Among the white white sands

 

 Among the white, white sands 

I hear the shouts and screams below,

As colourful figures race so fast,

Carrying hope, carrying fear, carrying their small child,

The red, red blood dripping from their tiny hands. 

 

The fear and the cries fly on the stifling winds,

Asking why, why, what have we done,

Why, why, won’t it stop?

The destruction, the overhead drone attacks, the missile fire, and the land explosions,

How can we live?

 

We run, hold out our shaking hands for grains of rice

For life giving water.

As the bombs drop around us

Falling in the dry white sand.

 

They carry the stiff, white shroud,

Lined up to pray for the lost souls,

Soon there will be only empty silence

Soon there will be no one shouting below.

 

PK

 

September 2025

 

Celtic Connections 2026 announced!

World leading and award-winning festival offers major music gigs to intimate performances from – Thursday, January 15 to Sunday, February 1 2026.

A programme with 1200 artists over 300 events and 15 venues. 2026,  Rich showcase of trad, folk, roots and world music, Celtic Connections has grown over three decades to become Europe’s biggest winter music festival.  With a wide range of genres that include blues, soul, Americana and indie to acoustic, orchestral, jazz and electronic.   

Delivered by Glasgow Life in partnership with Innis & Gunn, the 2026 festival — its 33rd edition — will take place in venues including the Barrowland Ballroom, Old Fruitmarket, King Tut’s, Pavilion Theatre, Óran Mòr, Saint Luke’s and SWG3. The newly-refurbished Citizens Theatre will also make its debut and the Emirates Arena will host Scottish folk-rock super groups Skerryvore. Celtic Connections 2026 kicks off with a World Connections Opening Concert at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.  A World Connections Opening Concert Glasgow Royal Concert Hall – to celebrate music’s global connections and power to unite people all over the planet. The universal language. With unique collaborations with innovative partnerships Malian singer Roki Koné – feminist supergroup Les Amazones d'Afrique – performing with one of Scotland’s leading folk bands RURA.

Festival highlights include:   Scottish fushion band Shooglenifty; Orcadian bands The Chair, Fara and Gnoss; Highland band Dàimh; Celebrated Cuban collective Buena Vista All Stars; Senegal orchestral sensation Baobab; Mexican drumming dynamo Antonio Sanchez, with harpist Edmar Castañeda and American Bela Fleck; Grammy-winning Americana singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams.

A tribute to one of the world’s most influential folk singers — Scotland’s Dick Gaughan — featuring a large cast of artists and rising Scots stars singer-songwriter Katie Gregson-McLeod and indie accordionist RuMac.

Our Mother Tongue to celebrate Celtic tradition languages – Irish Gaelic, Québécois, Welsh Gaelic, Scots Gaelic. A vibrant expression of cultural pride and linguistic resilience that boldly pushes creative boundaries. A celebration of music and songs in minority and Indigenous languages, Our Mother Tongue showcases an exciting line-up of artists who are proudly honouring their linguistic heritage while boldly pushing creative boundaries.

25 years of new Gaelic songs. Special interpretation of the songs of Robert Burns, the Scottish ballads, and two special nights of Gaelic song including Òran Ùr . 

The Transatlantic Sessions will be held on February 1, 2026, and will feature performers like Darrell Scott, and three singers who’ve been working together, Karine Polwart, Mary Chapman Carpenter and Julie Fowlis.  The packed 2026 festival programme also sees the return of many regular firm favourites, including the Danny Kyle Open Stage showcasing new talent, Festival Club, which returns to the Art School, and the Glee Club nights. 

 **Celtic Connections creative producer, Donald Shaw, said: “At the very heart of our 33rd festival are celebration, collaboration and connection. We are very excited that our 2026 edition will bring together such a wealth of talented musicians from Scotland and all over the world – from award-winning performers to young newcomers. And we can’t wait to welcome so many fantastic artists and acts to Glasgow in the new year to perform for our audiences in every corner of the city. 

“Celtic Connections is a celebration of the boundless power of music to connect and inspire; to transcend borders and provide a platform where Scotland’s own musical might is matched by global talent. Our diverse programme showcases a wealth of musical genres and styles, and we hope as many people as possible will take advantage of the opportunity to experience and enjoy all that’s in store. As we champion the universal language of music, we invite lifelong music fans and curious newcomers to join us as there’s something magical waiting for everyone at Celtic Connections 2026.”

Bailie Annette Christie, chair of Glasgow Life, added: “Glasgow is immensely proud that Celtic Connections continues to be such an incredible success in Scotland’s cultural events calendar, and every year shines a global spotlight on our vibrant UNESCO City of Music and its legendary reputation for audiences which are among the world’s best.

SCOTS Activists Groups

 Here are some of the most significant major Scots activist groups, who since 2014

 - working hard for Scotland’s future democracy. 

 

Scotland Act 1998 – to give us a referendum.

Is Scotland colonised?

 

 

Liberation Scotland

 

Salvo

 

Believe in Scotland

 

Common Weal

 

Scottish Currency Group

 

Scottish Constitution Group

 

The National Newspaper

 

Scots Poet Len Pennie

I attended a talk last week by the Scots poet Len Pennie at Dreamworks Bookshop Milngavie

Pennie’s poems have more lilting lyrical musicality than her English poetry. Her poems pack immediate emotional directness and punch. She says it was all the grandmothers who kept the Scots voices and language alive. 

 

Welsh Labour are proud of Welsh Gaelic and the Welsh flag. We cannot say the same of Scottish labour, would they stand in front of the saltire and speak in Scots Gaelic or Scots? There’s been a long story of religious divisions in Scotland – the divide and rule tactic of the empire elites.

 

She suffered dreadful trolling online abuse. For many years the Scots language has been treated as a ‘pretendy language’ and oddly often by hostile Scots, it’s a centuries old saga. Yet Scots have been historically influenced by their connections and trade to Flanders and Ireland. 

II  Back when James VI held a clan gathering on Iona, he insisted that the clans had their eldest son educated in England, and taught to speak ‘correct English’. This practice continues to this day, with the private school accents. All the assimilation, repression of cultural difference. In the 20^thcentury English managers and middle class professionals came to Scotland – and Scots speaking workers were treated as second class citizens in their own country.