TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland ), in partnership with the Scottish Storytelling Forum, have announced the release of a new Scots language podcast to coincide with the Scottish International Storytelling Festival.
Lure o the Leid will feature stories told by some of Scotland’s best Scots speaking storytellers telling tales in their own dialects, with voices from Orkney to the Borders being represented. The episodes were recorded during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 and have been released this year to celebrate Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022.
The first season of Lure o the Leid will run for seven episodes, with a different storyteller featured in each episode; including Tom Muir (Orkney), Jess Smith (Perthshire), and James Spence (Borders). Episode one features Jackie Ross, a storyteller from the north east of Scotland, with two supernatural tales of the Deeside, told in her native Doric.
The podcast joins a number of events celebrating the different languages of Scotland at the 2022 Scottish International Storytelling Festival. Lure of the Leid storytellers Tom Muir and Jackie Ross will both perform at the festival in Edinburgh, and in their local regions of Orkney and Aberdeenshire respectively.
Other Scots events at the festival include a double-bill of Norse-Scots celebration; with a performance of SISF Festival Director, Donald Smith’s, new publication; Saut an Bluid: a Scotsaga (Sun 23 Oct); followed by The Story of Auslag: A Saga from Unst (Sun 23 Oct) presented by Scots Language Speaker of the Year, Marjolein Robertson, from Shetland. And young artists Ailsa Dixon and Neil Sutcliffe shine a light on Scots words, expressions and sayings, exploring how they relate to modern culture with their event, Wir Leid: Scots for a New Generation (Wed 26 Oct). Sharing folktales in Scots and Doric, integrated with a conversation about how they interact with the language in their own lives and with their peers.
The first episode of Lure o the Leid is available to subscribe to now via Anchor FM and Spotify. Hae a wee lug intae the stories!
Lure o the Leid episodes
Episode One: Jackie Ross (Aberdeenshire)
Storyteller Jackie Ross from Aberdeenshire shares two supernatural tales from the Deeside, The Kinker Kelpie and The Fairies o Blelack, in her native Doric.
Episode Two: Sheila Kinninmonth (Fife)
Fife storyteller Sheila Kinninmonth shares two of her favourite stories, The Guidwife o Auchtermuchty and Three Heids in a Well.
Episode Three: Tom Muir (Orkney)
Orcadian storyteller Tom Muir tells a ghost story from Sandwick in Orkney for this episode.
Episode Four: James Spence (Scots Borders)
Borders storyteller James Spence tells his version of the well known Borders tale, Thomas the Rhymer, for this episode.
Episode Five: Michael Kerins (Glasgow)
Glaswegian storyteller Michael Kerins shares one of his own compositions, based on the universal character Tom Thumb. Michael has created a series of books centred on the adventures of Wee Tom and Uncle Dan, and during this episode we hear the story of Wee Tom’s birthday celebrations.
Episode Six: Jess Smith (Perthshire)
During this episode, Perthshire storyteller Jess Smith shares stories of her family and childhood memories of growing up in Perthshire and the north of England.
Episode Seven: Paraig MacNeil (Stirlingshire)
Storyteller and bard, Paraid MacNeil, shares the story and ballad of Heather Jock during this episode. Heather Jock was a well known rogue who became synonymous with the word ‘thief’ in and around Stirlingshire and Perthshire.
