Outlaw King

New Netflix film ‘Outlaw King’, on the life of Robert the Bruce premiered in Edinburgh – the first major movie shot exclusively in Scotland. 

The movie was shot in several Scottish locations, Edinburgh, Lothian, Aviemore, Glencoe, Linlithgow palace, Dumbarton castle and Mugdock country park’s Kyper Pass, where they enacted the battle of Loudoun Hill. 

The film brings an estimated to have been worth £17.5m to the economy.

The film, from Scottish director David Mackenzie, stars Chris Pine and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in an all-action tale about the 14th century rebel and his fight to win back control of his homeland and with Florence Pugh, who plays Elizabeth de Burgh.

Film and TV location tourism in Scotland is benefiting from increased spending on productions. Last month Creative Scotland revealed that film and TV production had been worth £95m to the Scottish economy in 2017 compared to just £45m in 2014, and £23m in 2007.
Scotland looks amazing in this film, along with strong performances form Pine and Pugh. 

‘‘Dumbarton castle is also in the area so there is a lot for visitors coming here. For us as a wee village more interest in Robert the Bruce could mean a lot of visitors.

**Also the Outlander series, has been a major worldwide success and  has built a big studio in Kilmarnock. It has brought in an increased tourism also. There are hopefully plans for a Scottish studio - its way past time for this! 

 Stuart Oldham of Variety.com said the film was “Netflix’s best big budget movie to date. Epic, brutal, surprisingly hilarious and tender..."   Netflix worldwide on November 9. https://www.netflix.com/title/outlawking

Story of Jacobites

Great series of very readable articles, entitled ‘Back in the Day’ of the Jacobites by Hamish MacPherson in the National newspaper. He asked, what if Prince Charlie had stayed in Edinburgh? 
 - https://www.thenational.scot/news/17187286.what-if-prince-charles-had-stayed-in-edinburgh-in-1745/ 

Interestingly if the Jacobites had won a very different Europe and America would have resulted. 

Hamish might have also focused more on the terrific religious wars of the time raging across Europe – The Thirty Years War. Also James VI’s daughter, Elizabeth Stuart, created a very important dynasty. 

It all became very messy, with the bloody suppression of Highland culture. That’s why Robert Burns could never wear a kilt!  

This was not Scots against English, as French, Irish, German soldiers took part.  

The belief in feudalism and elites still effects us today – with illegal landownership. 

Ry Cooder Concert hall

Surprised us all – he had intimacy with the quality of musicianship and his song choices. 

An uplifting experience. He took us on his spiritual journey. 

He performed roots songs by Willie Johnson, Woody Guthrie, and Blind Willie MacTell. 

With reverberating bass sax, gospel singers, strong guitar lines, and his own assured voice – with space and echoes, rumble growls, whispers, wallows, warbles, moans, blues guitar songs. 

Cooder sat surrounded by his 7 guitars. And he was ably backed by The Hamiltones and his son Joachim Cooder. 

He spoke of those today with "weak minds"‘, who know the cost of everything, but not the value of everything. ‘ He spoke of the waffle grid of streets of Santa Monica, where he grew up and his dreams of West Virginia. 

There was warm affection in the room from the packed concert hall for his keen fans, as Ry Cooder held our attention throughout. Surely dedicated to his craft. 

Keeping the Blues alive. A bit of a legend. 

Cooder has a new album 2018. 

Ry Cooder is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, and record producer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for hisslide guitarwork, his interest inroots musicthe United States, and his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries. Films such as Paris Texas.

His solo work draws upon many genres. He has played with - 

Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Randy Newman, Doobie Brothers, The Chieftains and more.

Cooder was ranked eighth on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" A 2010 ranking by  Gibson placed him at number 32.

Robert Burns Ellisland

This summer I was so pleased to visit the last farm our great poet Robert Burns lived in. Ellisland is just north of Dumfries and incredibly is pretty intact as when Burns lived here and contains books and other material he had there.  

 **In 1788, Rob and Jean settled at Ellisland farm, a few miles north of the town of Dumfries. It was romantic and he was so pleased to have the river Nith running beside the new farm. A new farm house had to be built: the land was neglected with old ‘run-rigs’ strips, little drainage, no hedges to keep animals off the crops and no farm house. They had a servant and farm workers at Ellisland farm, so he was then able to write many songs and poems while he lived here - Auld Lang Syne (1988), Banks O Doon (1791) and his masterpiece the narrative poem Tam O'Shanter(1791). 

Robert Burns had enjoyed a second winter in Edina in 1788, when stayed in St Andrews square. 

He left Edina that March, little knowing I would never return there. He wanted to return to find his muse to the land and to raise his young family. 

Burns married his Jean in March 1788 and they lived for a time in a small room in Mauchline. 

He was offered the choice of three farms and decided on Ellisland. The farm houses and Byre had taken some time to build and Jean stayed with his mother to learn about cheese making for those months.

Burns found time to write near the woods of Craigie burn near Moffa and at the Hermitage.  He visited the Birks O Aberfeldy on his highland tour. He wrote and sang in the open air to study nature and human nature both. He studied the life of nature around him, from the wild flower, the river banks, the woodlands, the bird song, the small animals underneath, and the fields of corn.

His most famous song, Auld Lang Syne was written after he heard an old man singing this songs and Burns added new verses. Burns collected all these old songs on his Scotia travels, which inspired him to write his own songs too

He wrote Tam O Shanter – his most famous narrative poem on a free day as he walked along the shady path by the banks of the river Nith. He lived at Ellisland for four years. 

He also began training to be an Exciseman, which meant long rides away from home. 

Burns was only thirty and he had been the toast of Edina - he was the new father, the struggling farmer and the ambitious bard. 

Perhaps he had been doing too much - a young father, Exciseman, farmer and collecting songs and writing poetry.  

It became all too much. He sold off the stock to leave the farm life for town life in Dumfries.  

And in 1981 he and his young family left Ellisland for a town house in Dumfries town