0:00:03 > 0:00:05Hello and welcome to Santer.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Coming up on the programme,
0:00:11 > 0:00:14the Low Country Boys find out about the "herring fever" in Portavogie.
0:00:14 > 0:00:15There was only one cure,
0:00:15 > 0:00:17the herring brocht, that cured the fever.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19It come out of the water - it wasn't in a pill.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22Mark Wilson travels to the South Island
0:00:22 > 0:00:23on his journey in New Zealand.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25We are in Killinchy?
0:00:25 > 0:00:30We are in Killinchy and it was named after its namesake in County Down.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33We pay another visit to a Reading House from the 1800s.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37These poets are part of our literary and cultural history
0:00:37 > 0:00:39of the people here within the North of Ireland.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43And Liam Logan chats to Elaine Agnew about her BBC Proms
0:00:43 > 0:00:47composition that was inspired by the dark hedges near Stranocum.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Every night there's the Grey Lady comes and she whooshes
0:00:49 > 0:00:51and streams her way through the trees.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55So, with that image comes fabulous, kind of, atmospheric sounds.
0:01:02 > 0:01:03But, to start off with,
0:01:03 > 0:01:05music from Session Beat.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06Reading Houses provided the country folk
0:03:06 > 0:03:09with a lot of their entertainment in the early 1800s,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11and yinst again we're going to go back in time
0:03:11 > 0:03:12to hear some of the poetry
0:03:12 > 0:03:15that would have been read at these gatherings.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18NO AUDIBLE DIALOGUE
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Well, essentially, Reading Houses were very much a time for people
0:03:27 > 0:03:29to get together socially,
0:03:29 > 0:03:31so, in a way, I think it's good
0:03:31 > 0:03:34to think about it in terms of almost like getting together now
0:03:34 > 0:03:37in a coffee shop or in a pub.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41A lot of them would have been reading the local poetry of the day,
0:03:41 > 0:03:46very much the poets that were writing in the Ulster-Scots vernacular.
0:03:48 > 0:03:49James Orr,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52The Irish Cottier's Death and Burial.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55"Erin! My country! preciously adorn'd
0:03:55 > 0:03:57"With every beauty, and with every worth,
0:03:57 > 0:03:58"Thy grievances..."
0:03:58 > 0:04:02James Orr was involved in the United Irish Rebellion,
0:04:02 > 0:04:08so within this poem, he talks about a cottier who is dying from pleurisy.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11So, it moves through very much four stages.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16We have the suffering of the man, his last words to his family,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19his wake and then his burial.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23But what Orr is doing, very much, is showing the poverty
0:04:23 > 0:04:27and the marginalisation that these northern people suffered.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32"But more unblest, oppression, want, and dearth,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34"Did during life, distressfully attend
0:04:34 > 0:04:37"The poor neglected native of thy North,
0:04:37 > 0:04:38"Whose fall I sing."
0:04:38 > 0:04:42So, what we get, although it's a death of one man in this poem,
0:04:42 > 0:04:44it very much reflects, I think Orr was trying to say,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47almost the death of a community.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Because what we get here is Ireland, very much,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54and these people on the brink of disaster, almost,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56that Orr hopes won't happen.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59"And aft his thoughts are by delirium thrall'd,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02"Yet while he raves, he prays in words weel wal'd,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05"An' mutters through his sleep o truth an' right
0:05:05 > 0:05:08"An' after pondering deep, the weans are tald
0:05:08 > 0:05:11"The readiest way he thinks they justly might
0:05:11 > 0:05:14"Support themsels thro' life, when he shall sink in night.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Somebody would have read a poem,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19and then someone else, probably, or a couple of people,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22I'm sure, would have argued over the meaning of that poem.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27It would have certainly caused debate within the room
0:05:27 > 0:05:30and, again, that's the sign of a great poet.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33"Wi' heck weel-teeth'd and spit renew'd,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36"I sat me down to spin contented,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39"And your address to me reviewed,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42"Which set my head amaist demented."
0:05:42 > 0:05:46What we see with Leech is that her poetry often deals with nature
0:05:46 > 0:05:50and with religious matters, but within this poem,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53the Epistle to Mr Richard Ramsay,
0:05:53 > 0:05:59Sarah Leech shows very much a pro-feminist engagement,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02with the authority of the male poet.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04So, Richard Ramsay has written a poem about her
0:06:04 > 0:06:07and this is her response to him.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10"I am unskill'd in classic lord,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14"Tho' I sometimes mak' Scotch clink pat in -
0:06:14 > 0:06:17"Nae authors sage can I explore,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20"Like those who speak the Greek and Latin."
0:06:20 > 0:06:23So, she's very cutting in what she says, she's very sarcastic,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27and I think she's trying to show that women can do this,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29you know, this isn't just the domain of the men.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33"And as you wish I may get wealth,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37"I, in return, pray you'll grow wiser."
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Still, today, a lot of people are not aware that these poets existed,
0:06:41 > 0:06:45and I think this is something that needs to be addressed
0:06:45 > 0:06:49because these poets are part of our literary and cultural history
0:06:49 > 0:06:52of the people here within the North of Ireland.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55You know, they were writing in the language of their day
0:06:55 > 0:06:59and when we look at the like of James Orr, or Thomson, or Huddleston,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03or Hugh Porter, we see how fantastic these poets were,
0:07:03 > 0:07:04that they actually had a voice
0:07:04 > 0:07:06and they had something important to say.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29The Low Country Boys are based in Ards,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32and twa of their members, Ivan McFerran and Gibson Young,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35hae a keen interest in the history frae around the peninsula.
0:07:45 > 0:07:46Is it OK if I take this map down, John?
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Bring that old map down, Ivan - it's 1608,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52it's the oldest map I ever seen of Ulster.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55This is a wild interesting map, Gibson.
0:07:55 > 0:07:56I stumbled on this one day
0:07:56 > 0:07:58when John and I were talking
0:07:58 > 0:08:00about other things. Mm-hm.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03This is one of the last hand-drawn maps of Ulster.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06And it was drawn as you would have seen it, by the eye.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08That's why it's not to scale.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10One of the last hand-drawn maps
0:08:10 > 0:08:14before James I sent over proper cartographers.
0:08:14 > 0:08:181608, I see at the bottom here. 1608.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Well, wasn't it 1606 when Montgomery and those boys came here?
0:08:21 > 0:08:22Aye, something like that.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26But the interesting thing I like about it is the Peninsula, here,
0:08:26 > 0:08:31where we're at - and in 1608, as the date is on it,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34the peninsula was divided in two by the Blackstaff River.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39That's running from the Saltwater Brig out there to Portavogie, really.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Right. And it was a swampland but it was tidal as well.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46When the tide was full in, the level rose. Right, it came up.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48So, it's very interesting...
0:08:48 > 0:08:51I've never seen a map like that anywhere.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53Well, if this place was to go on fire,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56that's the first thing I would run in to save, is that map.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59For I have seen nothing like it, ever anywhere,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02and I'm always on the lookout, and I've never seen one as old as that.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25We're coming across Jimmy's spud field here just outside Cloughey
0:09:25 > 0:09:29and we're coming to a very interesting site -
0:09:29 > 0:09:34it's some sort of a chamber or a tunnel, probably from smuggling days
0:09:34 > 0:09:37or from the days of persecution, and that sort of thing.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40So you're telling me, Jimmy, that pile of stones there,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43that is the mouth or the entrance into the chamber or tunnel?
0:09:43 > 0:09:46That's right. Years ago, there was an opening there,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48I would say it was six foot square.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51But the tunnel that went this way, that enters into it,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54was only 15 to 18 inches, and you had to crawl into it. Yeah.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59And it would go in about, well, about 25 to 30 yards.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02It ran from there in that direction there.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Whenever we were kids, we weren't allowed to go into it.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10I heard different stories about it, that it was for hiding people in.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Gibson, have you ever heard anything about this story?
0:10:13 > 0:10:15About this tunnel? Aye.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17I remember my ma telling me about it when I was a wean.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19We'd be riding by here on a Sunday afternoon, she'd say,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21"There's lands up there and a tunnel and stuff."
0:10:21 > 0:10:25I was aye mad to come up to it to see it, but I was never allowed.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28If I'd been there, I know I'd have been in it!
0:10:28 > 0:10:31I heard that you had given the smuggling up, but?
0:10:31 > 0:10:34Sssh, dinnae tell that to the customs man, for dear sake!
0:11:01 > 0:11:03Portavogie has a long association
0:11:03 > 0:11:05with fishing and fisherman
0:11:05 > 0:11:08and, Sam, the herring fishing would have been the bee's knees,
0:11:08 > 0:11:11and if you didn't get that, you were in trouble, then?
0:11:11 > 0:11:12Oh, you were in trouble and...
0:11:12 > 0:11:16they used to take a sort of an illness,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19and they brought it on themselves - a sort of psychological thing.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21If they didn't catch any herring,
0:11:21 > 0:11:25they caught this illness they called the fever.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Herring fever, this is? Herring fever.
0:11:28 > 0:11:29The captain would get it first
0:11:29 > 0:11:32and then it would go through the crew
0:11:32 > 0:11:35and it would even go into the family.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37You had to walk home by the shore,
0:11:37 > 0:11:38you weren't allowed to walk home by the road
0:11:38 > 0:11:42because there were certain people you couldn't meet.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44And there were certain things you couldn't say.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48And it went into the house and it brought hell round the house,
0:11:48 > 0:11:50so the children couldn't play.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54If the cat would purr, it would get threw out the door.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58And it went to the boat and they got suspicious of the crew,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01that there was maybe a Jonah in among them.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04You hoped it wasn't you, because...
0:12:04 > 0:12:09You showed them your hair - if it was darker than brown, that was OK.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13But it took a long time for this to go away.
0:12:13 > 0:12:14There was only one cure -
0:12:14 > 0:12:16the herring brocht, that cured the fever.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19It came out of the water, it wasn't in a pill,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22the fever was lifted and the fisherman standing.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50Now we're going to join Mark Wilson again as he continues to look at
0:12:50 > 0:12:54the history of the migration of Ulster-Scots to New Zealand.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11The story of the Ulster-Scots migration to New Zealand
0:13:11 > 0:13:13is a fascinating one.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17There were settlements to both the North and the South islands.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20Having left Auckland, I have now moved to the South Island
0:13:20 > 0:13:23towards the city of Christchurch.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25But my first port of call
0:13:25 > 0:13:27is to the farmland and countryside
0:13:27 > 0:13:29about 20 miles to the south of Christchurch,
0:13:29 > 0:13:35into an area that many people from County Down emigrated in the 1800s.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39It's got a kind of a familiar look about it.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Lyndon, this could be like walking down a road at home, you know,
0:13:48 > 0:13:52with the flat land, the cows in the fields and the sheep
0:13:52 > 0:13:56and even the layout of the field - it's a bit like walking down a road
0:13:56 > 0:13:57in the Ards Peninsula.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00But, then again, we are in Killinchy!
0:14:00 > 0:14:04We are in Killinchy, and it was named after its namesake
0:14:04 > 0:14:07in County Down, and it reminds me very much of that area, actually.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11You've been over to County Down and Ulster a few times -
0:14:11 > 0:14:13but that's all part of your interest,
0:14:13 > 0:14:15and not just your interest, but part of your work as well?
0:14:15 > 0:14:17It is - it's part of my research interests,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20and I've got family connections that go back to County Down as well,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22so there's that side of it as well,
0:14:22 > 0:14:24it's an all-consuming passion, really,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26and Ulster's been a big part of that.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29There's a lot more known about the migration of the Ulster people
0:14:29 > 0:14:33to the North Island, to Katikati and the Bay of Plenty area,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36but less known about them coming here to the South Island.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39They came here really early, and if we think back,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43the Nelson settlement at the top of the South Island was 1840.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Dunedin and Otago, the 1840s, Canterbury, 1850 -
0:14:46 > 0:14:48and there were Ulster people coming as early as that,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51in big numbers to these places.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54And, of course, I mean, this area that we're standing in, Killinchy,
0:14:54 > 0:14:55today, it looks very like home...
0:14:55 > 0:14:58It does. But was it like that when these people arrived?
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Did they settle here because it looked like home?
0:15:00 > 0:15:01Or did they make it like home?
0:15:01 > 0:15:04They made it like home. It did not look like this,
0:15:04 > 0:15:06the flat countryside.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10It was swampland and it was full of tussock and cabbage trees,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12and they had to drain the swamps
0:15:12 > 0:15:14in order to make the land look like this.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17So the people who were bringing skills from Ulster to here
0:15:17 > 0:15:21were exactly the kind of people needed to make this into farmland.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24One of the reasons why they were particularly keen,
0:15:24 > 0:15:25this is the State Agencies,
0:15:25 > 0:15:29were keen on bringing people out from Ulster who were family units,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32is because the women were particularly hard workers,
0:15:32 > 0:15:34and knew how to work in a rural area
0:15:34 > 0:15:36and deal with the isolation and do the kinds of tasks that you
0:15:36 > 0:15:39needed to make a living on land like this.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43Are those family ties still here and evident and known by the people
0:15:43 > 0:15:46in this area today, and is it something they celebrate,
0:15:46 > 0:15:48and something they feel part of?
0:15:48 > 0:15:51They do, this is what surprised me in doing fieldwork here,
0:15:51 > 0:15:52was talking to so many of the families,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55because I assumed that they would have long forgotten
0:15:55 > 0:15:56their Ulster roots.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59But they haven't, they've kept diaries and letters
0:15:59 > 0:16:03and material objects that people brought out in the 1850s and 1860s,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07so there's still a really strong sense of connection
0:16:07 > 0:16:11to Killinchy in County Down and its surrounding areas from here.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17And so the Ulster-Scots have been coming here for 150 years,
0:16:17 > 0:16:22and they still are today - just like a friend of mine from Ballyclare,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24who also happens to be a drummer.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47James Laughlin, you're an Ulsterman from Ballyclare
0:16:47 > 0:16:49but you've moved a long way away from there now.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53Absolutely, Mark - I'm down here in Christchurch, New Zealand,
0:16:53 > 0:16:54teaching pipe band drumming,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56incredible. I mean...
0:16:56 > 0:16:59the first time that I met you - it's...
0:16:59 > 0:17:03phew, quite a number of years ago now, James! It would be, aye!
0:17:03 > 0:17:06And you were a little tiny boy at that stage,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09I think I was the first drumming judge you played in front of.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11You've moved on a bit since that,
0:17:11 > 0:17:14and you've certainly won plenty of prizes since that.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17I started drumming at Ballyclare Primary School,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19my local primary school, under Winston Pollock.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22He got me started, and I moved on to Monkstown Mossley, then.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Obviously Winston was working with the Monkstown Mossley Band.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27At that point they thought it would be a good idea
0:17:27 > 0:17:29for me to head over to Bathgate
0:17:29 > 0:17:31for the World Solo Juvenile Championships.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34What age was that, James? Um, I'd have been 13.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36So you were a world champion at 13. Yep.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50You are now teaching at St Andrew's College here in Christchurch?
0:17:50 > 0:17:51That's right, yeah.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54I'm very lucky to be a part of the pipe band programme
0:17:54 > 0:17:56here at St Andrew's College.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59The College was founded in 1916,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03and in 1919, they formed the first pipe band,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07so there's a long history of Scottish culture and music here.
0:18:07 > 0:18:08And they really embrace it,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12and I've been able to create my own drumming programme here,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16and we've been taking the students to the World Championships
0:18:16 > 0:18:18every three years now, over in Glasgow.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21How do they enjoy this trip, and playing back in the home countries?
0:18:21 > 0:18:25Well, for them, it's such an epic experience to go to the homeland
0:18:25 > 0:18:27of a musical instrument that they're passionate about
0:18:27 > 0:18:29here in New Zealand.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31And a lot of the children have that background,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Irish and Scottish background in their families,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37and the families obviously want to connect
0:18:37 > 0:18:39with that history and heritage.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59How do children in New Zealand react to being taught pipe band drumming
0:18:59 > 0:19:02by someone not from Scotland but from Northern Ireland?
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Well, I think they find it really quite intriguing.
0:19:04 > 0:19:05The first barrier
0:19:05 > 0:19:08is usually that they don't understand a word I'm saying.
0:19:08 > 0:19:09THEY LAUGH
0:19:09 > 0:19:12So I've to slow everything down, pronounce all my "ings"
0:19:12 > 0:19:16and so forth, but I think generally I've a great rapport with the kids,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19and they have a lot of fun. It's all about the music, for them.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22So, coming from Northern Ireland, I think it's just a bit quirky
0:19:22 > 0:19:25and it gives them a good giggle, but it works out well.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27So you don't get the chance to speak much Ulster-Scots
0:19:27 > 0:19:28with them here, then?
0:19:28 > 0:19:31I do every now and then, but they usually think it's a profanity,
0:19:31 > 0:19:33they don't really understand what I'm saying, so...
0:19:33 > 0:19:35I usually refrain!
0:20:00 > 0:20:02We'll be back wi' Mark next week
0:20:02 > 0:20:04as his journey comes to an end in Dunedin.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Fermanagh Ulster-Scots Empowerment, or FUSE, was recently set up
0:20:13 > 0:20:16with aims to develop and strengthen the Ulster-Scots culture
0:20:16 > 0:20:18across all ages in County Fermanagh.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23It recently organised a poetry initiative in primary schools.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Young Abby frae Kesh Primary School was yin o the weans that took part,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29and she learned a poem about baking wi' her granny.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34"Me and my granny.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39"Me and my granny like to bake a soda farl,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43"Or a birthday cake wi a weethin o this,
0:20:43 > 0:20:45"And wi a weethin o thon.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48"And sometimes currants if we're makin' a scone.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55"There's pancakes and fadge, coming het off the griddle,
0:20:55 > 0:21:01"And Granny aye checks that they're hard in the middle.
0:21:01 > 0:21:07"But the best bit of all, before gaun into the town,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11"Is when my granny lets me lick the baking spoon."
0:21:23 > 0:21:25FLUTE TRILLS
0:21:26 > 0:21:29The Dark Hedges are nearhan Stranocum in County Antrim
0:21:29 > 0:21:33and it was these trees that provided the inspiration for local composer,
0:21:33 > 0:21:37Elaine Agnew, when she was scrieving a new orchestral piece
0:21:37 > 0:21:40for the BBC Proms, to be performed in the Albert Hall.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Elaine, you hae brought me here to the Dark Hedges in North Antrim,
0:21:47 > 0:21:48and a beautiful day it is too.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Yeah, well it's - I think even in this kind of weather,
0:21:51 > 0:21:53the hedges look incredibly, kind of, mysterious,
0:21:53 > 0:21:56so I think that really adds to the atmosphere of the place.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04So the Dark Hedges were inspirational to yourself?
0:22:04 > 0:22:05Oh, absolutely.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09Whenever the BBC approached me about writing a piece for the Proms
0:22:09 > 0:22:10earlier this year, they said,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13"We want a piece for two orchestras for Sir James Galway."
0:22:13 > 0:22:15And then they phoned me about a week later to say,
0:22:15 > 0:22:18"Oh, Elaine, we're going to print the Programme Note,"
0:22:18 > 0:22:20because they bring out this very detailed brochure,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22"We need a title for your piece."
0:22:22 > 0:22:24So this was like kind of months before my deadline
0:22:24 > 0:22:27and I hadn't a clue what I was going to write the piece about.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34And around that time I was in Dublin
0:22:34 > 0:22:37and it was whenever the Northern Ireland Tourist Board
0:22:37 > 0:22:38were doing a big publicity campaign.
0:22:38 > 0:22:43And as part of that they used this fabulous huge poster of these trees,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45and it was only when I was in Connolly Station in Dublin,
0:22:45 > 0:22:47going up to the poster and reading it, it just said,
0:22:47 > 0:22:49"The Dark Hedges near Stranocum."
0:22:49 > 0:22:50I'm from that part of the world
0:22:50 > 0:22:52and I had no idea that they were from here.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55So as soon as I did a little bit of research and found out,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58and thought, "Dark Hedges, wouldn't that be a great title for a piece?"
0:22:58 > 0:22:59So that's how that all came about.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12Whenever we performed in the Royal Albert Hall,
0:23:12 > 0:23:16like, I had up to 180 musicians, but I've re-orchestrated sections of it
0:23:16 > 0:23:21just for three musicians featuring harp, percussion and flute.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Now, the piece, it's a scary piece to me.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35There's a lot of atmosphere in it.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37I think when you look at the Dark Hedges,
0:23:37 > 0:23:39and the stories associated with it,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42that every night there's the Grey Lady comes,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44she whooshes and streams her way through the trees.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47She goes up one side and down the other side -
0:23:47 > 0:23:48and so, with that image,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51comes fabulous, kind of, atmospheric sounds.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02There's a great energy here.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05I love the density of the trees and the way that the trees meet
0:24:05 > 0:24:06and they overlap and they intertwine,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09and all of that's so musical. I mean, I think it's really joyful
0:24:09 > 0:24:11and it's stunningly, stunningly beautiful.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23How many of the clan Agnew managed ower to the Royal Albert Hall?
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Yeah, well, my mum made it over
0:24:26 > 0:24:29and my brother and two sisters flew out on the day.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31Unfortunately, my dad wasn't able to make it.
0:24:31 > 0:24:32I mean he's a good Kilwaughter man.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36And, of course, the Agnew clan are great speakers of Ulster-Scots.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38Oh, yeah. My dad has featured with you
0:24:38 > 0:24:41on a few of the Kist o Wurds programmes,
0:24:41 > 0:24:43and taken you to Mounthill Fair and things.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46Well Elaine...it's a miserable day,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49and it's getting dark, but there's nae doubt about it,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52the Dark Hedges are mysterious and inspirational
0:24:52 > 0:24:54even on a dreigh oul' day like today.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Yeah, you're absolutely right, Liam.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Earlier in the programme, Mark Wilson was in Killinchy
0:25:04 > 0:25:08in Christchurch, named of course after Killinchy in County Down.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12And I hae come here to Killinchy to meet with Willie McIlwrath
0:25:12 > 0:25:15who has a collection of letters sent back frae New Zealand
0:25:15 > 0:25:18by his great-uncles in the mid 1800s.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20William, we hae this fantastic book here
0:25:20 > 0:25:24about the letters that came the whole way frae New Zealand
0:25:24 > 0:25:26back to here. You hae a great collection of them.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29The letters, which were kept in the Balloo family home
0:25:29 > 0:25:32had been passed down through generations and had been kept.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Well, this collection, William, spans about, what, 70 years?
0:25:35 > 0:25:36It does indeed.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40And it's absolutely great to hae these handwritten original letters.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43I picked out yin that I'm just going to read a wee slip of.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45Your Great-Great-Uncle James says,
0:25:45 > 0:25:47"The people is surely getting scarce at hame
0:25:47 > 0:25:49"and there's so many coming here,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52"it's almost a ship every week that comes in".
0:25:52 > 0:25:54So, the folk must have been going out in their droves, really?
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Yes, well, both James and Hamilton
0:25:57 > 0:25:59would always have talked in the letters
0:25:59 > 0:26:04about different people they'd met from here on a regular basis.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Even neighbours round Killinchy, Saintfield, Comber, Newtownards -
0:26:08 > 0:26:12just different families which had moved out to New Zealand.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15And then this is where they lived in New Zealand?
0:26:15 > 0:26:18This was where one of the families lived in New Zealand, yes,
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Hamilton, I think that was.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23And really brave and similar to what they left, here?
0:26:23 > 0:26:26It is, very similar, yes. Mm-hm.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Well, their Mammy sent them out a parcel, of course,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32the two boys, with folk that were emigrating out there -
0:26:32 > 0:26:34and this is a lovely bit in the book
0:26:34 > 0:26:38where the boys return a letter to say thanks.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41"We return you our sincerest thanks, Mother,
0:26:41 > 0:26:43"for the parcel you sent by them.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46"It wakens up to remembrance of former times
0:26:46 > 0:26:49"and shows proof positive that though we are far distant,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51"we are not by all forgotten.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55"Seas may divide and oceans roll between,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58"but Friends is Friends whatever intervene."
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Isn't that gorgeous, William? That is a lovely letter, like.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Well, William, this is truly an amazing book
0:27:03 > 0:27:05and I'm sure there's loads of folk out there
0:27:05 > 0:27:07would love an insight into what life was like
0:27:07 > 0:27:11baith on the journey to New Zealand and life while they were there.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14If somebody wanted it, where would they get it?
0:27:14 > 0:27:17You would get that in the Killyleagh Historical Society
0:27:17 > 0:27:18in Killyleagh, County Down.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22Well, I hope you enjoyed the programme.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24We're going to finish it off now
0:27:24 > 0:27:26with a lovely ballad frae Eilidh Patterson.
0:27:26 > 0:27:27Cheerio.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42# They call thee fickle
0:27:42 > 0:27:46# They call thee false
0:27:46 > 0:27:51# They seek to change me
0:27:51 > 0:27:56# But all in vain
0:27:56 > 0:28:01# Thou art my true love
0:28:01 > 0:28:06# Yet through the dark night
0:28:06 > 0:28:11# And every morning
0:28:11 > 0:28:16# I scan the main
0:28:16 > 0:28:21# Fhir a' bhata
0:28:21 > 0:28:26# 'S na ho ro eile
0:28:26 > 0:28:30# Fhir a' bhata
0:28:30 > 0:28:36# 'S na ho ro eile
0:28:36 > 0:28:40# Fhir a' bhata
0:28:40 > 0:28:46# 'S na ho ro eile
0:28:46 > 0:28:50# So fare thee well, love
0:28:50 > 0:28:57# Where'er thou be. #
0:28:58 > 0:29:01Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd