Ailein Duinn

Capercaillie-2 by HighlanderImages

Karen Matheson OBE (born 11 February 1963) is a Scottish folk singer, who frequently sings in Scottish Gaelic. She is lead singer of the group Capercaillie and was a member of Dan Ar Braz's group L'Heritage des Celtes, with whom she often sang lead vocals, either alone or jointly with Elaine Morgan. She and Morgan received much acclaim for their joint lead vocal on the Breton language song "Diwanit Bugale", the French entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. She made a cameo appearance in the 1995 movie Rob Roy singing the song "Ailein Duinn" (Dark Alan) which reached #65 in the UK Singles Chart.

She grew up in the small village of Taynuilt in Argyll. She was awarded an OBE in the 2006 New Year's honours list. Matheson also appeared as a guest musician on Spirit of the West's 1997 album Weights and Measures.

Full Flight of The Fiddle

Capercaillie by HighlanderImages

This is Charlie McKerron, the fiddle player of Capercaillie, in full flight playing "Inexile" at a concert played in Kuala Lumpur in May 2008. Capercaillie is a folk band from Scotland formed by Donald Shaw and Karen Matheson and who play a contemporary mix of celtic, gaelic and folk music.

The group originates from Argyll, a region of western Scotland and is named after the Western Capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus, a bird native to Scotland. Their 1992 EP, A Prince Among Islands, was the first Scottish Gaelic-language record to reach the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #39. Another of their singles, "Dark Alan (Ailein duinn)" reached #65 in the same listing in June 1995. The band recorded its first album, Cascade, in 1984. The albums Secret People (1993) reached #40, and To the Moon (1995) peaked at #41 in the UK Albums Chart.

They have adapted traditional Gaelic songs and music using modern production techniques, and often mix musical forms, such as "Cosich A' Ruin", which combined traditional lyrics with drum and bass.

The Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is a historic region of Scotland. The area is often, incorrectly, prefixed with "Scottish" since there is no need to qualify the term. It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots (English) replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Scottish Gaelic name for the highlands, A' Ghàidhealtachd, literally means 'the place of the Gaels' and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands.

The area is sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, and includes the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. Before the 19th century the Highlands was home to a much larger population, but due to a combination of factors including the outlawing of the traditional Highland way of life following the Jacobite Rising of 1745, the infamous Highland Clearances, and mass migration to urban areas during the Industrial Revolution, the area is now one of the most sparsely populated in Europe. The average population density in the Highlands and Islands is lower than that of Sweden, Norway, Papua New Guinea and Argentina.

The Highland Council is the administrative body for much of the Highlands, with its administrative centre at Inverness. However the Highlands also includes parts of the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Moray, Perth and Kinross, and Stirling. Although the Isle of Arran administratively belongs to North Ayrshire, its northern part is generally regarded as part of the Highlands.

Craig Hill Stands To Attention

Craig Hill is a Scottish comedian, TV presenter and actor known for his cheeky, irreverent and camp act. His act comprises stand-up, comic characterisations and improvisation styles with musical diva impersonations, notably a parody of Shirley Bassey singing the football chant ‘Who Ate All the Pies?‘.

A Throat Surely Touched by the Hand of God

Sean Connery described "her  throat as  surely touched by the hand of God" and the Billboard magazine described her as "the finest gaelic singer". 

Karen Matheson OBE (born 11 February 1963) is a Scottish folk singer, who frequently sings in Scottish Gaelic. She is lead singer of the group Capercaillie and was a member of Dan Ar Braz's group L'Heritage des Celtes, with whom she often sang lead vocals, either alone or jointly with Elaine Morgan. She and Morgan received much acclaim for their joint lead vocal on the Breton language song "Diwanit Bugale", the French entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1996. She made a cameo appearance in the 1995 movie Rob Roy singing the song "Ailein duinn".

She grew up in the small village of Taynuilt in Argyll. She was awarded an OBE in the 2006 New Year's honours list.

Matheson also appeared as a guest musician on Spirit of the West's 1997 album Weights and Measures.

She is married to fellow Capercaillie member Donald Shaw, and they have a son named Hector and hector is 10 years old

But 'n Ben

A but 'n ben is a small 2 roomed house in Scotland, the but end being the kitchen and ben being the bedroom. This little quaint thatched-roof cottage in Plockton really epitomized my idea of a but 'n ben complete with an old plow and wooden barrel to add to the atmosphere. Perhaps this was just an outhouse to the main large house in the background or maybe was a small rental holiday house. Whatever it was so nice to see an authentic old building in such good condition with the well painted white walls and varnished front door.

Thistle

Having just returned from a business trip to Holland and a short weekend visit to my home country of Scotland I thought it appropriate to post a photo of the famous Scottish thistle.

Onopordum acanthium (Cotton Thistle), is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia from Iberia east to Kazakhstan, and north to centralScandinavia, and widely naturalised elsewhere. It is a vigorous biennial plant with coarse, spiny leaves and conspicuous spiny-winged stems.

The thistle has been the national emblem of Scotland since the reign of Alexander III (1249 - 1286) and was used on silver coins issued by James III in 1470. According to the legend, an invading Norse army was attempting to sneak up at night upon a Scots army encampment. During this operation one barefoot Norseman had the misfortune to step upon a Scots Thistle, causing him to cry out in pain, thus alerting Scots to the presence of the Norse invaders. Some sources suggest the specific occasion was the Battle of Largs, which marked the beginning of the departure of the King Haakon IV (Haakon the Elder) of Norway who, having control of the Northern Isles andHebrides, had harried the coast of the Kingdom of Scotland for some years. Which species of thistle is referred to in the original legend is disputed. Popular modern usage favours Onopordum acanthium, perhaps because of its more imposing appearance, though it is unlikely to have occurred in Scotland in mediaeval times; the Spear Thistle Cirsium vulgare, an abundant native species in Scotland, is a more likely candidate. Other species, including Dwarf Thistle Cirsium acaule, Musk Thistle Carduus nutans, and Melancholy Thistle Cirsium heterophyllum have also been suggested.

Burns Supper 2010

On 23rd January 2010 the Selangor St. Andrew's Society held their annual Burns Supper at the Nikko Hotel, Kuala Lumpur with over 300 people attending.

After cocktails in the foyer the guests sat down to dinner and the Master of Ceremonies, Hector Ingram, welcomed the members and the guests. During dinner there was the traditional piping in of the haggis, the address to the haggis delivered by Paul Henderson and a performance by the St. John's Alumni Pipe Band. The Toast to The Lassies speech was given by Paul McLaughlin and the Reply on behalf of the Lassies was then given by Tracy Dale.

After dessert, coffee and the raffle draw Sue Paterson accompanied by George McKie gave a recital of Scottish songs before the evening moved onto the serious part of the entertainment.

Scottish comedian Craig Hill burst onto the stage to the sounds of Madonna and gave a wonderful belly-aching performance of gay Scottish humour delivered in his own inimitable style.
Craig Hill entered the comedy scene in 1998 after training as an actor and as a result of a frined booking him for a gig without telling him. His renditions of Shirley Bassey singing "Who Ate All The Pies" and Julie Andrews singing Punk songs made him an instant hit and won him an award for the Comedy Stores "Stand Up for Hooch" competition that year. He was quickly spotted by the BBC and asked to be one of five stand-ups on BBC Scotland's "Live Floor Show".

 

After two series on BBC Scotland, Craig became part of the cast when the show went national with a regular slot on Saturdays on BBC2. He was then invited by BBC Scotland to be the host of another rendition simply known as "Floor Show" and eventually given his own show "Craig Hill's Out Tonight", a chat show and guide to what's on in Scotland. For more on Craig, visit his website.

The evening then continued with Scottish country dancing until Auld Lang Syne and the close of the evening.


More photos of this event can be seen here.


A slideshow with video can be seen here.

The Gary Innes Band Live at Finnegan's

The Gary Innes Band from Scotland played a one night only concert at Finnegan's pub in Desa Sri Hartamas on 27th November 2009 as a pre-cursor to their participation at The Selangor St. Andrew's Society Annual Celebration on 28th November at The Royal Lake Club, Kuala Lumpur. The evening was enjoyed by all and Gary, Ewan and Hugh kept the audience entertained by their music and their on-stage banter. There was much dancing and frivolity enhanced no doubt by the copious quantities of liquid lubrication on tap at Finnegans.

More photos can be viewed here.

Video of the concert can be viewed here.