We simply had to share this amazing image of us playing in the most fabulous venue last week!
This is Murthly Chapel and we were delighted to be performing for the West Stormont Historical Society. Our theme was Songs O'er Time and Place and we had a wonderful evening with a lovely audience in this historical and truly awe-inspiring chapel.
The Murthly Castle website is worth a visit and there's a brilliant film of the chapel available via the website The Chapel of St. Anthony the Eremite The chapel has an original, older part dating from the 16th century. In 1845 Sir William Drummond Stewart had a new chapel designed. It was the first Catholic place of worship to be dedicated after the Reformation and is particularly regarded for its fine interior decoration which includes a mural depicting the conversion of Constantine. There are more images online at Canmore.
The Murthly History Group have access to the castle archives and their website has some really fascinating blogs that cover the history of the estate, some interesting characters connected to the castle, and other local history about Murthly, well worth a read!
If you like local history then look up the website for West Stormont Historical Society as they have lots of talks and future events lined up for the autumn.
We sang some very local songs (including Rohallion by Violet Jacob which we still have to record!) and we have added the song Bonnie Moorhen to our music page.
This is a Jacobite song sung by many folk singers and collected by James Hogg. A great many Jacobite songs were “cried down songs”; that is, they were proscribed. Consequently, songwriters and singers tended to codify their verses. Charles Stuart appears in the songs in a host of disguises; as a blackbird, as “our guidman” and, in this song, as a moorhen. The colours mentioned in the second verse allude to those found in the Stuart tartan. For our evening at Murthly, it was the reference in the song to coming 'round by Kinclaven' which we think makes it local and refers, possibly, to the nearby beech hedge at Meikleour. This was said to have been planted by men who left their work planting the trees to join Bonnie Prince Charlie in the '45, none of whom returned. The trees were left to grow on in memory of them.
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