Notes on the Music
Banks, braes, craigs, bens, dales and vales are only a few of the myriad names for the varied contours of the Celtic landscape. A Celt will say My Heart’s in the Hielan’s and invite the visitor to Come by the Hills.E begin our trek in the Bonnie Hills and Dales of beautiful Dumfries & Galloway in southwest Scotland, once the home of Robert Burns who penned the lyrics Ye Banks & Braes to an ancient melody. Turning north to Perthshire, we watch soaring eagles on Craigie Dhu, the “Black Crag”, and near the home of musician/composer Dougie McLean. Legends abound regarding the land. In the west of Scotland, The Bens of Jura rise out of the Hebridean mists and are said to represent a woman’s body. In Si Beag, Si Mhor Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan depicts the hill forts of rival faerie clans. Seeking a place for a pleasant outing, we might picnic on Woodcock Hill or roam The Heather Glen. Salisbury Craig, near Edinburgh Scotland, was a place of solace for writer Walter Scott. Standing on The Heathy Little Hill we see a land that has endured many changes. Katahdin, a mountain sacred to Maine’s native peoples, is one of the oldest in the world is part of the same geological formation as the Celtic Mountains. As our ancestors travelled the globe, we leave behind the ancient crags of the Celtic Lands and New England, and explore the tropical beauty of Costa Rica, in Cerro Chato, the old volcano and Volcan Arenal a mountain younger than we are! Finally,the mist rises over Dobin’s Flowery Vale revealing the Hills of Harmony, the land of Fred’s youth. A New England immigrant remembered his native Ben Lomond and The Banks of Inverness leaving these tunes for us to find in a local collection of music and reminding us of our connection to the ancient land.