0:00:05 > 0:00:09At the end of the 15th century, a Scottish notary and teacher called
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Robert Henryson writes a series of animal fables
0:00:12 > 0:00:14based on the old stories of Aesop.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20Esop, myne authour, makis mentioun
0:00:20 > 0:00:24Of twa myis, and thay wer sisteris deir.
0:00:24 > 0:00:29Henryson is little known these days, but experts consider him a master.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34He's the greatest poet, I think, of the 15th century in English or Scots.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Fast forward over 500 years
0:00:37 > 0:00:40and Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney catches
0:00:40 > 0:00:44a glimpse of an early manuscript of the Fables and is spellbound.
0:00:44 > 0:00:50It had a little rooster on the top right-hand corner of the manuscript.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55But the rooster was crowing. Something so jaunty about it.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59Over several years, Seamus creates a series of modern English
0:00:59 > 0:01:02translations infused with the language of his rural childhood
0:01:02 > 0:01:04in Northern Ireland.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07It's absolutely brilliant. It's a wonderful translation.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09And he persuades Scottish actor
0:01:09 > 0:01:11and comedy legend Billy Connolly to record them.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15This country mouse when winter came, endured cold and hunger...
0:01:15 > 0:01:21I think he's amazing. His reputation swells before him.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23It's kind of scary now with you sitting out here.
0:01:23 > 0:01:24Oh, for God's sake.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Now five of these fables have been animated for a project that
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Seamus Heaney was working on at the time of his death.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Bringing a modern dimension to tales that were written
0:01:35 > 0:01:37over half a millennium ago.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40With a specially composed score by international pianist
0:01:40 > 0:01:42and conductor Barry Douglas.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46This is a very major thing for me. It's a new departure.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48I'm very excited.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52In a moment, the full animated story of The Two Mice.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54With an introduction by Seamus Heaney himself.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57And later, some revealing behind-the-scenes footage
0:01:57 > 0:02:00of how these morality tales made it to the screen.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06Five medieval fables are now ready for their second coming.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21The Two Mice is a wonderfully innocent story.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26And it's in a genre that's as old as European civilisation.
0:02:26 > 0:02:32It crops up in Aesop, in Horace, in many of Henryson's sources.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36And it's basically part of the old pastoral tradition of
0:02:36 > 0:02:40the contrast between the simple, frugal countryside
0:02:40 > 0:02:42and the haughty, dangerous town.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49One of the most delightful parts of the story as Henryson tells it
0:02:49 > 0:02:53is the town mouse coming through the country, crying out,
0:02:53 > 0:02:59cheeping to her sister to come out and meet her.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10It all goes well for a little while, then the town mouse gets tired of
0:03:10 > 0:03:16the rough country fare and invites the country mouse to her place.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Everything's delightful.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Food's good, the furnishings are lovely.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28Then two sudden dangers threaten all this.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31And the country mouse is just terrified.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35So the virtues of the country are ratified
0:03:35 > 0:03:40and the town is scolded for its dangers.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42It's a delightful story.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54Aesop tells a tale - Aesop, my author -
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Of two mice who were sisters fair and fond
0:03:58 > 0:04:00The elder had a town-house in a borough
0:04:02 > 0:04:04The younger dwelt up country, near at hand
0:04:04 > 0:04:06And by herself
0:04:09 > 0:04:10At times on whinny ground,
0:04:10 > 0:04:12At times in corn crops
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Living hand to mouth
0:04:17 > 0:04:21Beyond the pale and off the land, by stealth
0:04:21 > 0:04:22BIRD CAWS
0:04:22 > 0:04:26This country mouse, when winter came, endured
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Cold and hunger and extreme distress
0:04:30 > 0:04:33The other mouse, in town, sat on a board
0:04:33 > 0:04:38With guild members, an independent burgess
0:04:38 > 0:04:43Exempt from tax, from port and market cess
0:04:43 > 0:04:47Free to go roaming wherever she liked best
0:04:47 > 0:04:49Among the cheese and meal, in bin and chest
0:04:52 > 0:04:55One time, well-fed and lightsome on her feet
0:04:55 > 0:04:58She thought about her sister on the land
0:04:58 > 0:05:02And wondered how she fared, what kind of state
0:05:02 > 0:05:05She lived in, in the greenwood out beyond
0:05:07 > 0:05:10So, barefoot and alone, with staff in hand
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Like a poor pilgrim she set out from the town
0:05:13 > 0:05:17To seek her sister, over dale and down
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Through many wild and lonesome ways she goes
0:05:23 > 0:05:26By moss and moor, by bank and bush and briar
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Calling across the fallow land and furrows
0:05:35 > 0:05:38"Come out to me, my own sweet sister dear! Just give one cheep"
0:05:40 > 0:05:42With that the mouse could hear
0:05:42 > 0:05:45And knew the voice, since it's in our nature
0:05:45 > 0:05:48To recognise our own, and came to meet her
0:05:50 > 0:05:53If you had seen, Lord God, the high excitement
0:05:53 > 0:05:56That overcame those sisters when they met
0:05:56 > 0:05:59The way the sighs passed back and forth between them
0:05:59 > 0:06:02The way they laughed and then for gladness wept!
0:06:04 > 0:06:07They sweetly kissed, they held each other tight
0:06:07 > 0:06:10And kept this up until they both grew calm
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Then went indoors together, arm in arm
0:06:18 > 0:06:21It was, as I have heard, a simple hut
0:06:21 > 0:06:24Made expertly of foggage and of fern
0:06:24 > 0:06:29On stone supports sunk into earth upright
0:06:29 > 0:06:33The jambs set close, the lintel near the ground
0:06:35 > 0:06:38And into it they went and there remained
0:06:38 > 0:06:42No fire burned for them nor candle bright
0:06:42 > 0:06:46For shady rooms best suit the fly-by-night
0:06:53 > 0:06:56When they were lodged and settled, these poor mice
0:06:56 > 0:06:58The younger sister to the pantry hurries
0:06:58 > 0:07:02And brings out nuts and peas instead of spice
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Without being there, who'll say how good it was?
0:07:05 > 0:07:08The burgess then gets haughty and pretentious
0:07:08 > 0:07:11And asks her sister, "Is this how you eat?"
0:07:14 > 0:07:17"Why," she replies, "is there something wrong with it?"
0:07:19 > 0:07:22"No, by my soul, it's just so ordinary!"
0:07:24 > 0:07:29"Madam," she said, "you are the more to blame
0:07:29 > 0:07:32"When we were born, I heard my mother say
0:07:32 > 0:07:35"The womb we both came out of was the same
0:07:37 > 0:07:39"I'm true to her example and good name
0:07:39 > 0:07:41"And to my father's, to their frugal ways
0:07:45 > 0:07:48"We own no lands or grounds or properties"
0:07:51 > 0:07:54"Please," the reply came, "let me be excused
0:07:54 > 0:07:57"My tastes and this rough diet are at odds
0:07:59 > 0:08:01"I live a lady's life now and am used
0:08:01 > 0:08:05"To tender meat, it's what my system needs
0:08:07 > 0:08:10"These withered peas and nuts and shells and pods
0:08:10 > 0:08:13"Will break my teeth and hurt me in the stomach
0:08:13 > 0:08:16"Now that I know what standards to expect"
0:08:20 > 0:08:24"Well, well, my sister," says the country mouse
0:08:24 > 0:08:26"If you would like, and seeing that you're here
0:08:26 > 0:08:28"You're welcome to the free run of the house
0:08:28 > 0:08:30"And food and drink
0:08:30 > 0:08:32"Stay on for the year!
0:08:33 > 0:08:36"It'll warm my heart to keep you and to share
0:08:36 > 0:08:41"Our friendship matters more than middling food
0:08:41 > 0:08:43"Who sniffs at cooking when the company's good?
0:08:48 > 0:08:51"Delicacies pall, and fancy dishes
0:08:51 > 0:08:54"When they are served up by a scowling face
0:08:54 > 0:08:57"A sweetness in the giver's more delicious
0:08:58 > 0:09:03"Fine sauces don't make up for lack of grace
0:09:03 > 0:09:06"A modicum suffices, we do with less
0:09:06 > 0:09:09"When the carver carves from the goodness of his heart
0:09:09 > 0:09:13"A sour-faced host can blink the best cook's art"
0:09:17 > 0:09:20In spite of all this well-disposed advice
0:09:20 > 0:09:23The burgess was in no mood to be humoured
0:09:23 > 0:09:26She knit her brows above two glowering eyes
0:09:28 > 0:09:30No matter what choice pickings she was offered
0:09:30 > 0:09:36Until, at last, she half-sighed and half-sneered
0:09:36 > 0:09:39"Sister, for a country mouse, this stuff
0:09:39 > 0:09:42"You've laid on makes a spread and is good enough
0:09:44 > 0:09:48"Give over this place, be my visitor
0:09:48 > 0:09:51"Come where I live, and learn when you're my guest
0:09:51 > 0:09:55"How my Good Friday's better than your Easter
0:09:55 > 0:09:59"My dish-lickings more luscious than your feast
0:09:59 > 0:10:02"My quarters are among the very safest
0:10:02 > 0:10:06"Of cat or trap or trip I have no dread"
0:10:08 > 0:10:12"All right," says sister, and they take the road
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Under cover, through clumps of corn and weed
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Keeping themselves hidden, on they creep
0:10:21 > 0:10:25The elder acts as guide and stays ahead
0:10:25 > 0:10:27The younger follows close and minds her step
0:10:29 > 0:10:33By night they make a run, by day they sleep
0:10:33 > 0:10:37Until one morning, when the lark was singing
0:10:37 > 0:10:41They reached the town and thankfully went in
0:10:44 > 0:10:47With none to greet or give them time of day
0:10:47 > 0:10:49The town mouse led on and they made their entry
0:10:49 > 0:10:52To a residence not far along the way
0:10:56 > 0:11:00Next thing they stood inside a well-stocked pantry
0:11:00 > 0:11:04With cheese and butter stacked on shelves, great plenty
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Of red meat and hung game, of fresh fish and salt
0:11:08 > 0:11:12Sacks full of groats, milled corn and meal and malt
0:11:18 > 0:11:20Later, when they felt the urge to dine
0:11:20 > 0:11:24They washed their hands and sat, but said no grace
0:11:24 > 0:11:28There was every course a cook's art could design
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Roast beef and mutton relished slice by slice
0:11:33 > 0:11:35A meal fit for a lord
0:11:40 > 0:11:41But they were mice
0:11:41 > 0:11:44And showed it when they drank not wine but water
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Yet could hardly have enjoyed their banquet better
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Taunting and cajoling all at once
0:11:50 > 0:11:52The elder mouse enquired of her guest
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Whether she thought there was real difference
0:11:55 > 0:11:59Between that chamber and her sorry nest
0:11:59 > 0:12:03"Yes, ma'am," said she, "but how long will this last?"
0:12:03 > 0:12:05"Forever, I expect, and even longer"
0:12:07 > 0:12:11"In that case, it's a safe house," said the younger
0:12:11 > 0:12:14The town mouse, for their pleasure, produced more
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Groats on a plate and meal piled in a pan
0:12:20 > 0:12:23And didn't stay her hand, you can be sure
0:12:23 > 0:12:26When she doled the oatcakes out and served a scone
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Of best white baker's bread instead of brawn
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Then stole a tall white candle from a chest
0:12:34 > 0:12:38As a final touch, to give the meal more taste
0:12:39 > 0:12:42And so they revelled on and raised a cry
0:12:42 > 0:12:46And shouted "Hail, Yule, hail!" And made merry
0:12:48 > 0:12:51Yet often care comes on the heels of joy
0:12:51 > 0:12:54And trouble after great prosperity
0:12:54 > 0:12:59Thus, as they sat in all their jollity
0:12:59 > 0:13:03The steward comes along swinging his keys
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Opens the door and finds them at their ease
0:13:08 > 0:13:11They didn't wait to wash, as I imagine
0:13:11 > 0:13:14But rushed and raced and sped off desperately
0:13:14 > 0:13:17The burgess had a hole and in she went
0:13:17 > 0:13:20Her sister no such place of sanctuary
0:13:21 > 0:13:24To see that mouse in panic was great pity
0:13:24 > 0:13:27In dread, bewildered, cornered and astray
0:13:27 > 0:13:30So that she swooned and nearly passed away
0:13:32 > 0:13:35But God had willed and worked a happy outcome
0:13:35 > 0:13:38The hard-pressed steward could not afford to bide
0:13:38 > 0:13:41He hadn't time to harry or to hunt them
0:13:41 > 0:13:44But hurried on, and left the room-door wide
0:13:46 > 0:13:49The burgess watched him make his way outside
0:13:51 > 0:13:54Then scooted from her hole and cried on high
0:13:54 > 0:13:57"How are you, sister? Where? Just cheep for me!"
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Sure she was doomed, and terrified to die
0:14:05 > 0:14:08This country mouse lay on the ground prostrate
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Her heart beat fast, she was like somebody
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Shaken by fever, trembling hand and foot
0:14:16 > 0:14:19And when her sister found her in this state
0:14:19 > 0:14:22For very pity she broke down in tears
0:14:22 > 0:14:27Then spoke these words, sweet honey to her ears
0:14:27 > 0:14:30"Why do you cower like this, dear sister? Rise! Return to table
0:14:30 > 0:14:32"Come, the danger's past"
0:14:35 > 0:14:37The other answered in a stricken voice
0:14:37 > 0:14:40"I cannot eat, I am so sore aghast
0:14:40 > 0:14:43"I'd rather do Lent's 40 days of fast
0:14:43 > 0:14:46"On cabbage water, gnawing peas and beans
0:14:46 > 0:14:49"Than feast with you here in such dread conditions"
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Still, being soothed so sweetly, she got up
0:14:54 > 0:14:56And went to table where again they sat
0:14:58 > 0:15:01But hardly had they time to drink one cup
0:15:01 > 0:15:04When in comes Hunter Gib, our jolly cat
0:15:04 > 0:15:06And bids good day CAT MEOWS
0:15:06 > 0:15:08The burgess ups with that
0:15:08 > 0:15:12And speedy as the spark from flint makes off
0:15:12 > 0:15:14His nibs then takes the other by the scruff
0:15:16 > 0:15:19From foot to foot he chased her to and fro
0:15:19 > 0:15:23Whiles up, whiles down, as quick as any kid
0:15:23 > 0:15:27Whiles letting her go free beneath the straw
0:15:29 > 0:15:33Whiles playing blind man's buff with her, shut-eyed
0:15:33 > 0:15:36And thus he kept that poor mouse in great dread
0:15:36 > 0:15:39Until by lucky chance, at the last call
0:15:39 > 0:15:42She slipped between the hangings and the wall
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Then up in haste behind the tapestry
0:15:48 > 0:15:51She climbed so high that Gilbert couldn't get her
0:15:51 > 0:15:53And hung there by the claws most capably
0:15:55 > 0:15:57Till he was gone
0:15:59 > 0:16:01And when her mood was better
0:16:01 > 0:16:04And she could move with no cat to upset her
0:16:04 > 0:16:09Down she came on the town mouse, shouting out, "Sister, farewell"
0:16:09 > 0:16:11"Your feast I set at nought
0:16:11 > 0:16:15"Your spread is spoiled, your cream in curds from worry
0:16:15 > 0:16:19"Your goose is good, your sauce as sour as gall
0:16:19 > 0:16:23"Your second helpings sure to make you sorry
0:16:23 > 0:16:26"Mishaps still sure to haunt you and befall
0:16:26 > 0:16:28"I thank that curtain and partition-wall
0:16:28 > 0:16:32"For guarding me against yon cruel beast
0:16:32 > 0:16:35"Save me, Almighty God, from such a feast
0:16:38 > 0:16:41"If I were back on home ground, I would stay
0:16:42 > 0:16:45"Never, for weal or woe, come forth again"
0:16:48 > 0:16:51With that she took her leave and went her way
0:16:55 > 0:16:58Now through the corn, now on the open plain
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Glad to be on the loose and given rein
0:17:01 > 0:17:04To gambol and be giddy on the moor
0:17:05 > 0:17:08What then became of her I can't be sure
0:17:09 > 0:17:11Though I have heard she made it to her nest
0:17:11 > 0:17:15That was as warm as wool, if small and strait
0:17:15 > 0:17:19Packed snugly from back wall to chimney breast
0:17:19 > 0:17:22With peas and nuts and beans and rye and wheat
0:17:25 > 0:17:27When she inclined, she had enough to eat
0:17:27 > 0:17:30In peace and quiet there, amidst her store
0:17:32 > 0:17:35But to her sister's house she went no more.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45OK, Billy, let's go.
0:17:45 > 0:17:46Okey-dokey.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Lots of 'first thing in the morning' energy.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51EXAGGERATED LAUGH
0:17:54 > 0:17:56Big thumbs up from Seamus Heaney there.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Once we had Seamus Heaney involved in this project and very interested
0:18:06 > 0:18:08in working with us on this series,
0:18:08 > 0:18:13we had then suggested to him to use a couple of different narrators.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16Seamus kind of listened to us and then he said,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18"Well, what about Billy Connolly?"
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Aesop tells a tale - Aesop, my author...
0:18:21 > 0:18:26He's highly intelligent and I saw him in a movie called Mrs Brown
0:18:26 > 0:18:31where he acted John Brown - a servant to Queen Victoria.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36It established him in my mind as somebody with possibilities
0:18:36 > 0:18:41other than the wild man doing the comic act on the stage.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43Which is also deeply attractive.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47- Billy Connolly.- Billy Connolly. - Billy Connolly.- Mr Billy Connolly.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49- Billy Connolly.- Billy Connolly. - Billy Connolly.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51APPLAUSE
0:18:51 > 0:18:55I've invented a new form of fishing. It's called nutting the salmon.
0:18:55 > 0:18:56LAUGHTER
0:18:56 > 0:18:57"There's one, John!"
0:18:57 > 0:18:59LAUGHTER
0:18:59 > 0:19:04So I thought that that wiliness and wildness
0:19:04 > 0:19:06from the comic side of his performance,
0:19:06 > 0:19:11and the strength of his performance as an actor,
0:19:11 > 0:19:13that those would be two qualities to combine
0:19:13 > 0:19:15because that's what we have in Henryson also.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18This country mouse when winter came, endured
0:19:18 > 0:19:21Cold and hunger and extreme distress...
0:19:21 > 0:19:24He also had the accent, of course,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27which is not to be disrespected either.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31It's a down-home voice. It's a familiar voice.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34It's a flexible voice that can do the intonations necessary
0:19:34 > 0:19:37to make the poetry live, and it's a voice that has a chortle
0:19:37 > 0:19:41in it and the poems have a chortle in them.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44"Come where I live, and learn when you're my guest
0:19:44 > 0:19:48"How my Good Friday is better than your Easter
0:19:48 > 0:19:52"My dish-lickings more luscious than your feast"
0:19:52 > 0:19:55I genuinely believe he's perfect for this
0:19:55 > 0:19:58because he can bring out the humour and on the other hand
0:19:58 > 0:19:59when things get profound,
0:19:59 > 0:20:03when things get serious or finger-wagging, he can do that too.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06His bonnet round, in the old-fashioned style
0:20:06 > 0:20:09Beard white, eyes wide and grey, a head of hair
0:20:09 > 0:20:13That curled and lay in locks upon each shoulder.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15I thought, "My God, it's Billy Connolly!"
0:20:15 > 0:20:18LAUGHTER
0:20:18 > 0:20:21While we expected Billy to be messing around in the studio,
0:20:21 > 0:20:22and of course there was a bit of that...
0:20:22 > 0:20:27The firmament... Star-stippled shearing clear!
0:20:29 > 0:20:32But basically he was incredibly professional.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34He got his head down and got on with it.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37Billy had an affinity with poetry.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40He was very knowledgeable about it, he knew his Burns,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42he was in awe of Seamus Heaney.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45The funniest thing is I hated it at school.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48I just learnt it by rote like everybody else
0:20:48 > 0:20:52but when I left school I got a job in John Smith's bookshop
0:20:52 > 0:20:57in St Vincent Street, the dispatch department, a messenger boy.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00But I also had to sweep the floor in the morning,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03and I remember lifting a wee book and having a look at it
0:21:03 > 0:21:09when nobody was looking and it was a tartan book, a tourist
0:21:09 > 0:21:13version of a book of Robert Burns's poems.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16And then I found McGonagall.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!
0:21:20 > 0:21:22Alas! I am very sorry to say
0:21:22 > 0:21:25That 90 lives have been taken away
0:21:25 > 0:21:28On the last Sabbath day of 1879
0:21:28 > 0:21:33Which will be remember'd for a very long time.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38After that I went seeking poetry and liking it for its own sake
0:21:38 > 0:21:41and it's never kind of left me.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46He obviously had a sudden predisposition to work on this
0:21:46 > 0:21:48kind of material.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50That's a subject matter quite close to his heart.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53To live on earth and know the greatest joy,
0:21:53 > 0:21:57content yourself with just a few possessions...
0:21:57 > 0:22:01He got on brilliantly with Seamus, the two of them
0:22:01 > 0:22:03had an instant rapport.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09The two of them were quite in awe of each other.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11- SEAMUS:- We're very lucky.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15And I said to him, did you find this difficult? And he said no!
0:22:15 > 0:22:22Pacing is the whole thing, isn't it, I mean... And er...
0:22:22 > 0:22:28reading verse, keeping the line ending and the sense of shape and the movement.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32Well, I had a wee go in bed last night, so... I wasn't speaking out
0:22:32 > 0:22:37though, I was just reading it, speaking it into myself.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40Cos the verse can be quite concealed.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43There can be a dodgy way to get there and if you get it, it's lovely.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45You get a lift.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49I like the way you kept the metre and respected the shape on the page.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52There's a definite metre there and rhyme.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56- The comma is a mighty beast!- Yeah.
0:22:56 > 0:22:57'Oh, I love him. He's great.'
0:22:57 > 0:22:59He's...
0:23:00 > 0:23:04How can I put it? He's a lot gentler than I expected him to be.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07For some reason, I thought he'd be more aggressive. I don't know why,
0:23:07 > 0:23:12never having met him before. But he's a big gentle dumpling, it's lovely.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15We're getting very fastidious here.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17I think he's amazing. Yeah.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20Cos his reputation swells before him.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25- It's kind of scary having you sitting out here.- Oh, for God's sake. Not at all!
0:23:25 > 0:23:29Well, I admired Billy Connolly when he was doing the commentary,
0:23:29 > 0:23:34reading the verse. He is, after all, a world star and so on.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40But he took instruction, and he was as ready to get the thing
0:23:40 > 0:23:43right for himself and for the director.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47- It felt as though you were rushing that a wee bit at the beginning.- OK.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51I am glad I didn't make the mistake there. I want to do it again.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54I thought that there was total professionalism,
0:23:54 > 0:23:58and that was something that made it a pleasure to work with him.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02- Can I go?- All yours, sir.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06The carter howls, "A gutting I'll give you, a herring treat
0:24:06 > 0:24:09"A second helping that you'll not forget"
0:24:09 > 0:24:12It was quite an interesting recording session,
0:24:12 > 0:24:16because as I recall Seamus Heaney was editing his own work
0:24:16 > 0:24:17during the recording session.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Billy would narrate an entire stanza -
0:24:20 > 0:24:23of course, he narrated with great gusto and drama
0:24:23 > 0:24:27and so forth - but sometimes he got stuck at certain words
0:24:27 > 0:24:30and Seamus was sitting there with the book in hand and he would
0:24:30 > 0:24:34then suggest an alternative word which would flow better.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39Then Wolf said, "I will risk it. We must fetch that Lent-feed here."
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Great. I want a wee chat with Tim.
0:24:42 > 0:24:43If you couldn't see the text,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47you might find that a little confusing if it's all run together.
0:24:47 > 0:24:53I wonder whether - "We must fetch that...LENT-FEED here," maybe.
0:24:53 > 0:24:59Maybe we could do something untoward and change it to "Lent food".
0:24:59 > 0:25:05Oh, yeah, you could. "We must fetch the Lent food."
0:25:05 > 0:25:09Billy, could you go back a page to, "We must fetch that Lent-feed."
0:25:09 > 0:25:13- Can we change it to "that Lent food"?- Lent food.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16I was thinking of a feed in the northern sense.
0:25:17 > 0:25:23Then Wolf said, "I will risk it. We must fetch that Lent-food here."
0:25:23 > 0:25:25He was asking us, "Is this the right word?
0:25:25 > 0:25:28"Is it a slang word, do you want to change it to this or that?"
0:25:28 > 0:25:30So we had a lot of little suggestions.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Some of Seamus's language was a little bit colourful, and
0:25:33 > 0:25:37we had to be mindful of the family audience we were pitching this at.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41"And if I begged and went down on my knees on all fours here
0:25:41 > 0:25:45"before him in the gutter, yon idiot wouldn't hand one
0:25:45 > 0:25:49"herring over. But still, no matter, wait a while and see.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52"I'll put one over on him presently."
0:25:52 > 0:25:55For the second recording in Belfast Seamus couldn't make it
0:25:55 > 0:25:58up to the recording but he was desperate to be across it,
0:25:58 > 0:26:03so we installed Skype in his house in Dublin. And we were sitting there
0:26:03 > 0:26:07with a computer screen with Seamus all the way through the session.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12By this stage, Seamus was in his element, and he had his red
0:26:12 > 0:26:15biro out and was making changes left, right and centre.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18There was quite a lot of changes in the second session.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21- Including one or two mistakes. - Is it "who WRITE those fables"?
0:26:21 > 0:26:26I've just seen it. I think it should be maybe "who wrote", definitely.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29You can get away with "who write" but "who wrote" is more natural.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Let's change it to "wrote", says Seamus.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34I'm sure it was a mistake first time round.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Seamus is confessing to a mistake here!
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Seamus was having a lot of fun with this.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44He was making some changes, letting a few other imperfections go.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47It was all to do with Billy's delivery really.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51"But one good turn deserves another so do we free him?"
0:26:51 > 0:26:55"Sister," they said, "We do!"
0:26:56 > 0:26:58That's terrific.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01I just wonder if it would help to put Aesop
0:27:01 > 0:27:03into the vocative there somewhere.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07- "Master, I asked Aesop." - Rewrite from the writer!
0:27:07 > 0:27:10"Master, I asked Aesop" I think, to run better.
0:27:10 > 0:27:15"Maser," I asked Aesop, "does a morality attach to this fable?"
0:27:15 > 0:27:19"Master," I asked Aesop, "does a morality attach to this fable?"
0:27:19 > 0:27:24"Yes," he said. "A good one." "Please," I said then,
0:27:24 > 0:27:26"share it in conclusion."
0:27:26 > 0:27:30Very good. Yeah.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Blessed be simple life lived free of dread
0:27:34 > 0:27:37And blessed be a frugal decency
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Whoever has enough is not in need
0:27:40 > 0:27:43No matter how reduced his portion be
0:27:43 > 0:27:47Abundance, comfort, blind prosperity
0:27:47 > 0:27:51Often prove the last and worst illusion:
0:27:51 > 0:27:54So to be safe, not sorry in this country
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Content yourself with just a few possessions.