Waulk this way at historic township
Parents looking for fun activities to keep children entertained during the summer can add hearing centuries-old songs straight from the heart at Scotland’s last remaining “living museum” township on to their to-do list.
Once a month Auchindrain, six miles south of Inveraray, will host the ladies of Sgioba Luaidh Inbhirchluaidh – Inverclyde Waulking Group. Together since 2000, the 10-strong group has performed traditional Gaelic waulking music at Auchindrain for 15 years and travelled the length and breadth of Scotland, as well as further afield, demonstrating impressive harmonies.
Waulking, the final stage in the long and laborious process of producing homespun tweed woollen cloth, is the perfect rhythmical process for a song according to Frances Dunlop, who heads up the group.
She said: “The genesis of Sgioba Luaidh Inbhirchluaidh was way back in 1981, when I first went to a summer school in Stirling University with Anne Lorne Gillies.
“I had sung in Gaelic choirs for many years, but over several years under Anne’s guidance I came to appreciate traditional Gaelic song – and my life was transformed!
“Gradually I became more familiar with waulking songs, but it was a long time before I plucked up courage to suggest to Greenock Gaelic Choir that some of us might sing them together and so the group came into being.
“There are currently 10 of us in the group, two of whom, besides myself, are founder members. Most of us hail from Greenock, Port Glasgow, Inverkip and Wemyss Bay in Inverclyde but others come from further afield such as Dunoon and Barrhead.
“We are always on the lookout to welcome new members and have amassed quite a large repertoire of songs over the years.”
Waulking or fulling the cloth, was practised widely but it is believed that only in Scottish Gaelic culture was it accompanied by singing.
It is an ancient tradition with some of the songs being centuries old, passed on orally and transformed into many differing versions.
“Most of the songs are loosely structured: in order to make a song last long enough for the work, lines might be imported from another song or perhaps a few lines of improvisation could be thrown in,” added Frances.
“One woman sings the verse of one or two lines. It seems effortless but takes a lot of skill and practice to get the timing exactly right! The rest join in the chorus, which in the oldest songs are composed of meaningless vocals. Later songs may have some words in the chorus as well.”
Visit www.waulk.org and www.auchindrain. org.uk for more information about waulking and Auchindrain Historic Township.