This is the first of two episodes sharing music, song, story, and poetry from the upper reaches of the River Findhorn. This landscape carries a cultural memory of lives once lived—of reivers, drovers, lovers and otherworldly creatures. To hear again the songs that describe the sun on the river or the wind from the heights—to recall the grief and love that happened here—is to heed some of the human story that binds us to this place and those who walked before us.

This episode features rousing pipe tunes from Strathdearn, strathspeys unique to the central Highlands, an ancient love song and lament revived with a beautifully composed new melody, enchanting stories and songs of the fairies, and a heartfelt poem for a handsome drover.

With thanks to Munro Gauld for help with musical research.

This podcast was produced by Raghnaid Sandilands and Mairi McFadyen in collaboration with the Findhorn Watershed Initiative - a multi-generational vision to restore a mosaic of nature rich habitats, grow a local culture of nature connection and enable a thriving nature-positive economy for the people and places of the River Findhorn’s watershed area, from the Monadhliath Mountains to the Moray Firth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode introduces the idea of human ecology and the significance of cultural memory. Gaelic, like all languages long of a place, has so much to say about seeing, naming and experiencing the natural world. It can help us remember, offering us a view of the world that can focus our attention and deepen our sense of place, inviting us to consider other ways of seeing.

This podcast was produced by Raghnaid Sandilands and Mairi McFadyen in collaboration with the Findhorn Watershed Initiative - a multi-generational vision to restore a mosaic of nature rich habitats, grow a local culture of nature connection and enable a thriving nature-positive economy for the people and places of the River Findhorn’s watershed area, from the Monadhliath Mountains to the Moray Firth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.