Dachaigh #4: Content that’s keeping me going through self-isolation.
- Apr 3, 2020
- 5 min read
~So, this one is a day late, sorry! Last night when I tried to publish this I was reminded of the fact that technology is a friend to none of us. But, dulcius ex asperis, right?! Hope you enjoy despite the delay. :) ~
Welcome to day two of my month long blogging expedition!
Today I’m gonna keep things simple and recommend some *content* to help you pass this unforeseen mass of empty time that we all currently have on our hands.
With not much else to do, I’ve been spending most of my waking hours mindlessly devouring online matter - unconsciously rotating between youtube, facebook and twitter.
So, here’s whats been glueing me to my screen for the past three weeks! Everything that I’m about to mention is plucked from the common-grazings of the internet, free for all. :)
Hopefully, I can enlighten you to some new things that you’ll enjoy - if only for a minute or two:
1. All things Norwegian (nothing new from me here):
Later this year I’ll (hopefully) be living in Norway for a bit, so I’ve really been clocking up the hours on Norwegian duolingo!
In an effort to aid my retention of the language - Norwegian media has been my go to as of recent. In my humble opinion, Scandinavia truly does produce the best creatives and thus also the best TV. From Scandi-noir to Skavlan, they just seem to get it right.
But lately I’ve definitely been gravitating towards the more lighthearted and comical - just to take the edge off during the very serious situation that we're all currently living through:
-From Norwegians and Swedes racing each other round IKEA on skis:
-…and the same antics in NewYork:
-To Ylvis - the guys behind “What Does The Fox Say?”. They’re seriously hilarious; here are a few of my favourite segments:
2. Iceland's Eurovision Entry:
Ah, Eurovision. Modern Europe’s answer to determining which nation reigns supreme - where in the past we would have just started another world war.
Personally, I’m a massive fan. There’s something so so so brilliant about some countries giving it their all (financially - cough, cough…Sweden), only to be competing against other nations who clearly don’t give a single fuck.
But, at the end of the day, the song and performance only matters like 35%. All effort and talent is basically disregarded as most voters just vote based on which countries they generally get on with the best. There are definitely unspoken Eurovision alliances. The U.K. is part of NONE of them and I'm not sure that Brexit will help our case.
Anyway, this year, Iceland entered a serious masterpiece that I’m sure would have taken the crown. Now the competition is cancelled and my year is ruined, but the fact that we still managed to get this bop out of it definitely softens the blow.
Wether officially recognised or not, Iceland will always be my 2020 winner. Check it out:
3. The Rankin Family:
Oooooooh, Ca(pe Breton)nada...
The Rankin Family were a childhood fave of mine that I sadly let gradually disappear from my playlists over the years.
I’m not exactly sure how many siblings there were in the band, but I’m fairly certain that the very existence of their household would probably be a violation of today's social-distancing laws. Watching old videos of their performances takes me back to when that many people were allowed to be in a room together. Simpler times. Halcyon days, eh.
The search for the relief and peace of nostalgia is what lead to me dusting off their records. I intend to never again live a life absent of their unrivalled harmonies, nobody can sing the words “four-wheel drive” quite like they do. My neighbours can confirm that Mairi's Wedding has definitely been the soundtrack to my isolation, it gets me an absolutely unreasonable level of turnt. I've begun step-dancing my way to Tesco when I go to collect my weekly rations; which unquestionably adds a whole new dimension to my state-approved once-daily exercise.
Personal picks from their discography:
-Fare Thee Well Love
-Gillis Mountain
-Mairi's Wedding
-Nothing Like An Ocean
-You Feel The Same Way Too
-Gaelic Medley: Mo Shuil Ad'dheidh/Buain a' Rainich/He Mo Leannan/ Fail 'Il O
-Movin On'
-Orangedale Whistle
-Some great live performances:
-I wish more than anything that I could find a higher quality version of this one:
4. The unparalleled lyricism of Gàidhlig Scotland:
Something else that I’ve been taking great enjoyment from is some of the matters which the Gaels of the past were writing lyric and verse about.
Recently I stumbled across Mànran’s version of “Port nan Caillich” and I fell a bit in love with it. Before performing they briefly explain the subject of the song. There’s something so darkly comical about how the content of the lyrics is such a stark contrast to the lively, upbeat tune that they are sung to.
Mànran, on the off chance that you read this, I need to let you know that I can do without a recorded version for no longer. Please? I will stream the life out of it!!!
Another great one is “A Mhic Iain ‘Ic Sheumais” (Oh son of John, son of James).
Here are some of the lyrics:
The day of the battle of the Fèith
Your shirt was bespattered
Air farail ail eò, air farail ail eò
The blood of your noble body
Was all over the ground
Hi hò hi ri a bho hi èileadh
Hi ho hi rì a bhò ro a, hu o hi o
I myself was drinking it
'Til it made me gag
Air farail ail eò, air farail ail eò
The arrow was protruding
From your shapely, pure body
Hi hò hi ri a bho hi èileadh
Hi ho hi rì a bhò ro a, hu o hi o
Basically this song is about a battle, where the narrator in question rushes to the battlefield and subsequently begins to…suck the blood from the wounded. Fun right?
I first heard this song a couple of months ago when it was sung by Kathleen MacInnes and Julie Fowlis at a Celtic Connections event. In regards to the vampirism, I’m pretty sure that MacInnes made a comment along the lines of “you don’t get that on the NHS anymore”, which I genuinely felt was a valid point to raise. Another public health-service cut due to Tory austerity?
Anyways, Gàidhlig Scotland: never change. Keep doing your thing. Lay it all out with a fiddle accompaniment; whatever sins you may confess in verse, I won’t judge.
5. Online Church:
Many of you may not be interested in this one whatsoever, but I’ve really been loving exploring the new world of online church!
It means that church is available all day, everyday, any day. Amen to that! It has also given me the opportunity to try out endless different churches - all without even leaving my bed.
This has provided me with so much insight into and appreciation for other denominations and their individual styles of teaching and worship.
A sermon that I loved from out-with my own church was one from a Catholic Canon on the Isle of Barra. I’m not Catholic, and I’ve never attended a mass or a sermon lead by a Catholic priest, but I was really pleasantly surprised. And can we talk about the production value?!! Go them.
6. Producing my own “content”:
Clearly; and there’s plenty more were *this* came from.
Sin uile e!
Gun a-màireach!
~Rose
*This blog is meant to be a digital catalyst of dachaigh. I hope that transcends from here, and reaches you through your screen wherever and however you may be - at home or not*
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