Ever since hearing Corrina Hewat play the Isle of Aigas, I wanted to learn to play it. And ever since I learned to play the Isle of Aigas, I wanted to see it. My quest today was to find the Isle of Aigas. The closest name my car GPS system came up with was Crask of Aigas. When I checked the internet, it refered to this place as a hamlet whose Gaelic name means “The Place Before The Place Beyond”. When I got there, I found little more than a collection of about 10 houses on a hillside. This was not the island on the Beauly River that I was searching for. I turned around, passed an art gallery in the old Kilmorach Church. I passed a Scottish Hydro Electric Dam. Then I pulled over and searched on the internet to try to learn a little more about the location. It mentioned the town of Kiltarlity, so I made my way there. It didn’t seem to be paying off, so I pulled over and asked a few women talking on the sidewalk. They both knew the place I was searching for. One of the women had worked there, but didn’t give me any help except to say that it was very nice and that the owners liked their privacy.
Advice for getting along with locals in middle of nowhere Scotland. (works in Montana too...)
ReplyDeleteGo the local pub. Say nothing to anyone save to order a pint of the area favorite. Sit at the bar and continue to say nothing. Within a half hour the curiousity of the locals will drive them to ask all sorts of questions and you'll likely wind up with several lifelong friends! Enjoy your trip Steve! Chad
Great advice Chad. I'm having a blast here.
ReplyDeleteHello Steve, I am a fellow harper who also loves Corrina Hewat's Isle of Aigas. I am trying to find out if there is a story behind the song. Did you ever find it and did you find a story you could share with me.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Carol Kappus
Ann Arbor Celtic Harpers
HPFK@aol.com
Hi Carol. I know you through Mark and saw you last year in Columbus for Marta Cook's workshop. As far as I'm aware, there is not a specific back story. In my research, I put some elements together that fit the character of Corrina's arrangement. Here is the introduction I came up with:
ReplyDeleteIsle of Aigas is a traditional air from the Simon Fraser Collection. The Isle of Aigas is situated in the heart of the river Beauly. If we travel back in time to the era when most of the tunes in this Simon Fraser Collection were gathered, we would find Jacobite Frasers who were living in this area (but not directly on the Isle of Aigas. A different family of Frasers built the lodge on the isle and descendants built the new mansion. There is some writer connected with the Frasers living on the Isle of Aigas). This family was killed in their beds and the house was razed to rubble in 1746 in the bloody aftermath of the Battle of Culloden. The Battle of Culloden was the decisive defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie when new laws attacked the Highlander's clan system, Highland dress was outlawed, and Highland life was forever changed. This area is now a place of sublime pastoral beauty and is the gateway to Glen Affric which is one of the largest wilderness areas in Northern Europe. It contains a vast array of wildlife along with the 5000 year old relics of a Bronze Age Settlement and the stony remains of an Iron Age Fort. This contemporary arrangement by Corrina Hewat captures the bucolic scenery and melancholy history.
Hope this helps Carol.
Oh My Garsh. Is this the intro you'll give before I play it in our gig? I hope so. It'll save me time researching the impossible :-)
ReplyDeleteWait...we have a gig, or you and Carol have a gig?
ReplyDelete