish gutting lassies swiftly preparing the fish to be salted and packed into barrels. The pupils fair enjoyed watching it!
It’s another busy week ! This time starting off with the pupils of Ashley Road School who we Scat Youth tutors are visiting to teach penny whistle, guitar, clarsach and Scots song!
I’m teaching the P3s The Barnyards O Delgaty and the P5s the Fisherman’s Lassie (both of which I’ve spoken about in previous posts)… but the P4s are learning The Silver Darlings – a song about the herring boom in Scotland which peaked in 1907. “The Silver Darlings” is a fond nickname for the herring.
The song was written by Jim McLean, Bob Halfin and Andy Hulskrammer and later on this week I’ll share a video of a recording of it with Alastair McDonald. (Find a discussion of the song origins here on mudcat: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=40414 )
The pupils are taught the meaning of the song they’re learning – as well as any unfamiliar Scots words. Many pupils in each school have families who came from farther afield, but no matter where they’re from, they’re all doing a grand job of learning and pronouncing the Scots and Doric!
The image I’ve chosen to illustrate this post is an etching by James McBey (1883-1959) from 1908. The title is “Herring Fleet, Aberdeen” – the etching has made its way across the pond where it is stored at The Boston Public Library Arts Department. James McBey was local to the area and may be familiar to those that visit Aberdeen Art Gallery where there’s a fantastic exhibition of his work. My daughter and I love the interactive display of how etchings were made! (Thoroughly recommended!)
11.30am-12.30pm
1.30pm-2.30pm
Sat 30 March, Drummers Corner Peterhead
Pauline Cordiner - Scottish Storyteller 