By Sheena Blackhall – My CV in Doric Poem Form !

I’ve got a couple of weeks for working on upcoming projects, working at GREC‘s Language Cafe and visiting some schools! So no public events coming up in the near future.

Instead, I’d like to share this amazing CV in Poem Form written for me by the wonderful Sheena Blackhall, fa’s praises I canna sing highly eneugh! Photie taen on the wiy tae last year’s Portsoy Haal!

Thanks Sheena! 😃❤

The Pauline Cordiner Rap– A Scottish Storyteller

Hae ye heard o a quine fa’s tales can be scary?
Wi a frien that has attitude, Fizzy the Fairy
Up at Banff Castle, sic jinkies, her ploys
Hae bubbly bairns fair kecklin wi joys

Princely puddocks, a gargoyle fas christened Marischal
Her hoose is fair hotchin, wi broonies incredible
Her hair it is reid as a Halloween flame
An a coo, contermacious whyles jynes in a game

Her events are excitin, fun an educational
Her traditional stories are verra inspirational
She can sing ye auld ballads or a cornkister
Wir you at Forvie fun day? Ye’ll be sorry ye missed her

Nature tales an folklore, tho the rain did doon pelt
Aden’s Fantasy Festival , her Vikin Tales telt
As an audience o littlins an drookit Alpacas
Stude in the doonpish an shook their maraccas

At the Northern Frichts, dragons heezed bi the score
At Tillydrone Librar there wir littlins galore
Fizzy’s fun pairties, Rhynie wifies, a crone,
The kelpie café aa cam intae her zone

Banchory St Ternan fair, Orkney’s Skara brae
Saw history cam alive far the stormy clouds stray
Castle Fraser, or rinnin adults’ ghaistie toors
Storytellin is oorie at the witchin oors

Dobbie’s Busy Beasties, Yuletide special day
Fur siller tae help fund a bairns’ charity
She’s run broomstick trainin skweels, fur trainee witches
An wizard hat craft – usin glue, glitter stitches

Her face peintin’s legend, wi speecial tattoos
She’ll makk the dourest bairn shakk aff the blues
She is fully insured, wi a PVG chitty
Is a member of equity, sings a mean ditty

Here’s a roll call of some of her festival showing
Cambridge and Glastonb’ry, reviews are glowing
Stonehaven and Girvan, Belladrum Tartan Heart
The Wizard performance, next, Science and Art

Spectra, Across The Grain, Banff’s bracin air
Strathern, Aiberdeen, an Perth Prehistory Fair
Glen Nevis, Portsoy, the Broch, Tarland as weel
The Doric Film Festival, a wide appeal

BBC Radio Scotland, an Radio fower
SHMU, Banchory Museum, the Maritime Tower
Aden , Drum, Crathes, an Fraser’s stoot waas
She cams intae her ain in historal haas

Muir of Dinnet , Arbuthnott , Duff Hoose, Peterheid
Turriff, Macduff, Duthie Park, jewels indeed
An the skweels! Tullos, Scotstown, Arduthie, Kaimhill
Robert Gordons, St Margarets, Banchory Hill

Skene Square an Auld Machar, Lairhillock, Meethill
Ferryhill Primary, Bracoden, Newtonhill
Ontae Projecks an ither community wirks
Pitscurry, an Mastrick, the quine niver shirks

Maryfield West Care Hame, Albyn Rainbows
North East Sensory Services, her talent shows
Persley Castle, the Phoenix Club, Inchgarth -nae lack
Future Choices, an Hilton, they aa wint her back

Dyce Caravans, Inchgarth, an Roxburgh Hoose
The Garioch, Inchmarlo, she’s couthie an douce
Portlethen, Kinellar, an Northfield’s rainbows
Pauline an Fizzy spreid joy wi their prose

Syne there’s Grand Circle Tours, tag team tales an the jyle
The World Storytelling Café, her stories beguile
Musica Workshops, Elphinstane’s Institute
Her sessions are thrillin’s a Cadona’s shute

Peacock Visual Arts, an the Bairns’ hospital
Hogmanay at Stonehaven, this quine musical
Wi her puppets an sangs she’s performed tae the best
The Seven Incorporated Trades , wi sic zest!

Shell Uk, Charles Michies, Diageo, Drummuir
Hidden Aiberdeen; she is a whizz at a tour
James Hutton Institute, Scottish Kids Show
Standard Life, an the Stompers, she’s rarin tae go

Aiberdeenshire Geocaching …noo there is a thing
She’s a haun on the pulse , fit the future micht bring
Sae dinna be blate…ye maun rin oot an book her
As fairyfowk gae, Pauline Cordiner’s a looker!

May be an image of 3 people, people smiling and car

Storytelling at Banff Castle!

Oh fit a lovely time Fizzy the Fairy and I had yesterday at Banff Castle – Banffshire!! Such a lovely audience of giggling grown ups, bubbly bairns and totty-wee toddlers who joined in with stories of daft loons, funny fairies and princely puddocks!

Thanks to Jo Edwards for the photographs!

Portsoy Haal 2024 with Sheena Blackhall

Weel fit a grand trip we hid tae Portsoy fur the Haal this wikend!

Sheena and I had a great weekend at the Portsoy Haal this weekend – heading off on Friday afternoon (with Wee Imp and the caravan in tow!)

After the concert our first session was the late night storytelling at the Town Hall – a grand 2 hours with folk sharing their tales from 11pm to 1am. Wee Imp enjoyed the late night walk back to the camp site!

Our storytelling workshop on Saturday morning went down a treat too – we had 16 enthusiastic attendees who heard stories and learned about how some famous authors got into a bit of trouble by putting their neighbours in their novels! Abdy then had a go at creating life stories from photographs and came scarily close to the truth in some cases!

Wee Imp and I went off with oor pal Tattie to hear some of the ballads sung at the Greig Duncan Collection competition – after which I was brave enough to have a swim in the North Sea (but there’s nae photies o that!)

A few sangs, many midgie bites and a fire on the beach on Saturday evening made sure I had a good nights sleep ready for our last storytelling session at the Town Hall bar at Sunday lunchtime. Then it was already time to go home – wi a few songs and ballads sung all the way home in the car. (Wee Imp had her headphones on by this point, preferring Eurovision over ballads!)

Thanks to Portsoy Haal for having us both along, fit a gran time wi hid! And thanks to everyone who came along to share their stories, songs, poems. And thanks to Sheena for having me laughing so much!

The Silver Darlings (continued!)

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!

Ashley Road School and the Silver Darlings

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!)

Teaching Scots Song with SC&T Youth

This week, and for a further four weeks, I get to do something a little different! 

Rather than storytelling, I’m going to be working as a tutor with SC&T Youth (the tuition for bairns and young adults through Scottish Culture and Traditions). I’ll be teaching a different song to Primaries 3, 4 and 5 (this week it’s Ps 4, 5 and 6) and one song they’ll all sing together. Meanwhile the other wonderful tutors will be teaching them accompaniment on clasarch, guitar and whistle as well as some trad tunes.

This week we’ve been at St Peter’s Primary – and the snow hasn’t dampened the pupils enthusiasm for learning! Here’s a photo taken on Don St yesterday. A beautiful part of town affa bonny in the snaa.

The Primary 4 pupils are learning one of our old favourites –

The P4s are learning our old favourite, The Fisherman’s Lassie. Noo I wis rummaging aboot tae find a video tae show you of someone singing it – totally forgetting that I recorded a wee video of it at Fraserburgh Lighthouse Museum back in… 2016! Which seems an eternity ago 😮

Here’s my version The Fisherman’s Lassie – more on the song tomorrow if I get a chance to post again 🙂


Elsie’s New Creel

Look at that massive smile… :😀👵🐟

Elsie the Fishwife is delighted because she knows she’ll now be travelling to our storytelling sessions in style!

I have been looking for an authentic fishwife’s creel for years, and finally I got one yesterday from Fancy That? in Edzell! (We enjoyed our nosey around at all the other amazing things and will have a nosey at their shop Ivy’s Emporium next time we’re in Banff)

The creel came from Whitehills near Banff and has been well looked after, so it’s perfect for another few decades use. If you would like a fully costumed storytelling fishwife for your event, please don’t hesitate to get in touch

A photo of an elderly female puppet dressed as a traditional fishwife from the north east of Scotland.  She is wearing a white mutch cap on her grey hair, a cloak made of checked woollen material a white blouse and a red and white striped apron.  She is sitting inside an antique woven creel which is just the perfect size to hold her.

Peterhead Christmas Lights

After Mallku’s party it was a quick tidy up and off to Peterhead for the Light Up Peterhead event! There was so much on and I was lucky to be telling Christmas stories in the Muckle Kirk. (Just look at those stained glass windows!!)

Of course this required a quick costume change from Viking to Christmas Tree Fairy. See I’ve got my shiny tinsel crown and aathing!

I had some wonderful audiences throughout the afternoon and had the help of Fizzy the Fairy and my wee Tomte/Nisse pal – who is insisting he is not a gnome or a gonk!