Blogs

Esedhvos Festival of Cornish Culture
30 Aug 2017 to 3 Sep 2017

Gorsedh Kernow exists to maintain the national Celtic spirit of Cornwall and give expression to such spirit; to encourage the study of Cornish history and the Cornish language; to foster Cornish literature, art, music, dance and sport; to link Cornwall with other Celtic countries, and to promote a spirit of peace and co-operation among those who work in Cornwall’s honour.

The sea loch of Loch Leven (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Liobhann) is located on the west coast of Scotland. It extends for nearly nine miles and at its western end flows into Camus a' Chois, part of Loch Linnhe at North Ballachulish. Loch Linnhe is a beautiful part of Scotland, known for its fantastic scenery and sunsets. The area has a rich history with a number of Bronze Age burial sites in the vicinity. These archaeological sites point to this as a place of ritual importance that was used for special ceremonial purposes in the third and second millennia BC.

This Friday August 25th sees the start of the annual Screenplay Film Festival in Shetland which runs until September 3rd. The festival is celebrated at various venues across the islands. It features more than 80 screenings along with lectures and panel discussions involving national and international film industry professionals and film academics. The Festival also has strong local flavour and will be supporting emerging Shetland film-makers as well as encouraging the involvement of the community in the ten day event.

The physical scars of the Highland Clearances of the 18th and 19th century remain to this day and abandoned hillside settlements can still be seen. They are a notorious part of Scottish history with tens of thousands of men, women and children cruelly and violently evicted from their homes. Property was set on fire, even murder was committed and terrible famine and extreme poverty ensued. The Clearances began in the late 18th century and carried on in separate phases well into the 19th century.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB Scotland) is a charitable organisation that works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment. They have been objecting to the Scottish Government decision in 2014 to give consent for four major wind farms in the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay.

For those of us who are passionate about the preservation, protection and promotion of the Gaelic Tongue of Ireland it is always helpful to step back and reflect.  The following “snapshot” of the past, present and future of the Irish Language is provided to us by Conradh na Gaeilge  and additional information can be found on their website which is linked below.

The Merthyr Rising of May and June 1831 took place when the coal miners and other working people took to the streets of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales in protest against unemployment and lowering wages. With cries of Caws a bara (cheese and bread) and I lawr â'r Brenin (down with the king) the protest spread throughout the area. Before the authorities regained control of the town through brutal force on 7 June the protesters effectively controlled Merthyr.

The Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association along with the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts of St. Anns, Cape Breton, are sponsoring the 2017 Festival of Cape Breton Fiddling. The Festival will be held August 19th - 20th, featuring workshops in Cape Breton Fiddling and Gaelic Step Dancing. 

This weekend saw 219 bands with 8,000 pipers from 15 nations take park in the World Pipe Band Championships in the Scottish city of Glasgow (Scottish Gaelic: Glaschu). The contest is now in its 70th year and some 35,000 people attended the two-day event. The Scottish Inveraray and District Pipe Band won the Grade 1 contest, beating Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band from the north of Ireland into second place and St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band from Dublin who came third. Organisers gave thanks to every one who played, competed and came to support and watch the Championship.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is to issue its first polymer £10 note to the public on 4 October this year. It is to feature images of Scottish mathematician and astronomer Mary Somerville, her hometown of Burntisland in Fife, and two otters. Mary Fairfax Somerville (26 December 1780 – 29 November 1872) was a Scottish mathematician, geographer and astronomer, who was born in 1780 in Jedburgh but her childhood home was at Burntisland in Fife. When she died in 1872, Mary Somerville was hailed by The Morning Post as "The Queen of Nineteenth-Century Science".