Sounds from… The Gallowa Hills and The Edinburgh People’s Festival Ceilidh 2011
A two part sound installation in Edinburgh Art Festival Solar Pavillion in association with The School of Scottish Studies Sound Archive, University of Edinburgh
Between 1953 - 1961 Scottish poet and prolific folk song collector Hamish Henderson (1919-2002) took ten recordings of traveller and folk singer, Jeannie Robertson, singing The Gallowa Hills. For the first part of the sound installation, the recordings were played in succession, each differing according to mood and feeling of the singer at the time and the atmosphere in which the recording was taken.
The second sound piece was of the Edinburgh People’s Festival Ceilidh organised by Henderson in 1951 (recorded by Alan Lomax). The event was held in response to the perceived exclusivity of the Edinburgh International Festival and the recording takes the listener back to what is considered as one of the catalysts for the folk revival in Scotland.
Installed in the Edinburgh Art Festival Solar Pavilion in St Andrew Square, these sounds from other times and places could be heard in full by visitors, or in fragments by those passing through.
For more see: 'Sounds From... - background text'
The Gallowa' Hills
For I'll tak' my plaidie, contentit tae be,
A wee bit kiltit abuin my knee,
An' I'll gie my pipes anither blaw
An' I'll gang oot o'er the hills tae Gallowa'.
Chorus:
Oh the Gallowa' Hills are covered wi' broom,
Wi' heather bells an' bonny doon;
Wi' heather bells an' riveries a',
An' I'll gang oot o'er the hills tae Gallowa'.
For say bonnie lassie, it's will ye come wi' me
Tae share your lot in a strange country,
For tae share your lot when doon fa's a',
An' I'll gang oot o'er the hills tae Gallowa'.
For I will sell my rock, I'll sell my reel,
I'll sell my Grannie's spinnin' wheel,
I will sell them a' when doon fa's a',
An' I'll gang oot o'er the hills tae Gallowa'.