Brexit threat to Scottish Musicians

The weak pound is having a negative effect on major Scottish arts and music festivals, such as Celtic Connections and Edinburgh International festival. Musicians, particularly folk, jazz, and classical depend on collaborating and touring across Europe. Fashion and the arts and design also thrive on these European collaborations. Scottish musicians are campaigning for exemptions for musicians for ease of travel across Europe.

The Scottish duo The Proclaimers are warning that Brexit could be catastrophic to Scotland’s major festivals and also for touring musicians. http://www.heraldscotland.com/Fringe_no_more

Brexiteers claim Britain will now instead look ‘Globally’ to china, Australia, US – while maintaining links to Europe. I’ve no idea what they mean. Scotland’s links to Europe run much deeper, plus Europe is a closer trading partner than these far flung trading partners.

RATHER than "Bathgate no more" and "Linwood no more" we could soon be singing "Fringe no more" and "Celtic Connections no more".  The Proclaimers - famed for their anthem 'Letter from America' - are among a host of Scottish music stars who are warning that Brexit risks devastating Scottish culture. A new campaign by the Musicians' Union is warning that Brexit that will usher an era "disastrous" decline for Scotland's flagship cultural festivals.

Iconic events such as Glasgow's Celtic connections and the Edinburgh International Festival face being devastated by restrictions on European musicians visiting the UK after Brexit, campaigners say. There are also concerns that the careers of Scottish musicians will be damaged by the limits put on them in terms of working across continental Europe.

Fiona Hyslop, SNP Culture secretary at The Lorient Interceltic Festival 2017 in France spoke of how freedom of movement within the EU is fundamental to Scotland’s culture. Scotland was the ‘country of honour’ with a sold-out programme, to highlight the important contributions from the EU in developing the Scottish cultural sector) “European cultural collaboration is central to Scotland’s open international cultural outlook and EU membership is a very important modern dimensi‎on to this.

Lisardo Lombardia, Director of Festival Interceltique de Lorient:  "When the festival was born in 1971, Europe was only a project in construction. This festival has made a choice: to build bridges and not walls. The festival has always welcomed Scotland and it has been one of the festival’s most faithful supporters. The free circulation of culture and ideas, particularly for artists and works of art, has helped Scotland develop its strong reputation in arts, music and creativity and become a major country for European culture.  We want that to continue in the future.

“Despite the anxiety caused by Brexit, we will continue to support the free circulation of cultures and ideas, in particular for artists and works of art. This is what has helped Scotland develop such a strong reputation in arts, music and creativity. It has helped Scotland to become a major country for European culture." 

(PS  Why will Europe give Britain as good a trading deal as members of the EU? Its ridiculous. Yet Brexiteers want their cake and eat it too. They believe the EU will offer free trade with no strings attached and not agreeing to EU regulations!?  Scotland is run by incompetents.

They have truly messed up running Scotland’s oil and gas industry too – not simply mismanaged but screwed up.  Why does Scotland sleep walk into this noose as if we have no other choices?  It is really possible that those in Scotland might do a much much better job running our own resources!! Yes really!)

Either the UK joins EFTA - not likely as UK economy too big – or we crash out with nothing.

The NATIONAL newspaper

The National was begun in October 2014, after the Scottish referendum vote. We do not have a free press here.

Most of the Scottish press has been and is foreign owned (except for the Sunday Post)

We have no laws to protect Scottish businesses.

The National offers an informed conversation across the broad platform of views and from opposite ends of the spectrum of political debates. As well as some of the best journalists writing in the business today - 

 Kevin McKenna (Herald), Pat Kane (musician and journalist), Lesley Riddoch (Scotsman), Gordon McIntrye Kemp (Business for Scotland), Literature Professor Alan Raich, Paul Kavanagh (Wee Ginger Dug), Cat Boyd, Caroline Leckie, and more.

The National also has memorable front covers.

Thanks National – I enjoy your well informed, sometimes radical, thoughtful, humorous, challenging, academic, honest articles – on the economy, arts, Scottish literature (Alan Riach), politics, humour and more! That are not full of gossip, innuendo, advertising as some other newspapers are. The press still matters because it informs Broadcasting.

Many excellent letters also - one recently suggesting Scotland and England needs a new "Treaty of Union" as the 300 year one is not fit for purpose. This was always a union of convenience and not love. Scotland has been offered and voted for its Home Rule many times. During the Great war 1914, Britain has become heavily centralised.  

Although lots of Scots support our self determination (around 45%) we only have one newspaper supporting independence.

97% of Scottish broadcasting and press is controlled by the British nationalist government. The figures are stark, of TV license money only 55% raise in Scotland is spent here – by contrast 75% and 80% are spent in Wales and Northern Ireland. Its a shocking state of affairs.

“If Scotland had a media as diverse and representative as Catalonia, we’d already be independent.” Wee Ginger Dug

 All the other devolved nations have their own public broadcaster, the British state is expert at suppressing others they rule, they've had centuries of practice at it..... We have to choose now - the 'money-driven capitalist system of Westminster' OR the kind of Scotland, more compassionate and caring, we want to build from the local level upwards.

The animosity will be reduced once England understands Scotland’s resentment at the historic overlordship of its affairs by absentee landlords, American tycoons and paid servants of the Imperial war machine (…and oil money used for Trident and useless aircraft carriers)  

Excellent series this week on “THE GREAT OIL SWINDLE – by Alex Russell” in the National,

(Scottish Questions is dreadful – other MPs speak over it.  David Fluffy Mundell tells lies – one is over the tiny amount being given to Aberdeen – 2 million! )

When the truth is that Scotland’s Oil and Gas has been stolen and squandered by an incompetent Westminster.  In fact Scotland back in the 70s had as large an oil field as Norway – yet through extreme mismanagement only a half has been recovered compared to Norway.  The McCrone Report which stated Scotland would be one of the richest countries, was kept Top Secret for decades. It’s a shocking scandal.  Instead of the money going to Scotland it has gone to the multinational Oil Companies and into the UK government coffers for London infrastructure and for Trident.

“The total UK Government take from the North Sea Oil and Gas is of the order of 400 billion – but that figure is approximately a half of that obtained by Norway for similar production volumes. Logically, that might mean the take of oil companies has been disproportionately high due to Westminster mismanagement.

Now the UK government is asking tax payers to foot half of the bill to decommission the installations. They will be leaving rusting protruding legs with little red flags attached to alert fishing boats and nuclear submarines – to save these mega rich oil companies money. Never mind all this rubbish is far removed from London.

Women Writers EIBF 2017

Sheila  Rowbotham

Evelyn Glennie

Hera Lindsay Bird

Laura Albert

Lura Waddell

Katy Mahood

Elif Shafak

Caroline Brothers

Harriet Walter

Orkney Sagas

Life on the extremes – Orkney Stories and magical tones, light and colours.

Orkney is supposed to feed the soul and the subtle magical lights and tones here certainly lift hearts and minds. From the softest blues and gentlest greens, there is a pure quality to the light. There are sea bird sanctuaries, many ancient remains, and the islands sing with their Nordic sagas.

Orkney turns upon poles of light and has 70 islands, 20 of them inhabited.

Westray, Eday, Ronaldsay, Sandy, Stronsay, Hoy,...

“A summer midnight, the north is red with the twin lamps of dawn and sunset.” George Mackay Brown (the Holy Places- 1976)

The boat trip over on the Northlink ferry was EPIC!, with 60 mile an hour gusts and the boat lurching. Quite a ride!

We arrived at Stromness, a characterful stone built town, where we visited the museum and read of their history and stories - of the artic explorer John Rae and his statue here; the Earls of Orkney, the Norwegian settlements; Indian moccasins, a necklace made of human teeth collected by traveller John Rankin, Orkney was built on travellers of course.

 “From its central location between England and the Baltic, it became the great port of call for all the ships bound for the western ocean.“ Dairy Isaac Bennes 1789

- The first day we travelled over the north coast, where the strong gusts made powerful waves that crashed on the headlines. We visited the former 15^th century home of Robert Stewart, half brother of Mary Queen of Scots, near the Brough of Birsay. We were surprised, Orkney is richly cultivated and cattle are its biggest export. 

On Wednesday we travelled south across the wild Churchill barriers and stopped to photo the high waves. Strangely too the Scapa flow was the base of the British navy during the great wars.

At the very moving Italian chapel we read of the Italians held as prisoners of war at Camp 60 in 1942, who built the barriers. They built the tiny chapel to offer hope while they suffered great hardships, and so ‘there was still a part of them that was free.’ A place of wonder and of spiritual peace built amid great hardships. Thank you.'

The Italian chapel

- At Robertson’s café at St Margaret’s Hope, we spoke to a very blonde young lady – Scandinavians were the ‘gift never given back’ she told us. Margaret was the granddaughter of the Scottish King Alexander III, who was on her way home to be crowned when she fell ill. Sadly this all led to many years of Wars of Succession. (not Wars of independence or Secession. Scotland is an older nation than England and 'Britain' is a recent invention.)

(Scotland as a nation is older than England - 9th century - by several decades. This matters because after the Maid of Norway died in 1290 leaving no successor to the Scottish throne, it was not "The Wars of Independence" that followed, but aggression by Edward I of England to take over by conquest. At that time Scotland's population was 30% of Britain's and is now 8%, which shows the suppression of Scotland culturally and economically by London) .)

Stromness

- At Kirkwall the Old library has been refurnished and upstairs in the gallery is displayed the art of Sheila Scott and we notice that many had been sold. She also has impressive tapestries displayed at the Kirkwall airport. The shops here sell beautiful delicate jewellery based on Orkney’s natural landscapes. .(Sheila Fleet, Ortak, Aurora, Hume Sweet Hume.)  

  

Thursday at Scarra Brae the winds were howling hard and the seas were full of bright froths. This ancient Neolithic villages is 7,000 years old and is a miracle to behold. As the winds continued to blow, we took a guided tour of the impressive standing stones of the Brodgar of Ness – incredible to visit and quite mind blowing. The Orkney standing stones came from the different tribes of the islands – who brought them here perhaps by water. Did they bring them as symbols of working together? The stones sit on open land beside water with extensive panoramas. 

Ring of Brodgar

This ancient place is beside the Ness of Brodgar where they are busy excavating in the summer months, was discovered in 2003. It is believed that this settlement was an ancient temple that peoples travelled from far and wide to visit, and is older than Stonehenge.

"What a beautiful, spiritual place, where many ancient paths travel and stories meet."

Orkney is a rich source of artistry.

The composer Peter Maxwell Davies – ‘The sights and sounds of the islands, the brightness of mackerel shails, the calling of birds, the strumming and pounding of the wind and sea came to resonate in his music. It urges that we dance in step together to create peace and harmony among ourselves and with the natural world of which we are a part .‘

Scarra Brae

Stenness Standing stones

II   The Orkney islands are fiercely independent and proud of their Nordic stories and British mythologies and if you are looking for Scottish tartans, Gaelic or clans here, you'll not find them!

Scottish Mythology :  

The “Received opinion” – in studies by ancient history experts on our islands ignore Scotland with an emphasis on Irish and British mythology. This discovery at Brodgar has shown that civilization did not start southern Mediterranean, as has been the 'Received Opinion', and in fact travelled northwards. Ancient Greek mythology spoke of a ‘a circular temple at Hyperbores” – the Brodgar is well before Stonehenge. Did the megalith culture spread out from Orkney, or the Hebrides, and travel by skin boats 5,000 years ago, to Greece and even to Africa? - claims historian Stuart McHardy.

There are more Cuilleachs in Scotland than Ireland, ancient Scottish goddess of restoring life a system of belief based this dual goddess who has mountains named after her - her name meant ‘veiled one’; Ben Nevis, Lochnagar, Ben Wigins and Ben Cruachan. There is the Maes Howes cairn tomb at south of the standing stones, 

A Celtic speaking and belief system warrior tribal society lived in Scotland until the 18th century which was "rooted in the landscape and is truly indigenous.'

Woodie Guthrie “Some will rob you with six guns/ Some will rob you with a fountain pen.”

“Every nation has one central theme at it  score. In Canada it ‘survival’.” Margaret Atwood. In Scotland it is extremes and travel.

**BOOKS

“Scotland’s future history”, Stuart McHardy

“If This is your Land, Where are your Stories” J Edward Chamberlin

“Arts and the Nation”, Alan Riach, Alexander Moffat, John Purser

Small personal café

Photos of stormy seas

Ruins of a castle

Magical stones

Indians moccasins

Necklace of teeth

Ancient remains and tombs

Empires collapse the distance separating the west from other places…In the 18^th century we may have needed empires (or the Romans) – but today we have fast travel and fast internet communications –

Do we need huge centralized empires anymore? What we do need is independent nation states in larger trading blocks that co-operate on trade and security. We need a new treaty of union between Scotland and England - the old 1701 treaty is not fit for purpose anymore (if it ever was)