Tag: Scots Song

SC&T Youth at Sunnybank School

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Another fun week with SC&T Youth ahead! This week we’re in Sunnybank School and one of the songs I’m teaching is The Barnyards Of Delgaty

We’ve just had one lesson so far, but the class that’s learning it was doing a grand job o the Doric – pronouncing kynot like natives and huppin and crackin at the right moments! 😃

The Barnyards o Delgaty is a Bothy Ballad from the North East of Scotland – a song from the farming traditions over 100 years ago. The loons (boys and men) would be employed in the farm and would be housed in the bothy – where they’d sleep, cook and wash – or maybe in a chaumer – in which case they’d get their food cooked by the kitchy demes (quines or lassies that worked on the farm, often in the kitchen).

Their jobs would range from Orra Loon (the young lad that got all the odd jobs to do), to plooman (ploughing) or one of the top jobs – Heid Horseman (in charge of the horses who pulled the ploughs).

The songs were written about real farms and people and could be on various subjects “Our crew is the best!” “This farmer is an absolute rotter” “I’m in love with the farmer’s daughter” or even “That time the pig got drunk and caused chaos” – The Barnyards O Delgaty is one of the best known Bothies and tells of a lad who was promised a wonderful farm, but turned out to find it wis affa!

Wur Clasarch teacher Irene Watt has a grand video online which explains fit the song is aa aboot! Often these songs are sung unaccompanied, but Irene’s got nae jist a ukulele, but a friendly cuddy (horse) an aa!

I’ll post anither video the morn – by aene o oor local bothy loons!

Week 2 with SC&T Youth

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This week I am enjoying my second week of five with the affa fine tutors of SC&T Youth – we’re in Riverbank Primary this week and we’re teaching tunes and songs to P3, P4 and P5.

P5 are learning the Fisherman’s Lassie and made sure I had some help up at the front of the class from Charmander here. Who knew Pokemon were such good singers!?

SC&T Youth Tutoring – Scots Song at St Peter’s School

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Well that was a fun week for the SC&T Youth tutors at St Peter’s Primary School in Aberdeen!

P4, 5 and 6 pupils learned clasarch, guitar, whistle, and Scots song every morning, with a concert on Friday where they were able to show off the tunes and songs they’d learned to the rest of the school and their teachers. P4 and 5 instruments would accompany the P6 singers, for example. 

Here’s a photo of P6 enjoying a video of Joe Aitken singing the Barnyards of Delgaty – they were all singing along within a couple of choruses! I was especially impressed with their pronunciation of all the Doric words which were new to almost all the pupils.

One of the P6 girls drew this amazing portrait of me! – I love it when pupils do that! There are some amazing details in there – I’m particularly loving the duck earrings!

I’m really looking forward to next week when we’ll be sharing songs and tunes with the pupils of Riverbank Primary School.

Teaching Scots Song with SC&T Youth

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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 🙂