Auld Deer, New Deer, Strichen and the Broch Syne we’ll hae a straucht road, An that will gar me hough
It’s my fifth visit to a North East school as part of the Loons an Lassikies project! The P6/7s and P3/4s at Strichen School will be creating new rhymes based on those collected over 100 years ago by the wonderful Annie Shirer (who can be seen in the photo below on the right wearing a wonderful corsage ).
I’ve been keeping this one to myself for a couple of months now but it’s now time to tell the world about this fantastic project I’ve been involved in!
I posted previously that I was involved in the Fae Fishie Tae Aikey project with Ewan McVicar and many others -well when The Doric Board put out the call for funding applications, I got in touch with Ewan, asking if there would be any chance of working in schools with some of the stories Goldstein recorded. Ewan almost immediately got back – “ANNIE SHIRER!”
And so began my love of the rhymes and humour of one Annie Shirer.
Annie was born in 1873, educated to the age of 13 and lived in Kininmonth with her aunt and uncle who brought her up. Along with her cousin Maggie, she became a dressmaker. But Annie had a hobby! She would escape the hard work at home – by the 1900s she was caring for Uncle Kenneth and latterly for Maggie as well – by heading off on her bicycle collecting songs for Gavin Greig but also collecting many Doric rhymes, proverbs and riddles. These were published by the Rymour Club in Edinburgh and latterly by her Great Nephew Jim Shirer in 2000.
The New Web Site:
Happily, I can now direct you to this brand new web site – https://annieshirerrhymes.co.uk/ which showcases the work in the four schools I’ve visited so far.
For the past couple of months I have had a wonderful time visiting primary schools in the Mintlaw area – sharing Annie’s life, sharing her rhymes, creating Doric vocabulary lists and then – creating new Doric rhymes! Some of these have been brand new rhymes created with the pupils and myself as a class, and some have been “New For Auld” rhymes based on Annie’s original collected rhymes.
The results have been fantastic and I’ve been fair tricket to be involved in such a project! Now the web site is to be launched (along with https://annieshirercollector.com/ which tells more about her collecting for Gavin Greig and the Rymour Club) and I’ve also put together a wee exhibition of the pupils work. It will be on display at the Aberdeenshire Farming Museum, Aden Country Park from Saturday 3rd May to Sunday 18th May during Museum opening hours Thur-Sun 11am-4pm).
I’ll end this post with some rhymes and images from the pupils and my thanks to Ewan McVicar for introducing me to Annie Shirer and to the Doric Board for supporting this project!
Some Rhymes:
Kittlens, dugs, yowes an shelties They are the best o craiturs Bit wi dinna like wee beasties Like midgies, flechs an slaters!
I widna hae a fisherman ava va va I widna hae a fisherman ava va va For he’s a bowfin moustache Has a yokey rash He guffs o fash He’s got nae cash And I widnae hae a fisherman ava va va
Skweel is ower, simmer’s here We’re aa on holiday We’ll climb up trees, an brak a leg An humsh oor gulsh aa day An aa the loons an lassikies Can camp, an sweem an play
Gies ma breeks, ma bunnet, my tackety beets and sark, I’ll loup on my sheltie an ride aroon at Aden park!
Annie’s makkin marmalade Pittin oranges in a pot She pit it on the stove tae bile An get it gweed an hot
A wifie spak “Pit in a neep” Spiert Annie “Are ye kiddin!?” It tasted mingin, the fowk cried “Gadz!” An it endit in the midden!
I’m chuffed to be able to post about a project I’ve been working on for the past few months with Ewan McVicar (Writer, folklorist, songmaker and publisher) and some of my favourite North East singers – Natalie Chalrmers, Scott Gardiner, Christine Kydd and Tripple.
Ewan got in contact last year to ask if I’d be interested in listening to and re-telling some of Lucy Stewart’s stories which were recorded by American Ken Goldstein during his visit to the North East of Scotland in 1959/1960. I quickly learned that Lucy’s stories were just the tip of the iceberg. Not only did Lucy turn out to be a source of ballads in addition to the stories, but Goldstein interviewed many fowk during his stay and recorded songs, ballads, stories, rhymes, snippets of folklore and old wives tales.
Many of these recordings were shared at the time with the School of Scottish Studies. (Ken had introductions to many of his subjects through Hamish Henderson.) These recordings are available by searching “Ken Goldstein” on the Kist O Riches web page – https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/ . However many recordings were stashed away at the Ole Miss – the University of Mississippi in the USA – unavailable except to interested visitors. That all changed when Ewan spoke to Ole Miss archivist Greg Johnson and with Greg’s help support, Ewan has worked to identify and share song titles, information about singers and storytellers, and their communities.
Part of the project involved creating, collecting and sharing New For Auld songs and stories – Natalie Chalmers got to work contacting local singers and musicians who recorded some of the ballads and tunes Goldstein collected. Click here for Natalie’s recordings of songs taught to her by Elizabeth Stewart – along with a couple of Elizabeth’s recordings – https://goldsteinandscotland.com/elizabeth-stewart
To share Goldstein’s collections with the world, Ewan has created two new web pages https://goldsteinandscotland.com/ – which tells of Goldstein’s visit and the treasures he recorded, and https://faefishietaeaikey.com/ – which focuses on recordings from the area around Mintlaw – Aikey Fair, Fetterangus (Fishie) and in particular the Stewarts of Fetterangus.
On the 3rd of May I’ll be sharing some of Lucy’s stories along with the others involved in the project –
Ewan says “On the 3rd May 2025, there will be an informal celebration of the Fae Fishie Tae Aikey project in the Aden Museum theatre, Mintlaw, from 1.30pm onwards. Christine Kydd, Natalie Chalmers, Pauline Cordiner, Scott Gardiner have all promised to come. Hoping Andy Shanks will make it. Tripple send their apologies. Or come earlier and look into the museum.
All folkies welcome. First forty get home-made shortbread. If you represent a folk club or festival ask for the pack of booklet copies as a fundraiser. The Fishie project is funded by TRACS.
Pauline Cordiner - Scottish Storyteller 