Reivers
Recordings
was begun almost by accident, and is the product of as a desire by myself, Brian
Johnstone, founder and owner, to put on record my own interpretations of the
rich musical and poetic lore of my native Borderland, the sometimes wild and
barren, sometimes breathtakingly beautiful, pastoral country which straddles the
line where Southern Scotland and Northern England meet, known simply as “The
Borders”.
•THE
SCOTS/ANGLO “BORDERS” Can be defined as the lands immediately to the north
and South, of an East-West line between Berwick-Upon-Tweed and the Solway Firth
respectively.
This
line represented a true frontier until the Union of the Scots and English Crowns
in 1601 by James V1 and 1 respectively, and still exists today in purely
geographic terms.
•The
inhabitants on adjacent but opposite sides of the national boundary forming this
area of Britain are logically similar in character, as seen in other nation
states divided by monarchic or political struggle and manipulation, almost in
defiance of the forces which established the “Border”.
The
linguistic accents of both are distinctive and are among the most gutteral,
bluntly-spoken and least affected by time.
The
songs, and often content, leave this in no doubt.
•Today,
to the Scottish side of the line, “The Borders” means - to the inhabitants - an inner core of Roxburghshire and
Selkirkshire encompassing Liddiesdale, Teviotdale, the Ettrick and Yarrow
Valleys and Eskdale (Middle Marches), with peripheral counties of Berwickshire
to the East (East Marches), and Dumfries and Galloway to the west (West
Marches).
The
English side is formed by the much larger and spread out counties of Cumberland
(Middle and West Marches) and Northumberland
(East March).
•COMMON-RIDINGS,
RIDING OF THE MARCHES, CASTING OF THE COLOURS. In all the main towns on the
Scottish side of the Border, beginning in late May and extending through June on
consecutive weeks, the ancient and heavily equestrian and socially rambunctious
festivals known as “Common-ridings” are held, which harken back to, and
before the “Reiver” days.
In the case of my home town Hawick, the
annual celebration dates back to the aftermath of the Battle of Flodden in 1514,
one of Scotland’s more ignominious defeats at the hands of the English, when a
band of men too young to participate in the major battle rode out to protect the
town from an oncoming English division which was
plundering and raping the area, “Routed them and took their colours”
The
Music, Some Musicians and Culture
•The
music, like the peoples of Southern Scotland and Northern England –as has
already been noted- is similar in character both sides of the Border, with
locally-based characteristics providing different subject matter and flavours.
It
is not surprising therefore, that in the Scottish marches, Shepherd-poets and
singers were part of the naturally evolving cultural landscape as had Warrior or
Reiver-poets and a retinue of “Sangsters” been in evidence in more turbulent
times, as well as, on the coasts, Fishermen and Whalers, and in the English
Northeast, Coal Miners wrote and sang of their hard lives.
Even
relatively recent references to the Nordic culture and mores of (Viking)
ancestry are heard, as in “Teribus”(Border Music-Volume 1) translated
roughly as –“Tyre Habbe us, Tyre Hebbe Odin” pleading for the intervention
of the Nordic God ODIN.
This alone would serve to distinguish the Border music’s evolutionary path from “Celtic”, or Western/Highland/Irish, which was more tied to Catholic legend.
left to right: Brian Johnstone, Maia Holliday, David "Kid" Siegel.
It
was my good fortune to have been exposed first-hand to much of the subject music
in a reasonably pure form, by association with the venerable Wullie Scott, his
lesser-known brother Tam, and the great, recently deceased traditional fiddler,
Rob Hobkirk.
Most
of the songs in the “Borders” recordings, I learned by association with
these individuals as an accompanist on the guitar or four-string plectrum banjo,
which I mostly studied and played in the jazz and later Flamenco (Guitar)
idioms.
I
have never been a vocalist, let alone a “Folk Singer” but when (Especially)
Rob Hobkirk took a liking to the Guitar as backup instrument over the piano, I
and an old crony Roy Cairns (Wonderful natural Bass player) would play with him
at Country Dances and Farmer’s (Herd’s) Balls and celebrations. We would
also visit, listen to and play with Tam Scott –Wullie’s brother-, a retired
Dry Stane Dyker (Builder of the mortarless stone walls evident everywhere in the
Borders), who was also a great story-teller, so the words, music and stories
were a natural part of my early learning by absorption and association.
I
hope that the first and coming albums will serve as a musical tribute to those
who passed the music along to me, and that they will also be seen as a very real
link in keeping this unique and stirring music alive, and instrumental in
keeping the chain intact and even strengthening it by sharing my very personal
approach to the songs and tunes, and those of my associates, for future
generations.
•Brian
Johnstone; Native of the Central Border town of Hawick, now living in
Manzanita on the north Oregon coast, has played guitar, mostly in the Jazz and
Flamenco idioms, all over the world –more from pure love of the instrument
than ambition to fame and fortune- both in solo performance and in many Jazz
bands and Flamenco groups in Spain, and the USA, and has done session work for
other musicians and groups. He also plays 4-String Plectrum Banjo, Blues
Harmonica and at one time, the Fiddle. He is presently attempting to learn the
Northumbrian Smallpipes under the tutelage of Gail Gibbard.
The
Guitar used in these recordings is a 1999 Bernal de Cadiz, Flamenco
“Blanca”.
•Gail
Gibbard: From Portland, Oregon, has been playing the Northumbrian Smallpipes and
Scottish Highland Bagpipes for some Twenty years, has won pipe competitions on
both sides of the Atlantic and teaches the Smallpipes on a regular basis in the
Pacific Northwest, including British Columbia, She also plays the Irish Whistle.
The
Northumbrian Smallpipes are a type of bagpipe unique to the English Northern
counties and Southern Scotland, are bellowed rather than blown and have the only
“Closed-end” chanter in the bagpipe family.
•Maia
Holliday; Is a passionate and lyrical singer with a mainly folk background from
Portland, Oregon and adds a natural harmonic sense and purity of delivery to
many of the songs, providing the ideal foil for Brian Johnstone’s gravelly
vocals. She also writes her own songs which will be the subject of an upcoming
album on Reivers Recordings.
Gail Gibbard
Reivers
Recordings will be following the initial offering of “Music Whaur I’m Frae;
Songs of the Scots-Anglo Borders” with two further volumes in short order, one
of which will include Brian Johnstone’s recently written “Border Tribute”,
to demonstrate the breadth of the music of this region, with songs and tunes
humorous and tragic, poetic and pragmatic.
We
hope to become known as an intercultural label, without stereotyping artists
because of their origins, and plan to issue recordings by, among others, a
Master African Drummer from Nigeria, a Japanese Virtuoso Nuevo-Flamenco/Jazz
Fusion Guitarist, a latter day Scottish Border Fiddler, in the Rob Hobkirk
tradition, a fine Blues singer from the Northwestern U.S.A., as well as a solo
Guitar Album by Brian Johnstone with Flamenco/Blues and Jazz flavours and
original compositions and arrangements and a CD of Maia Holliday’s original
songs arranged for Guitar and Voice by Brian Johnstone, among many other albums
in the planning stage.
Meanwhile
it is our wish that this initial offering, “Music Whaur I’m Frae:”
“Songs of the Scots-Anglo Borders” will entertain and educate the listener
and hope that you check back with the site from time to time for the latest
offerings.
Sincerely;
All
at reiversrecordings.com.