0:00:01 > 0:00:03I'm Eddi Reader.
0:00:03 > 0:00:06I'm a Scot, but being a musician I've spent a lot of time
0:00:06 > 0:00:08playing music here in Northern Ireland.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11I love it. It's a bit like being at home. The scenery's great.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12And so are the people.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16Nice to meet you. I'm Ivan. You're very welcome to Ballymena
0:00:16 > 0:00:18and to the town of Dunclug.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20It's so lovely going over the language
0:00:20 > 0:00:23and the comparisons of the words.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25I couldn't believe what I was hearing, actually.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28My great passion is Robert Burns, the Bard.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31I started out with a band called Fairground Attraction
0:00:31 > 0:00:34but my musical journey has brought me to the work of Robert Burns.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37I love the language in his poems and the meter in them
0:00:37 > 0:00:39has allowed me to combine them with music.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46But until recently I hadn't realised that you had your own bards here.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50Poets from the time of Burns who were influenced by him and his work.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54These poets were mostly weavers, people working in the linen industry
0:00:54 > 0:00:58around the end of the 18th century and the start of the 19th.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02Not surprisingly, they're known as the Weaver Poets.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06I'm over for a couple of concerts so I thought I'd try
0:01:06 > 0:01:09and find out a little bit more about these guys.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12I'm on the trail of Ulster's own bards.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14Stick with me. We'll do a bit busking later.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18The world's your oyster when you've got a van and a wee bit of a song.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21'Oh, aye. And I'll a wee bit of singing while I'm here.'
0:01:21 > 0:01:23# You're welcome, Willie Stewart
0:01:23 > 0:01:26# You're welcome, Willie Stewart
0:01:26 > 0:01:28# There's ne'er a flower that blooms in May
0:01:28 > 0:01:31That's half sae welcome's thou art!
0:01:31 > 0:01:33# Come, bumpers high, express your joy
0:01:33 > 0:01:35# The bowl we must renew it
0:01:35 > 0:01:38# The tappet hen, gae bring her ben
0:01:38 > 0:01:41# To welcome Willie Stewart
0:01:41 > 0:01:43# You're welcome, Willie Stewart
0:01:43 > 0:01:45# You're welcome, Willie Stewart
0:01:45 > 0:01:48# There's ne'er a flower that blooms in May
0:01:48 > 0:01:51# That's half sae welcome's thou art! #
0:02:03 > 0:02:05APPLAUSE
0:02:09 > 0:02:13We're on our way to the Irish Linen Centre in Lisburn.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17And I'm going to find out a wee bit about the life of the weavers.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24See if they could handle their loom better than I'm handling this VW.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27I used to work in a knitwear factory
0:02:27 > 0:02:29and I noticed that I was very creative
0:02:29 > 0:02:32when the machine was working, because of the rhythms of it.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36I do know for a fact that a lot of work songs
0:02:36 > 0:02:40come from the rhythm of the machine that they're using.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44I'm imagining that their poetry was honed while they were
0:02:44 > 0:02:48messing about with the rhythm of what they were weaving.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Robert Burns started out as a farmer, which earned him
0:02:51 > 0:02:55the nickname The Ploughman Poet, but when he was 22 years old
0:02:55 > 0:02:57his father sent him to learn the more lucrative trade
0:02:57 > 0:03:02of flax dressing, heckling in Ayrshire, hackling over here,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04another bond with the weaver poets.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09I know about linen cloth and I know it comes from something called flax.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Can you tell me about the process?
0:03:12 > 0:03:14This is the flax plant.
0:03:14 > 0:03:15You can see the seed head here
0:03:15 > 0:03:18and the flax has been pulled out by the roots.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21From this, we have to get the flax fibre out of the plant.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24The first thing that we've done was,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27put the flax in stagnant water for two weeks.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29And then bring it out and dry it.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33And then it's possible to scutch it.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Which is, taking the flax, putting it over like this
0:03:36 > 0:03:38and really beating that.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Essentially, so that you're bringing that to this, basically.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46The flax fibre you're ready to hackle.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Comb out. So that you can prepare for spinning.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52I'm going to hand this over to Gillian here.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56- Hi.- Hi, Gillian. - To show you how to do this.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58This is what Robert Burns would have done.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01He trained in Irvine as a flax heckler in the heckling shop.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03These are heckling pins that we have here.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06And you can see there's three different sizes.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08You start with the largest set.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10You pull it through the pins
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and what's left in my hands is called long flax.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15It's a nice long fibre.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17You work it along to the middle section,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19and again, you're pulling it through.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Gie's a shot!
0:04:22 > 0:04:26I do know that when Burns was doing this in Irvine,
0:04:26 > 0:04:31Ayrshire, that he was at the doctors all the time because of the dust.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34You would almost not see your hand in front of you
0:04:34 > 0:04:35- because the dust was so heavy.- Wow!
0:04:35 > 0:04:40- I suppose doing this create this kind of shine.- Yeah, it does.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43It's sort of takes it out so it's all nice and smooth.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45You're worth it.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20LOOM CLATTERS
0:05:30 > 0:05:33I'm loathe to disturb you.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37So, Alison, this is the loom that maybe their weaver poets
0:05:37 > 0:05:40might have worked with when they were writing their poetry.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Yes. Absolutely. This loom is about 180 years old.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46And it actually came from a house in Lurgan.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49What I've heard of the poets, when they were working on the loom,
0:05:49 > 0:05:53they were able to work out of the meter of the rhyming
0:05:53 > 0:05:55with the rhythm of the...
0:05:55 > 0:05:58If you just do that again, I absolutely adore the sound of it.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00All right.
0:06:00 > 0:06:01LOOM CLATTERS RHYTHMICALLY
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Fantastic.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11I worked in a knitwear factory and we had the same process.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15It was a jacquard machine that we worked on, knitting this fabric.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18It was really great for coming up with little tunes and rhythms.
0:06:18 > 0:06:19CLICKS FINGERS
0:06:19 > 0:06:22- But do it again. I'm going to try and come up with a...- OK.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24LOOM CLATTERS
0:06:24 > 0:06:27SHE SINGS AND HUMS IN TIME
0:06:35 > 0:06:39It's absolutely melodic and rhythmic. It's fantastic.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44SHE HUMS AND CLICKS FINGERS
0:06:44 > 0:06:46Oh, it's gorgeous.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49# Jamie, come and try me
0:06:49 > 0:06:53# Jamie, come and try me... #
0:06:53 > 0:06:56So certainly, they could get the meter of their poetry
0:06:56 > 0:06:58right in the rhythm there of the work.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08MUSIC: "Jamie Come Try Me" by Eddi Reader
0:07:25 > 0:07:28# Jamie, come try me
0:07:28 > 0:07:33# Jamie, come try me if thou would be my love, Jamie
0:07:33 > 0:07:37# If thou would kiss me, love, wha could espy thee
0:07:37 > 0:07:39# If thou would be my love
0:07:39 > 0:07:43# Jamie, come try me
0:07:43 > 0:07:49# Oh, Jamie
0:07:51 > 0:07:54# Oh, oh, oh...
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Singing has always been a companion of mine.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Probably, in not a very healthy way, you know.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05I'm able to be alone with my companion,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08And so, I can be a wee bit antisocial, you know.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11And yet, I can also turn it on and come into the pub with
0:08:11 > 0:08:14everybody and sing a million songs.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17And feel like the life and soul of the party.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20But basically, I'm in communion with a bit of a rhythm
0:08:20 > 0:08:24and a melody in my head. I enjoy it so much.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28It kind of makes everything look beautiful to me.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31# Oh, oh, oh
0:08:33 > 0:08:37# Oh, oh, oh, oh... #
0:08:42 > 0:08:43It's lovely.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47There's modern references everywhere to the weavers.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53This is the Linenhall Library in Belfast.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56And in here, I've been told that they have great Burns material.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00Much of which was donated by Burns' great grand-daughter,
0:09:00 > 0:09:02who lived in Belfast.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Burns lover Dr Carol Baraniuk is my way in to that.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10I'm surprised Burns didn't come here. Did he? I don't know.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14There have been rumoured sightings but nobody's verified them.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17- Like Elvis?! - Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
0:09:17 > 0:09:23Just over here, we have an original copy of the Edinburgh edition
0:09:23 > 0:09:27of Burns' Poems In The Scottish Dialect.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30I'm sure you'd like to have a bit of a longer look at that.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35Of course, that was when he really hit celebrity status, wasn't it?
0:09:35 > 0:09:38This is the second album, you know. This is the...
0:09:38 > 0:09:40- The difficult second album.- Yeah.
0:09:40 > 0:09:46- He was the Bob Dylan of lyricism and poetry and song.- He was.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49The fact that he has reached all the way across the water
0:09:49 > 0:09:52and then beyond, it's not amazing when you look at his work,
0:09:52 > 0:09:54because it's fantastic work. It really is.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Well, certainly here in the north of Ireland,
0:09:57 > 0:10:01it was said that there would be two books in every home.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04They would have a copy of the Bible and of Robert Burns.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Yeah, I'm strangely proud that.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Even though the man is not part of my DNA.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13But Carol's real passion is a weaver poet,
0:10:13 > 0:10:18heavily influenced by Burns. James Orr from Ballycarry in Antrim.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21I love to have an opportunity to talk about James Orr.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23My husband calls him the other man in my life.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25THEY LAUGH
0:10:25 > 0:10:26He's certainly the best known
0:10:26 > 0:10:29and the best loved of the so called weaver poets.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32We know that Orr, within his own lifetime,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35was known as the Burns of Ulster.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40Which I think maybe was flattering the first time.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Maybe if people kept calling you the Burns of Ulster,
0:10:43 > 0:10:47the compliment might start to wear a bit thin.
0:10:47 > 0:10:54James Orr first achieved fame through publishing in the Northern Star.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58The pieces that he published were real barnstorming pieces.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01And the people who set up this newspaper,
0:11:01 > 0:11:07their aim was to establish an Ireland where there was real democracy.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11And where, instead of sectarian conflict,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15you would have the common name of Irishmen.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20So their vision, really, is something that we still aspire to today.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24And when all of this political tension
0:11:24 > 0:11:28exploded in the 1798 rebellion,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Orr spent a period on the run.
0:11:31 > 0:11:37And he actually spent a period in enforced exile in America.
0:11:37 > 0:11:43So he publishes a volume of verse when he comes home in 1804.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47And there is a copy of it here.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51And like Burns,
0:11:51 > 0:11:57he writes a great deal of his best work in Braid Scotch.
0:11:57 > 0:12:03- I when approached by lasses... - MURMURS INDISTINCTLY
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Chiel. Now, chiel's a pal, isn't it?
0:12:06 > 0:12:09My grandfather used to use that word.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13I'm goin' oot wi' ma chiels, he used to say.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16Brilliant.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19I thought you might be interested, actually,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22in seeing what Orr wrote about Burns.
0:12:22 > 0:12:23Aye.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25Because he wrote an elegy
0:12:25 > 0:12:29On The Death Of Mr Robert Burns, The Ayrshire Poet.
0:12:31 > 0:12:38And you can tell from this tremendous respect that he has for Burns.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41He begins very dramatically.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45Drawing all the elements in to back up the importance
0:12:45 > 0:12:47of what he's going to say. And he says...
0:12:47 > 0:12:49The lift begot a storm to brew
0:12:49 > 0:12:52The cloudy sun was vexed and dark
0:12:52 > 0:12:54A forked flash comes glintin' through
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Before a hawk that chased a lark
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Then as I ran to reach a booth
0:12:59 > 0:13:02I met a swain an asked, "Whit news?"
0:13:02 > 0:13:05When thus he mourned the far famed youth
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Wha fills the dark an narrow hoose.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11- The dark and narrow hoose. The grave.- OK.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15And there's a real sense of a lament here when he cries out,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Oh, Burns! Oh, Burns!
0:13:17 > 0:13:19The wale o swains wi' thee
0:13:19 > 0:13:21The Scottish music fell.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23- Oh!- It's as if... - The day the music died!
0:13:23 > 0:13:25Yeah, the day the music died.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27So we're going to try another one.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32It's a brilliant song all about how easy it is to make love to
0:13:32 > 0:13:35a woman when you're wearing a Scottish kilt.
0:13:35 > 0:13:36CROWD LAUGH
0:13:36 > 0:13:40So stay a good six feet away from anybody in a Scottish kilt.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Although, I said that on stage the other night
0:13:42 > 0:13:46and somebody shouted, "Aye, six feet is nothing to an Ayrshire man!"
0:13:46 > 0:13:47CROWD LAUGH
0:13:47 > 0:13:49So this is Charlie Is My Darlin'.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52I kind of stumbled in to Burns
0:13:52 > 0:13:54because I was trying to make a traditional Scottish album.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Because I wanted to go home.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00I was fed up living in London and I felt I'd had my fill of it.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04I kind of felt that I wanted to make an album of music that was
0:14:04 > 0:14:07culturally my own. Or part of me.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09So when I was looking for traditional songs,
0:14:09 > 0:14:13all the songs I loved turned out to be Robert Burns songs.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Without me knowing that they were Robert Burns songs
0:14:16 > 0:14:18a lot of the time.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22# 'Twas on a Monday morning right early in the year
0:14:22 > 0:14:26# That Charlie came to our town, the young chevalier
0:14:26 > 0:14:30# O Charlie is my darling, my darling, my darling
0:14:30 > 0:14:34# Charlie is my darling, the young chevalier
0:14:34 > 0:14:36# As he was walking doon the street
0:14:36 > 0:14:37# The city for to view
0:14:37 > 0:14:40# O there he spied a bonnie lass
0:14:40 > 0:14:42# The windae peekin' through
0:14:42 > 0:14:46# Charlie is my darling, my darling, my darling
0:14:46 > 0:14:49# Charlie is my darling, the young chevalier... #
0:14:49 > 0:14:52I started to develop an interest in his story as well.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56And then I started to become a bit obsessed with Burns.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00And turning into the person that would bore people to death
0:15:00 > 0:15:02with him, really.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06# So light he jumped up the stairs
0:15:06 > 0:15:08# A tirl'd at the pin
0:15:08 > 0:15:12# And wha's sae ready but herself to let the laddie in?
0:15:12 > 0:15:15# Charlie is my darling, my darling, my darling
0:15:15 > 0:15:19# Charlie is my darling, the young chevalier
0:15:19 > 0:15:21# He set his Jenny on his knee
0:15:21 > 0:15:23# All in his Highland dress
0:15:23 > 0:15:25# For brawly weel he kent the way
0:15:25 > 0:15:27# To please a Highland lass
0:15:27 > 0:15:31# Charlie is my darling, my darling, my darling
0:15:31 > 0:15:35# Charlie is my darling, the young chevalier. #
0:15:43 > 0:15:45I'm having a rare time with this.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47I don't get to play with the orchestra that often.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49Of course, boys, what's it like?
0:15:49 > 0:15:53We have to put our suits on and do it...come in at the right time.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Sometimes it's a bit scary up here, you know?
0:16:00 > 0:16:07I think Burns, in his own way, was quite punk about his work.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11I mean, when you look at how he wrote, which was quite unusual, even
0:16:11 > 0:16:16though there were other poets that were writing in the Scots vernacular,
0:16:16 > 0:16:22he was definitely being awful cheeky and certainly pushing boundaries.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Just outside Ballymena is a quiet estate named after weaver poet
0:16:35 > 0:16:38David Herbison, who lived here.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41And I've found a relative, Ivan Herbison,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44to tell me more about the Bard of Dunclug.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46- How are you? - Hello.- Good to meet you.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Nice to meet you. I'm Ivan.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53You're very welcome to Ballymena and to the town of Dunclug.
0:16:53 > 0:17:00I think that though he definitely felt culturally Scotch,
0:17:00 > 0:17:06problems of identity, I think, were always close to the surface
0:17:06 > 0:17:08of the weaver poets.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10In particular,
0:17:10 > 0:17:15I think that's summed up by a little couplet from Samuel Thomson.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18The Bard of Carngranny.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Tho I'm Irish all without
0:17:20 > 0:17:23I'm every item Scotch within.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25And what about his life as a weaver?
0:17:25 > 0:17:31He was apprenticed to weaving about the age of 14.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33He developed this interest in poetry.
0:17:33 > 0:17:39With his very first wages, round about 1814,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43he walked from here to Belfast
0:17:43 > 0:17:47to buy a copy of The Poems Of Allan Ramsey.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50- How many miles is that we're talking?- About 30 miles.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53He walked 30 miles to buy Allan Ramsey's collection?
0:17:53 > 0:17:59Yes, and the following year, with his second wages saved up,
0:17:59 > 0:18:05he made the same journey to buy a copy of The Poems Of Burns.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10So, Ivan, is there maybe a poem by your relative that you think
0:18:10 > 0:18:13might have been heavily influenced by Robert Burns?
0:18:13 > 0:18:16- Is there an example you can show me? - Certainly.
0:18:16 > 0:18:23It's entitled To A Mouse That Had Cut A Portion O The Author's Web.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26The web being, not a spider's web, but the fabric.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28The fabric that he's weaving.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31..That he's slaved over. Right, OK. On you go.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33My curse upon you for a mouse
0:18:33 > 0:18:35You're grown of late sae very crouse
0:18:35 > 0:18:37You never fail to range the house
0:18:37 > 0:18:38Frae wa' to wa'
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Destroying things that are o' use when I'm awa
0:18:41 > 0:18:44While e'er you kept frae aff the loom
0:18:44 > 0:18:46I ne'er was seen to scowl or gloom
0:18:46 > 0:18:50But when you there began to toom your swollen bags
0:18:50 > 0:18:52I hunted you frae room to room
0:18:52 > 0:18:54Wi' poison'd rags
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Aye, aye! You've done the deed at last!
0:18:58 > 0:19:01And now are held in fetters fast!
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Your cares and troubles a' are past
0:19:05 > 0:19:07I'll sing again
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Through a' the house, the joyfu' blast
0:19:10 > 0:19:13Death has you ta'en.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15SHE LAUGHS
0:19:15 > 0:19:16Brilliant.
0:19:16 > 0:19:22Nothing like Burns' poem but...the opposite of Burns' To A Mouse.
0:19:22 > 0:19:27Exactly! Burns is sympathising with the mouse. That's why I chose it.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32Because it might seem that there's an imitation of Burns there,
0:19:32 > 0:19:34but it's a very different poem.
0:19:34 > 0:19:40And in fact, David Herbison was asked to recite this poem
0:19:40 > 0:19:45in houses where people had trouble with mice.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Next door is the cemetery where Herbison is buried
0:19:50 > 0:19:54and in which stands a very impressive memorial to him.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03There's Taggart, McCallum, a lot of Scots names.
0:20:03 > 0:20:04Andrew.
0:20:08 > 0:20:09There's the monument.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18A thistle and a shamrock... together on the monument.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Hiya, David. Well done.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25Being looked after by the community as a poet.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27I salute you.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30Congratulations.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32You did it for all poets.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37May you rest in peace.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59BIRDSONG
0:21:02 > 0:21:07# And we'll all go together
0:21:07 > 0:21:14# To pluck wild mountain thyme
0:21:14 > 0:21:19# All around the purple heather
0:21:19 > 0:21:25# Will ye go, lassie, go? #
0:21:25 > 0:21:28# Midnight... #
0:21:28 > 0:21:33These weaver poets, I'm proud that they admired Robert Burns so much
0:21:33 > 0:21:38that they took him into their own lives
0:21:38 > 0:21:39and spread the word about him.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43Because the one thing I do believe in is that poetry and song
0:21:43 > 0:21:45has no borders whatsoever.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50It's fantastic to be able to take a song from your culture and spread it
0:21:50 > 0:21:57and go over to India, Japan, Australia, and express yourself.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01And, in fact, I do know that the Maoris in New Zealand,
0:22:01 > 0:22:06when you go to new Zealand, you have to go and witness the Haka
0:22:06 > 0:22:08and you have to be initiated.
0:22:08 > 0:22:15They have to say welcome and in their welcoming they ask you to sing a song
0:22:15 > 0:22:18from your grandfather or your grandmother.
0:22:18 > 0:22:24And when I asked them why, they said, "So we know who you are."
0:22:24 > 0:22:28# Beauty is within grasp
0:22:28 > 0:22:32# Hear the heavens call
0:22:32 > 0:22:36# The last mile is upon us
0:22:36 > 0:22:40# I'll carry you if you fall
0:22:40 > 0:22:45# I know the armour's heavy now
0:22:45 > 0:22:49# I know the heart inside
0:22:49 > 0:22:56# It's beautiful just over the wild mountainside
0:22:56 > 0:23:01# Snow is falling all over
0:23:01 > 0:23:05# Out of clear blue skies
0:23:05 > 0:23:09# Crow is flying high over
0:23:09 > 0:23:13# You and I are gonna wander
0:23:13 > 0:23:17# High up where the air is rare
0:23:17 > 0:23:21# Wild horses ride
0:23:21 > 0:23:25# It's beautiful, let's go roaming
0:23:25 > 0:23:29# The wild mountainside... #
0:23:31 > 0:23:37Knowing who you are, combining words, verse and music is so important.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40One man who shares my passion for this is Willie Drennan.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43I didn't really understand until I was about 15 or 16.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47I saw this book on a library shelf at school,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50picked it up and I was absolutely hooked from there on in.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52I was into Bob Dylan at the time,
0:23:52 > 0:23:58so I noticed some of the revolutionary similarities between Rabbie Burns and Bob Dylan.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01And then the language was absolutely fascinating, you know.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04And he was read in Belfast by the intellectuals.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08And his songs have been sung by the workers in the fields in County Antrim.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Crosses all genres, divides.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Crosses all divides, as far as I'm aware, you know.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Even in Scotland it's the same.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21What one of Burns were you fond of? What was the one you read in the school?
0:24:21 > 0:24:25It was A Man's A Man For A' That that really impressed me at first,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28because it was all those revolutionary ideas
0:24:28 > 0:24:30about equal opportunity for everybody in life.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34And it was through a friend of mine whose mother was into Rabbie Burns
0:24:34 > 0:24:37and she told me about the weaver poets and I'd never heard tell of them.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41I find that quite criminal that you've never heard of the weaver poets
0:24:41 > 0:24:44- in your own place, where they came from. - Criminal it was, aye.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48What's wonderful about the weaver poets is you're getting little...
0:24:48 > 0:24:54It's almost like, here's this little tapestry from life's rich pageant
0:24:54 > 0:24:59- and here's my wee bit, and look how wonderful it was for me.- Aye.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01And this is my experience.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Like a little videogram from centuries ago.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09- Have you recorded any of these? - Aye. Even though some were written as ballads,
0:25:09 > 0:25:15there were no tunes mentioned that I could discover, so I made up my own wee tunes.
0:25:15 > 0:25:16I'd love to hear one.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20I'm fed up talking about the poetry. Would you sing us a bit?
0:25:23 > 0:25:28- I believe you'll know this tune. - Sitting back.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03# Lassies all... # Yeah, cool.
0:26:03 > 0:26:04On it goes.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07# Heartsome is the clock and o
0:26:07 > 0:26:08# Heartsome is the clock and o
0:26:08 > 0:26:11# Where every hour I hae to spare
0:26:11 > 0:26:15# Is passed in mirth and lachan o... #
0:26:15 > 0:26:16And then he says...
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Maiden, maiden, hands are dear The bowler that he's haudin' o
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Wi' carcass, claes, blood and beer
0:26:22 > 0:26:24The flower is lying-o...
0:26:24 > 0:26:27That is quite dense for me.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32I have trouble understanding what that is but I can hear Scots in it.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36Would you be tempted to adjust it so the clarity of meaning comes out?
0:26:36 > 0:26:39From an academic point of view, it can get very boring
0:26:39 > 0:26:41if you're reciting poetry that nobody understands.
0:26:41 > 0:26:47- Exactly.- But I think there's a way of delivering it in short verses
0:26:47 > 0:26:50and explaining that this is what it's about.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53That poem there was about the Ballycarry Fair
0:26:53 > 0:26:57where people would go to the fair and then afterwards they would have a wee drink
0:26:57 > 0:27:00and a wee dance and have a wee fight.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03- Yeah.- And that's really what it's all about.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06I want to thank you for making the attempt to get
0:27:06 > 0:27:10some of these poor wee guys' works at least into people's lugs,
0:27:10 > 0:27:15because I don't think people listen to poetry as much as they listen to song.
0:27:15 > 0:27:21And perhaps some of the kids at school might learn a few of those tunes with those words,
0:27:21 > 0:27:28- which they will in turn teach their children and beyond. - Aye. Let's hope so.
0:27:38 > 0:27:43I was very surprised to find that these poets are not in every school,
0:27:43 > 0:27:49there's not a book in every school for kids, for young girls and young boys to be inspired by.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Cos that's what I think these poets would do for language here.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56If they want to keep it, you've got to teach the kids.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58And the kids have got to have fun with it.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Particularly, it would be great if some of the poetry could be done as song.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05That's the way to spread the word about poetry,
0:28:05 > 0:28:10to turn it into something that people do recite in pubs in a hundred years' time.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21It might seem strange these days, but 200 years ago
0:28:21 > 0:28:25it was common for poetry to be published in the papers.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28This meant the working-class poets reached a wide readership
0:28:28 > 0:28:31and sometimes even gained a celebrity status.
0:28:31 > 0:28:36The Central Library in Belfast has a remarkable collection of newspapers,
0:28:36 > 0:28:43including early publications of the Belfast Newsletter dating right back to 1739.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46Dr Jennie Orr studies Burns as well as Ulster's weaver poets.
0:28:46 > 0:28:51Her particular fascination is Samuel Thomson, the Bard of Carngranny,
0:28:51 > 0:28:54who we do know actually met Robert Burns.
0:28:54 > 0:28:59Thomson's an interesting character because although he's traditionally classed as a weaver poet,
0:28:59 > 0:29:01he was in fact a schoolmaster.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03- OK. - So he's from County Antrim.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05He's in charge of a lot of young minds
0:29:05 > 0:29:08and he's also started a literary coterie.
0:29:08 > 0:29:13He's got other poets writing to him and he's lending them volumes of verse.
0:29:13 > 0:29:17So he was very much the guy who promoted Burns among these other poets.
0:29:17 > 0:29:22- OK, so he feels almost like he owns him in a lot of ways. - I suppose he does, yeah.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26- And managing his fame and... - Managing his reputation, absolutely.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31A lot of the poems introduced into these newspapers were done by Thomson.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34Thomson went to Scotland, he met with Burns,
0:29:34 > 0:29:39he took down Burns's poems, came back and into the newspaper they went.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42- Some man. He spread the word. - Hmm.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44Great. We'll find out more about that.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47- Shall we have a coffee? - That would be lovely.- Let's do that.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00Let's talk about Burns and his connection with him.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03Samuel Thomson actually wrote to Burns
0:30:03 > 0:30:07and in 1794 Thomson travelled to Scotland to see his hero.
0:30:07 > 0:30:13- Has he left writings or diaries? - We have one letter, and Burns actually sent a volume of poetry,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16- Robert Fergusson's poetry, over to Thomson in Ireland.- Lovely.
0:30:16 > 0:30:23And in exchange, Burns received a bit of snuff from Thomson. Some Dublin Lundy Foot snuff.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27Written by Mr Thomas Sloan on behalf of Mr Robert Burns,
0:30:27 > 0:30:30to Mr Samuel Thomson of Templepatrick.
0:30:52 > 0:31:00But he remains influenced by that romanticism within Burns, that need to celebrate the Scottish people,
0:31:00 > 0:31:02celebrate your own culture.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05And for Thomson, obviously, that's Ulster,
0:31:05 > 0:31:09but Burns provided a good model for how that could be done.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12EDDI SINGS TO HERSELF
0:31:22 > 0:31:27I'm in the heart of County Down on my way to a small town called Rathfriland.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31This wonderful rural landscape provided inspiration to many of the Ulster poets,
0:31:31 > 0:31:37including Hugh Porter, a farmer-weaver who lived near the village in Moneyslane.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40I've arranged to meet Dr Frank Ferguson
0:31:40 > 0:31:43and I'm curious to know why we're meeting in this particular place.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Well, we're here today in Rathfriland Library
0:31:46 > 0:31:49because Hugh Porter came to Rathfriland
0:31:49 > 0:31:54and he was attracted by the book society that they had.
0:31:54 > 0:32:01And Porter was from a generation that books where finally made available to people like him.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05They were storehouses of poetry and song and information.
0:32:05 > 0:32:11And that's why this place is so important.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15And you can actually come here and you can take his book off the shelf.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18Something that he would have loved, to know
0:32:18 > 0:32:20that his book was still available
0:32:20 > 0:32:22and still available to the people of Rathfriland.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26Can you tell me who he was as a man, his life, a little bit about that?
0:32:26 > 0:32:30There are stories about his early life that maybe he was a United Irishman,
0:32:30 > 0:32:32maybe a bit of a radical,
0:32:32 > 0:32:37but after the United Irish rebellion, when people were trying to rebrand themselves,
0:32:37 > 0:32:40Porter began getting a reputation as a poet.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44Burns is kind of the template, kind of the hero
0:32:44 > 0:32:48and kind of the inspiration for him to get started.
0:32:48 > 0:32:54And for him, it was the way to avoid the drudgery of working on the farm or working at the loom.
0:32:54 > 0:32:59I'd really like you to point me in the direction of an example of his work.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04If you want to see the basic influence of Burns coming out in Porter's work,
0:33:04 > 0:33:10his answer to Burns' Lovely Jean is probably one of the key things.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14Because we have Burns here,
0:33:14 > 0:33:20Porter is pretending to be the character from Burns' poem
0:33:20 > 0:33:22- speaking to him after Burns is dead. - OK.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26'In Burns' original poem, he's expressing his love for his wife Jean,
0:33:26 > 0:33:31'but Porter has turned things around writing from Jean's point of view, lamenting the death of her husband.'
0:33:31 > 0:33:38It's so lovely. He's being Jean and he's painting a picture of what it would be like without him now.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40She'll "fill my Robin's room". Now Robin...
0:33:40 > 0:33:45That just breaks my heart, because Robin is Robert Burns's pet name.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49So he's using the fact that Jean would have called him Robin,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52and I find that really touching.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55- Would you read some for me?- Sure.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58- I want to hear what it will sound like with your accent.- OK.
0:33:58 > 0:33:59I'll do my best.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02My Burns is gone I'm left alone
0:34:02 > 0:34:04My dearest spouse no more
0:34:04 > 0:34:07Shall bless my arms and praise my charms
0:34:07 > 0:34:09And tell them o'er and o'er
0:34:09 > 0:34:11We baith confess'd We baith were bless'd
0:34:11 > 0:34:16But O! transportin' scene Too soon ye fled, my Burns is dead
0:34:16 > 0:34:19And I'm no more his Jean.
0:34:20 > 0:34:26And I love this poem because this is a man writing about another man.
0:34:26 > 0:34:32And it shows a real sense of, you know, of...real closeness and affection.
0:34:32 > 0:34:38And, you know, Porter's finding a way to really express his sense of loss.
0:34:38 > 0:34:44- Yeah.- And it profoundly shows the connection between Ulster and Scotland.
0:34:44 > 0:34:51Because you have the language there, but you also have the sense of how poetry can connect people.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54One of his poems seems to be
0:34:54 > 0:35:00exactly the metre of For A' That... A Man's A Man For A' That,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03- which is Burns's fantastic poem. - Oh, yeah. Song On Marriage.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06You've got it? It's called The Song On Marriage.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09I noticed it and thought that's fantastic.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11For example...
0:35:11 > 0:35:14# The day has come my bonny bride
0:35:14 > 0:35:17# That ye're my ain an' all that
0:35:17 > 0:35:21# Till death we mun together bide
0:35:21 > 0:35:26# They say it is a law that
0:35:26 > 0:35:30# The law that, the law that
0:35:30 > 0:35:32# It is an unco law that... #
0:35:32 > 0:35:34An unco law that.
0:35:34 > 0:35:39# ..The knot that ties for life it is
0:35:39 > 0:35:42# A knot that would not draw that. #
0:35:42 > 0:35:47And there's the word "unco", which I know they only speak in Ayrshire.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51I only went there a couple of months ago and I met a drunk man in the street
0:35:51 > 0:35:54and he said, "I'm getting fu' and unco happy!"
0:35:54 > 0:35:58Which is a very typical Ayrshire saying for getting drunk.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01- And straight out of Burns as well. - Straight out of Burns.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04And I think what you showed by singing that
0:36:04 > 0:36:11is the layers of connection that people would have realised when they opened this book in County Down,
0:36:11 > 0:36:18that it wasn't just the poetry that connected County Down to Scotland,
0:36:18 > 0:36:20- it was the song as well.- Music.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23They feel themselves very much... nearly the same community.
0:36:23 > 0:36:29- Yeah.- Rathfriland is not that far away from Ayrshire.
0:36:29 > 0:36:34- Hmm.- It might be a good idea now to actually go Porter's village, Moneyslane,
0:36:34 > 0:36:40- to get a sense of the world that he came from.- Aye. Love to.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50This is Moneyslane.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54This would have been the closest village to where Hugh Porter lived.
0:36:54 > 0:37:00And it's the place that he sort of takes on as his bardic name.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02He's Hugh Porter of Moneyslane.
0:37:02 > 0:37:03This would have been his turf.
0:37:03 > 0:37:08He would always have felt himself attached to this part of the country.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10And he really didn't move.
0:37:10 > 0:37:15His world would have kind of been where he could walk to.
0:37:15 > 0:37:17How beautiful is that view!
0:37:17 > 0:37:21- This is sort of the imprint of the past here.- Hmm.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24You could imagine him sitting in an evening...
0:37:24 > 0:37:28sitting on a wall somewhere talking to his friends.
0:37:28 > 0:37:35You get a sense of somebody who has to get the job at hand done before he can write.
0:37:35 > 0:37:36He's a weaver-farmer.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41So we get the sense of him even telling the muse in some poems
0:37:41 > 0:37:48that his web of linen has to be put out to bleach in the sun before he can actually talk to her.
0:37:48 > 0:37:55It's a massive fight to be a human in society and be free enough in your head
0:37:55 > 0:37:58to allow creativity to happen.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03# Ae fond kiss
0:38:03 > 0:38:07# And then we sever
0:38:08 > 0:38:14# Ae fareweel, alas for ever
0:38:15 > 0:38:21# Deep in heart-rung tears I'll pledge thee
0:38:23 > 0:38:27# Warring sighs
0:38:27 > 0:38:33# And groans I'll wage thee... #
0:38:38 > 0:38:40What I've found are kindred spirits.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44First of all, I share a love of Burns with them and I understand them completely.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48I know exactly what they got out of him, because it's the same thing I've got
0:38:48 > 0:38:53and still have every time I dip into him and rediscover him all over again.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55And now I've got new guys to tap into.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59And I'm really in love with this idea that these guys were coming up
0:38:59 > 0:39:01with poetry while they were at the loom.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04Normal life gives you so many rhythms.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07So mostly I've got this visual picture of these people
0:39:07 > 0:39:09that, if I had met them, we would have had a great drink.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12And it seems to me that they're still alive today.
0:39:12 > 0:39:18# ..I wish
0:39:20 > 0:39:26# That you could show
0:39:33 > 0:39:39# That you could show
0:39:51 > 0:39:53# Bye-bye
0:39:55 > 0:39:57# Bye-bye
0:39:58 > 0:40:01# Bye-bye. #
0:40:31 > 0:40:35So here I am, on the way to Donegal, and I love the way they talk.
0:40:35 > 0:40:36It's...
0:40:36 > 0:40:40I just stare at them and even if they're saying something serious
0:40:40 > 0:40:43they've got to shake me, because all I'm hearing is...
0:40:43 > 0:40:46SHE IMITATES SINGSONG ACCENT
0:40:50 > 0:40:55It's just wonderful. It throws me, accents. I think...
0:40:55 > 0:40:59I hear a song in everything and...
0:40:59 > 0:41:04certainly the voices here just make me think everybody's singing.
0:41:04 > 0:41:09So here we are, going across the Craigavon Bridge, into Derry.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13It's quite spectacular.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23'We're heading into Donegal, because it too was home to weaver poets.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26'Donegal was a big part of the Ulster Scots story
0:41:26 > 0:41:29'and this landscape reminds me so much of parts of Scotland.'
0:41:29 > 0:41:34Beautiful rolling countryside. It's kind of similar to Ayrshire.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36There's a group of people I'm meeting
0:41:36 > 0:41:38that say they speak in the hamely tongue.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41It's definitely the hamely smell, anyway.
0:41:43 > 0:41:44Phew!
0:41:57 > 0:42:00'I've seen a lot of the Scots influence in the language of the weaver poets,
0:42:00 > 0:42:03'but I'm keen to know how much it can be still heard today.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06'Jacqui Reed has invited me to her home
0:42:06 > 0:42:11'along with a couple of friends from across the border in the North, Ann Morrison Smyth and Gary Blair.'
0:42:11 > 0:42:15Can you tell me about how much of the language from Scotland
0:42:15 > 0:42:17has survived through the generations
0:42:17 > 0:42:21and stays here in this part of the world?
0:42:21 > 0:42:23Well, I think Donegal would be a great speaking zone.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27But where we live, in North Antrim, would likely I think be the strongest.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30Definitely a lot of the Scottish words have survived there,
0:42:30 > 0:42:34but I do believe that the language has always been there, that it didnae come with the plantation.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38And the ancient kingdom of Dal Riata, of course,
0:42:38 > 0:42:42was partly in Ulster, in the north-east, where County Antrim would be today,
0:42:42 > 0:42:45and the western part of Scotland, what's now Scotland.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48And that was one kingdom.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52Divided by water but one kingdom, and one kingship ruled it,
0:42:52 > 0:42:55until Fergus moved over to Scotland to sort it out.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57Aye, to sort us out!
0:42:57 > 0:43:02Ah, the accent's marvellous. I can hear it all coming in very...
0:43:02 > 0:43:05I mean, you're using words that I...don't use, but...
0:43:05 > 0:43:09Well, funny, I seen Eddi on TV the other night and she was talking
0:43:09 > 0:43:12about Rabbie Burns, and she said she thought he was steaming
0:43:12 > 0:43:15- when he wrote this. And I was, "Oh, God!"- So you knew what that was?
0:43:15 > 0:43:20- I knew what it meant.- Oh, we use steaming here.- Do you?- Aye.
0:43:20 > 0:43:24- It's a good word.- Aye, and look at what it represents.
0:43:24 > 0:43:29You can see the steam coming off of somebody, like... Wonderful.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32It's great to hear it today as well, it's alive, still alive.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34Aye. And when it's raw.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37It's nice if you come to a speaking zone
0:43:37 > 0:43:39and can hear the raw Ulster Scots being spoken.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41When I went to school, our teacher, Mrs Calhoun,
0:43:41 > 0:43:43we had elocution lessons,
0:43:43 > 0:43:47because we talked broad, you know, doon, dour, oxsters,
0:43:47 > 0:43:52all those words were classed as broad, and if you wanted
0:43:52 > 0:43:56to go to university or if you wanted a job you didn't speak like that.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58So I can still see her going, "Tee...tee..."
0:43:58 > 0:44:02Like pulling the thread through your teeth for pronunciation.
0:44:02 > 0:44:07Well, there was, not very long ago, a time when actresses and actors
0:44:07 > 0:44:11had to use Received Pronunciation just to get a part down south,
0:44:11 > 0:44:14and I think it was Billy Connolly that said,
0:44:14 > 0:44:16and it was a magical thing he said,
0:44:16 > 0:44:20that when some people down south said...
0:44:20 > 0:44:24- RP ACCENT:- "I can't understand a word you're saying,"
0:44:24 > 0:44:26and then he would say,
0:44:26 > 0:44:30"But you can put on Neighbours and understand somebody that's
0:44:30 > 0:44:35"5,000 miles away from you. So, you know, make a wee bit of effort."
0:44:35 > 0:44:37And it's wonderful hearing you
0:44:37 > 0:44:39because I thought it might be difficult and it isn't
0:44:39 > 0:44:42and I can hear it flowing, and all I'm getting from it,
0:44:42 > 0:44:48- as I was saying earlier, I get the singsong in respect of the voice... - CONVERSATION FADES OUT
0:44:48 > 0:44:52- It was a wonderful night last night. - Yeah, I really enjoyed it.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57It was so lovely going over the language and the comparisons of the words.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59I couldn't believe what I was hearing, actually, to be honest,
0:44:59 > 0:45:04and I'm sure there's a lot of people would have been flummoxed
0:45:04 > 0:45:05by following it,
0:45:05 > 0:45:11- just because it's so...it bounces from so many different roots.- Yes.
0:45:11 > 0:45:17- So we're going up to the... An Grainne, is it?- An Grianan.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21- An Grianan, An Grianan.- An Grianan Aileach.- An Grianan Aileach.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25- Fort of the Sun. - The Fort of the Sun.- Yeah.- Gorgeous.
0:45:27 > 0:45:34When I first heard Ann and Gary speaking, it was...
0:45:34 > 0:45:38It was quite remarkable what it did to me, because I could hear...
0:45:38 > 0:45:45It was almost like...there was... one part of the sentence...
0:45:45 > 0:45:49In a seven-word sentence you would get the dialects
0:45:49 > 0:45:54of Ayrshire, Shetland, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Dumfries and Ulster, all in the one...
0:45:54 > 0:45:58- Sentence.- In the one sentence.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01'The Fort of the Sun. Brilliant name.
0:46:01 > 0:46:06'And we're heading there because this area was home to a poet called Sarah Leech,
0:46:06 > 0:46:09'one of only a couple of female weaver poets that we know about.'
0:46:09 > 0:46:12I can't imagine that you could not be affected lyrically
0:46:12 > 0:46:16- and poetically by just looking out at this.- Yeah.
0:46:16 > 0:46:21And it was simple poetry, you know, about the land and about the fairies
0:46:21 > 0:46:25and the wee folk and, you know, the stories that were told,
0:46:25 > 0:46:28- or the thrashing or the harvest. - I mean, look at that.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31It just gets better as you go up.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34The area of water that you see down here, that's Lough Swilly,
0:46:34 > 0:46:38but locally it's called the Lake of Shadows. It's beautiful.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40If you look now you can just kind of see that there's
0:46:40 > 0:46:44the shadows of the mountains, their dark reflection on the water.
0:46:44 > 0:46:48And there would be quite a few local poems and stories about it,
0:46:48 > 0:46:52about their love and the Lake of Shadows, and...yeah.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56That's what I love about the use of language, is that it would be
0:46:56 > 0:46:59a local language that would call it that, not an official kind of...
0:46:59 > 0:47:02- what we're supposed to call the area.- Yes.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06But the locals would call it the Lake of Shadows and use that romantic....
0:47:06 > 0:47:08- And use it romantically in their writing.- Yes.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11So this is the entrance.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15I'll let you go in first, Eddi, just to let you take it all in.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18Oh, my goodness. This is a lovely place for a gig, I think.
0:47:18 > 0:47:23# Mona Lisa, Oh, oh, oh, oh
0:47:23 > 0:47:24# Hup! #
0:47:24 > 0:47:27It's amazing. It's just bouncing round.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30- If I take you up these steps up here.- OK.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32And you can take in the view.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38Wow, look at that. That is just amazing, stunning,
0:47:38 > 0:47:40and this is what would have inspired Sarah Leech.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42- She was gambolling around here, was she?- It is.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45And that's one of the reasons I brought you up here,
0:47:45 > 0:47:48because, if you look directly across here,
0:47:48 > 0:47:51down through the valley there, and that far, distant hill,
0:47:51 > 0:47:52that's Binnion Hill,
0:47:52 > 0:47:56and at the bottom of Binnion Hill is Sarah Leech's home place,
0:47:56 > 0:47:58- and it's a wee place called Lettergull.- Lettergull.
0:47:58 > 0:48:03- Lettergull.- I have a wee poem here that she's written.
0:48:06 > 0:48:11Oh, she's leaving it in this bit, this verse. "But fare ye weel.
0:48:11 > 0:48:15"May you have clothes," or, "May you ha'e claes,
0:48:15 > 0:48:18"Wi' health to roam about the braes,
0:48:18 > 0:48:22"And Guid preserve you a' your days, Frae Satan's reach,
0:48:22 > 0:48:26"Is what the muse sincerely prays. Yours - Sarah Leech."
0:48:26 > 0:48:29- So she's addressed herself in her own poetry.- She has, yes.
0:48:29 > 0:48:31She would have worked on the spinning wheel,
0:48:31 > 0:48:34so whenever you're doing her poems, they have that rhythm.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37Around the ages of 16, she lost her eyesight,
0:48:37 > 0:48:40probably measles or poor light from working.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43So, by the time that these were being published,
0:48:43 > 0:48:46in the Londonderry Journal, which was the local paper,
0:48:46 > 0:48:48she would have been blind at that point.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52It wasn't until after she died that her actual poetry was published
0:48:52 > 0:48:56in a book, and as far as we're aware we've only come across the one book.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58- There she is, look. - That's her there, yes.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00She's holding a book in this hand
0:49:00 > 0:49:04and she's got the spinning going on in this hand. That's her inkwell.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06Her inkwell, so that she would have been ready to write,
0:49:06 > 0:49:10for inspiration that would have come.
0:49:10 > 0:49:17# My luve is like a red, red rose
0:49:17 > 0:49:21# That's newly sprung in June
0:49:21 > 0:49:27# My heart is like a melodie
0:49:27 > 0:49:31# That's sweetly play'd in tune
0:49:31 > 0:49:37# As fair art thou, my bonnie lad
0:49:37 > 0:49:43# So deep in luve am I
0:49:43 > 0:49:49# And I will luve thee still, my dear
0:49:49 > 0:49:53# Till a' the seas gang dry
0:49:55 > 0:50:02# Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear
0:50:02 > 0:50:07# And the rocks melt wi' the sun
0:50:07 > 0:50:12# And I will luve thee still, my dear
0:50:12 > 0:50:16# Though the sands o' life shall run
0:50:16 > 0:50:23# But fare thee weel, my only luve
0:50:23 > 0:50:28# Fare thee weel, a while!
0:50:28 > 0:50:33# And I will come again, my dear
0:50:33 > 0:50:39# Tho' it were ten thousand miles... #
0:50:44 > 0:50:48'There's a few miles between us but this has been a wonderful journey
0:50:48 > 0:50:51'finding a love of Burns that matches my own at home.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55'But home is never defined by borders.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58'We're at home with each other when we share our art
0:50:58 > 0:51:00'and similarities of our cultural heritage.
0:51:00 > 0:51:05'Art is about life. Of course, life isn't about art.'
0:51:05 > 0:51:10# My luve is like a red, red rose
0:51:10 > 0:51:14# That's newly sprung in June
0:51:14 > 0:51:20# My heart is like a melodie
0:51:20 > 0:51:24# That's sweetly play'd in tune
0:51:24 > 0:51:30# As fair art thou, my bonnie lad
0:51:30 > 0:51:35# So deep in luve am I
0:51:35 > 0:51:41# And I will luve thee still, my dear
0:51:41 > 0:51:46# Till a' the seas gang dry
0:51:46 > 0:51:51# And I will luve thee still, my dear
0:51:51 > 0:51:56# Till a'
0:51:56 > 0:52:01# A' the seas
0:52:01 > 0:52:05# Gang dry. #
0:52:12 > 0:52:15'At the heart of the movement of Scots into Donegal
0:52:15 > 0:52:19'was the little village of Ramelton, close to where Sarah Leech lived.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21'Thousands arrived here from Scotland,
0:52:21 > 0:52:25'bringing the language and poetry of their native land with them.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28'Jacqui has brought me to meet Celine McGlynn,
0:52:28 > 0:52:31'who shares her enthusiasm for the work of Sarah Leech.'
0:52:31 > 0:52:34There must have been another female writers
0:52:34 > 0:52:37involved in the linen industry and...
0:52:37 > 0:52:41Where are they and what happened to them? Where's their work?
0:52:41 > 0:52:43Undoubtedly there are other female poets,
0:52:43 > 0:52:47and female weaver poets, who have fallen through the cracks,
0:52:47 > 0:52:51and a lot of women who were published were published under
0:52:51 > 0:52:54male pseudonyms as well, so Sarah Leech was very lucky,
0:52:54 > 0:52:58and we're very lucky that the potential in her work was recognised.
0:52:58 > 0:53:04Do you have direct proof that she was influenced by Burns in her writing?
0:53:04 > 0:53:08There's one poem in particular addressed to a mouse,
0:53:08 > 0:53:13and it's...it's got a resonance with his poem.
0:53:13 > 0:53:19This is the second time I've heard a poem by a poet, a weaver poet,
0:53:19 > 0:53:23referencing To A Mouse. The other one was David Herbison.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27Burns' To A Mouse is talking about how they share the dominion here,
0:53:27 > 0:53:30and they're equals, the mouse and the man,
0:53:30 > 0:53:34and David Herbison, his poem was more about how you
0:53:34 > 0:53:38get rid of them, because they're a nuisance. So how does she...
0:53:38 > 0:53:42- How's her take on it?- Sarah's poem was on killing a mouse in harvest.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46Hers was her guilt. She'd felt so bad, because, as she said...
0:53:46 > 0:53:49- It was accidental.- Yeah, with the reaping hook,
0:53:49 > 0:53:52the hook that they would have taken the green with.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54And she just felt so bad because she was saying,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57such a wee creature, that it didn't deserve to die.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01And the same way as Burns relates it to man
0:54:01 > 0:54:04and man's place in the world and the way of things,
0:54:04 > 0:54:07she does the same thing at the end of the poem, you know,
0:54:07 > 0:54:10that man is so vain that he doesn't see actually that he's
0:54:10 > 0:54:13on the same level playing field as the wee mouse now dead on the floor.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16Would you mind reading me the last verse?
0:54:16 > 0:54:22"Alas, vain man cannot foresee, or such misfortunes he would flee
0:54:22 > 0:54:28"Frail helpless creature much like thee, beset wi' woes
0:54:28 > 0:54:34"Still hoping better days to see, he onward goes."
0:54:34 > 0:54:36It really mirrors Burns' poem,
0:54:36 > 0:54:40because Burns says all you've got is what's ahead,
0:54:40 > 0:54:46and it's full of woe and fear, and it is quite a vulnerable poem from Burns.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48You know, he's worried about the future.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52We're in this beautiful setting. I just wondered if, could we get another poem?
0:54:52 > 0:54:55Could we get you to read a little bit of Sarah
0:54:55 > 0:54:57and we imagine she's here with us?
0:54:57 > 0:55:04Um, she has a beautiful poem here, and it's called The Wish.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07She's so contented with her life, and you're thinking,
0:55:07 > 0:55:10at the age of 21, that's where her life stopped.
0:55:10 > 0:55:11She made it no further,
0:55:11 > 0:55:15but she's not looking for anything or wanting anything else.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17She's totally contented.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21I get such a feeling of wealth when I read this poem.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24I think it's one of the most beautiful pieces I've ever read.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26Well, it's the truth, that's what art does,
0:55:26 > 0:55:30it makes you all the better for experiencing it.
0:55:30 > 0:55:31The Wish.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35"The great of pedigree may vaunt For that I little care
0:55:35 > 0:55:39"Ye powers let me have rhyming can't Of common sense a share
0:55:40 > 0:55:42"Gi'e me a bale gown for my back
0:55:42 > 0:55:47"Let not my food be stinted For wealth I dinna care a plack
0:55:47 > 0:55:49"I'm with my lot contented
0:55:49 > 0:55:52"Let some clear streamlet be my drink
0:55:52 > 0:55:54"Where bonnie flow'rets waver
0:55:54 > 0:55:59"There I shall sit upon the brink And woo the Muses' favour."
0:56:01 > 0:56:03# Mmm
0:56:03 > 0:56:10# Should auld acquaintance be forgot
0:56:10 > 0:56:18# And never brought to mind?
0:56:18 > 0:56:22# Should auld acquaintance be forgot
0:56:22 > 0:56:27# And days of auld lang syne
0:56:27 > 0:56:34# Aye, for auld lang syne, my jo
0:56:34 > 0:56:39# For auld lang syne
0:56:39 > 0:56:45# We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet
0:56:45 > 0:56:53# For the days of auld lang syne... #
0:56:53 > 0:56:55I'd have loved to have met Robert Burns.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58I'd love to take Robert Burns by the hand
0:56:58 > 0:57:01and take him to all these places that know him.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03And I think he would have been amazed.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08What Burns did for me, which is I think what he did for the poets,
0:57:08 > 0:57:13was reveal to them that it was OK to sing in your own voice.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16And of course I was aware of that before
0:57:16 > 0:57:20but certainly with the weaver poets it sounds like to me
0:57:20 > 0:57:24that things that they maybe had been told to tone down,
0:57:24 > 0:57:30they were allowed to erupt and make bloom and flow, kind of,
0:57:30 > 0:57:32in a beautiful way.
0:57:32 > 0:57:37"My curse upon you for a mouse You're grown of late sae very crouse
0:57:37 > 0:57:40"You never fail to range the house Frae wa' to wa',
0:57:40 > 0:57:43"Destroying things that are o' use When I'm awa."
0:57:46 > 0:57:50It's kind of touching to know that human beings continue to create
0:57:50 > 0:57:52and will always create and will never stop
0:57:52 > 0:57:58and that all we have to do is say, it's OK to do it. Do it.
0:57:58 > 0:58:00Don't stop, do it.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04And never be scared to use your own voice,
0:58:04 > 0:58:08and never be scared to... to say what you mean.
0:58:09 > 0:58:15# And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
0:58:15 > 0:58:21# And gie's a hand o' thine!
0:58:21 > 0:58:28# We'll tak a right gude-willy waught
0:58:28 > 0:58:35# For auld lang syne
0:58:35 > 0:58:41# For auld lang syne, my dear
0:58:41 > 0:58:48# For auld lang syne
0:58:48 > 0:58:55# We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet
0:58:55 > 0:59:01# For the days of auld lang syne. #