Tag: Storytelling

A Grand Week at Sunnybank School

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I’ve got some braw photies for you today from my week with SC&T Youth at Sunnybank School!

As I said in my post at the start of the week, the P6s were learning The Barnyards O Delgaty – quite the feat for those with non-Scots families, but they pronounced the Scots beautifully and I wis affa impressed wi their “knyot” in Meg MacPherson’s brose!

I posted a link to clarsach tutor Irene singing the song earlier this week, but here’s a link to Bothy Champion Joe Aitken’s performance at the Keith TMSA Festival in 2021 – back when we were still aa daen festivals fae oor livingrooms!

The Barnyards O Delgaty is sung about 22 minutes into Joe’s performance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4yqCYp2O0U

The photo below is of my Dad’s Uncle Willie – taken around 1920. I wanted to show the bairns what ploughing horses looked like, all yokit up. (Uncle Willie is clearly spruced up for this photo, wi his pocket watch and everything!)

The drawings are from a rather talented P6! First she drew one of Uncle Willie’s horses – long after the photo had been taken down off the board! And then she drew me and our cat Apollo 😍

(Apollo is looking mean because he clawed my arm in a moment of “I love you – I love attacking you!” leaving me with a rather obvious scratch, hehe 😃 )

I love when these visits inspire the kids in so many different ways ❤

Spectra 2024!

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Don’t forget Spectra Festival is next week! 
Spectra is Aberdeen’s Festival of Lights and this year is returning for its 10th anniversary of the first Spectra in 2014. 

Lindsey Storyteller and myself will be telling tales in the Cowdray Hall between 6 and 10pm each night – some inspired by the various artworks across the city. Come hear a tale of a stubborn princess wooed by the lords of the local industries – she’d rather ignore them and hang out wi the seagulls instead!

(Now I’m getting carried away and considering Greggsy Granite, Shuggie Shipbuilder, Farquar Fash and … I don’t know. The temptation to have a golfing tycoon is huge. HUGE!)

Fizzy and Fuzzy the Fairies will be back (oh no) with a new story of their own – all about the giant beastie that rolls the sun across the sky!

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!

A Busy Week – SC&T, Clashfarquhar and Braehead

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I had a very busy week last week with SC&T Youth! But I also also a visit to Clashfarquhar House (where the residents joined in with the Wellyboot Song and had some fun stories from Aberdeenshire and beyond) an then at the end of the week I visited Braehead Primary School whose project this term has the wonderful title “I am a Storyteller”

I told stories to all the pupils – from the wee ones in the nursery, where we had a wonderful adventure in Seaton Park and fed a monster rainbow ice cream (after almost being lunch ourselves!) – all the way up to Primary 7, who got a couple of my scarier tales. All primaries were encouraged to ask questions about stories and storytelling – the different ways of sharing a story with an audience, what makes a good story, and what makes a good storyteller!

The drawing below is by one of my favourite artists. It’s The Nøkken by Theodore Kittelsen. He’s famous for his paintings and illustrations of fairy tales, particularly trolls!

The reason I’m sharing this here is that I told a tale of a North East Kelpie and explained to the pupils that there were other similar creatures in stories around the world. One boy was very interested and asked if I knew any – and the first that came to mind was the Nøkken who play the violin and tempt their human pray into the water. They are also shape-shifters, one of their forms being that of a horse. Just like our Kelpies!

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!?

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 🙂


Spectra Festival 2024

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It’s just over a month until Spectra Festival 2024!

I’m delighted to announce that the wonderful Lindsey Gibb will be joining me again for more tales, fun and Irn Bru Jellybabies!

We’ve been looking at the exhibits Spectra have announced and are seeing what they inspire! 😃 The theme this year is “Connections” and one of the art works I’m most excited to see is “Spin Me A Yarn” by Studio Vertigo which ties into a wonderful folk tale.

Fizzy and Fuzzy will undoubtedly be getting a story to themselves (as well as their own supply of sweeties)

A Storytelling Visit to Greyhope School and Community Hub

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What a great day out Fizzy the Fairy and I had yesterday at the brand new library at Greyhope School and Community Hub!

Aberdeen City Libraries had organised a visit for each of the Primary 1 classes who got a couple of stories and then received their Bookbug Bags containing 5 books, an activity book and colouring pencils. All part of Book Week Scotland and funded by the Scottish Book Trust!

The bairns had a story about an adventure and another story about a silly loon! But my favourite moment by far was….

“Jack, if someone gives you something like that, you need to carry it home underneath your…”

“OXTER!”

For those of you that dinna spik Doric, that means your armpit. It’s one of my favourite words and I was gey chuffed to have it shouted out! 😃

Fizzy and I had a right nosey round the new library and facilities – which are so brand new, they (along with the school) only opened on the 1st November!

In fact we were so busy enjoying telling stories and having a nosey round that I forgot to take a photo – so you’ll have to make do with an old one 😉

A photo of Pauline seated beneath a brightly coloured banner that says "Storytelling" Pauline is holding her puppet friend Fizzy the Fairy. Both are smiling at the camer.

A Ripple Event at Kincorth Community Centre Hub

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Well Fizzy, Fuzzy and I had a wonderful time last night telling stories at KCCH (Kincorth Community Centre Hub) to a wonderful group of families and grown ups! 😃
There were crafts for the bairns first, through in Kincorth Library before an hour of stories – unfortunately interrupted by Fizzy the Fairy and her brother Fuzzy. Well ok… Fizzy did help tell a story and Fuzzy did get the chance to do his favourite poem.

Thanks so much Anne and everyone at the Community Centre and Library for inviting us along, hosting the session and for making us feel so welcome! And thanks to the Scottish International Storytelling Festival for their Big Scottish Story Ripple community funding which made the event possible! #SISFStoryRipple

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