Here I am playing catchy up with the socials again!!
This time I’m catching up from last weekend where Sheena Blackhall and I were telling stories at the Portsoy Haal!
We had a hurley up on Thursday afternoon so we’d be up nice and early to visit local schools – stories and songs all the way!
On Friday morning we had a lovely visit to Macduff Primary School where some of the loons and quines surprised us by reciting a couple of poems – Snailie and Meg the Midgie – written by Sheena and masel respectively Wonderful!
Then it was on to Portsoy Primary School where the P1s and 2s joined in with songs and had a whale of a time!
On Friday evening it was the late night session with loads of contributions from the floor. Some affa spooky! Of course i forgot to take photos the entire weekend, so thanks Tattie for taking this one!
On Saturday we had a well attended workshop in the grain store – some grand songs and rhymes produced by all attending!
Saturday afternoon I have to mention the participation in the Greig Duncan competition. Bill Gray came first with his rendition of the Hairst o Rettie, Sheena came second with The Dottered Auld Carle and oor Tattie (aka Natalie Chalmers) came third with the Butchers Boy.
(With Wee Imp listening to the lyrics and looking shocked )
Wee Imp and I entered as a duo and sang the Bonnie Ship the Diamond which earned her the Junior trophy (which we didn’t know existed!) Will share some photographs from that later
Finally we had a braw storytelling session on Sunday morning ootside the grain store (not the original plan, but the weather was beautiful and the audience did well with rocks and mossy humpties down by the harbour for seats!)
(Oh and Wee Imp and I managed a brief dip in the harbour afore the heavens opened!!)
Thankyou so much Portsoy Haal for having us both along to tell stories for a second year – we had a wonderful time!!
A fun days work for me today, starting off at the new Aberdeen Harbour with visitors from the Viking Saturn cruise ship – which is MASSIVE!
Then off to Drum Castle for their tours. It’s a beautiful sunny day!
I was asked some great questions by the visitors about culture, history and clans/tartans – it’s great to be able to tell folk about my wee part of the world.
A braw day today finding out more about Aberdeenshire Promise Groups!
Held today at AFC, I met pupils and teachers from 2 local primary schools as well as other facilitators. We had a story and a fun game (while watching the mannie with the smallest lawn mower see to the biggest lawn!)
They even let this numpty (with no football knowledge at all) touch the Scottish Cup – which must be nothing short of sacrilege!
Photos below are of Sarah of Windswept Stories photography and myself with Angus The Bull – It was Sarah who originally told me of the work she’s being doing in schools; Me and the Scottish Cup!; Sarah and I are VERY excited to see Pittodrie; The wee man with the tiniest lawnmower who must have the world’s most satisfying job!
Fit like abdy! That’s me catching up after a busy few weeks!
The last two weeks I spent teaching Scots Songs to P5, 6 and 7 classes with SC&T Youth and tomorrow I’m going to be joining Station House Media Unit for a Wellbeing Walk and then some stories!
At the end of the week, Sheena Blackhall and I will be heading aff tae Portsoy for the Folk at the Salmon Bothy Portsoy Haal!
We’re going to be…
– Telling stories in Macduff and Portsoy Primaries during the day on Friday
– Telling spooky stories at the Town Hall at 11pm on Friday night until 1am
– Running a family storytelling/workshop session at the Harbour Side Grainstore on Saturday at 1pm
– Telling Nautical Tales back at the Harbour Side Grainstore 10am – 10.30am on Sunday morning!
Here’s the full programme and fringe events for Folk at the Salmon Bothy’s 15th Haal which takes place in Portsoy next weekend from Friday 30th May – Sunday 1st June. Final tickets still available from Bob Philips bobportsoy@gmail.com
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!
Here’s mi – playing catchy uppy with the socials again!
I had a wonderful visit to Balmedie School last week! The P4 classes have been learning all about the Vikings – so I went along to tell some stories and show the pupils some materials from Viking life.
The pupils enjoyed hearing about Thor’s wedding and how he got Mjolnir back from the ice giant Thrym and the stupid death of Sigurd the Mighty
Thanks for inviting me along Balmedie Primary School!
Well that’s World Book Day week over for another year! It really should be World Book Week because we storytellers are aye so busy that week!
Hey at least we get another shot of it for Scottish Book Week in November!
Anyway, I had a busy week with school visits to @aberchirderprimaryschool and Ellon Primary School as well as a celebration of World Book Day and International Women’s Day at GREC’s Language Cafe.
Of course i forgot to take photos! But here are some pics I did take – of a book I spotted in a P7 class which was a memory from my own childhood; the most delicious school denners of Fogie; and a couple of pieces of work from story and character workshops.
Tomorrow, I’ll hopefully report on a new project I’ve been working on!
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!
I had a couple of wonderful audiences for my sessions – I told stories about snakes – as it’s now the year of the snake and various monsters of the sea. The storytelling took place in the Duncan Rice Library at Aberdeen University who currently have an exhibition called Imagined Norths – all the weird and wonderful beasts that our medieval ancestors imagined lived in the seas and lands to the north!
Aww it’s always lovely to get feedback from a storytelling session – especially when it’s from a school and the pupils have put so much thought into their comments!
I received a lovely email following my #SISFStoryRipple24 Ripple visit to Glenbervie Primary School! The pupils were thinking about how a traditional storyteller uses more than just words to tell their tales – I’ll be over here in the corner with my giant heid getting big after all these wonderful compliments!!
“You have great hand gestures. Thank you for telling your stories”
“It sounded like it was real. Thank you so much”
“You have very good expressions. Thank you for telling your stories!”
“Thankyou for telling us two amazing stories. I loved how you made different expressions for different things you said.”
“Your stories were brilliant. Your actions were great.”
“It sounded realistic. You have a beautiful voice.”
“You made us laugh”
“I could picture it in my head”
“You have great actions and wonderful expressions. The stories were awesome”
“You had lots of exciting hand actions and funny face expressions”
“It was very realistic. I could picture the stories in my head”
“Good description. Good voices. Good hand signals. In your stories there were a lot of plot twists.”