Sat 5 May | 7.30pm (2hrs) | Scottish Storytelling Centre
Families – we can’t live with them, can’t live without them!
In the spirit of this year’s TradFest theme of ‘Passing it on’, what storytelling topic could be more fitting than ‘family’ and ‘heritage’? We all know anecdotes of peculiar family gatherings, enlightening moments of sibling treachery and myths around the black sheep in the clan. Family legends, like the ancestor who pitched his wits against Auld Hornie, the Devil, drive us to muse our own fortune and family situations!
Storyteller Douglas Mackay will be sharing the tale of an ancestral character called Donald Mackay! Not only was Donald a 17th century clan chief who fought in the 30 Years’ War and almost bankrupted himself, but according to Douglas: ‘It was said he had studied the dark arts with the devil himself, attaining a degree of mastery paying with his shadow, and very nearly his soul. Once back in Scotland, of course the devil came to claim what he felt was rightfully his and a battle of wits ensued.’
Together with storytellers Alice Fernbank and Daniel Serridge, prepare to be grabbed by your roots as the storytelling trio explore family ties and personal moments of magic, through folk tales of intrigue, warning and amusement!
‘There’s something raw, beautiful and moderately dysfunctional about most families and as such it’s such a rich and enjoyable topic to explore through storytelling.’ “Jack lived alone with his old mother in a little house in the forest….”, “Once there was a king who had three sons and a daughter”, “Long ago there was an old couple who yearned dearly for a child of their own”. The family often gives the social constellation intrinsic to the tale and point for the story to launch from, and so it is for each of us.’ (Douglas Mackay)
As we pass on our stories, traditions and traits to the next generation, some elements are absorbed and lost, whilst new things are added and changed. Tender and infuriating, familiar yet fantastic, the family is intrinsic to some of the best folk tales and personal anecdotes, of which the storytellers will be sharing a few this Saturday evening at the Scottish Storytelling Centre (7.30pm).
