The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)

Poetry is a universal language

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Earning praise from folk singer Karen Matheson rightly makes Perthshire bard Thomas Brown proud, and he was delighted to see her picture in Craigie recently.

Thomas, of Bankfoot, says: “Karen was one of the wonderful people who received samples of my poems and I have to say Karen so kindly acknowledg­ed, which pleased me. I have been a fan of Karen since she first fronted the famed Gaelic group

Capercaill­ie. I just fell in love with her lovely voice and with that I am in good company, for Sean Connery was so inspired by her vocals.

“Being such a fan of Karen, I’ve read about her glowing career which began, as with so many artists, with humble beginnings and I found out that Karen’s voice was first heard as a child in her native Taynuilt surrounded by Argyll’s majestic mountains.

“In fact, in one of her most recent albums, Still Time, there is a photo of Karen as a child. I could hardly begin to speculate on all of Karen’s many achievemen­ts, but her fans – I am proud to be one – are both home and abroad. She truly is internatio­nal.

“Karen is no stranger to Perthshire. I recall when she performed at Killiecran­kie for the Highland Sessions, but she is so wellknown on BBC Alba with Celtic Connection­s and other music programmes.

“When I wrote my last small book of poems, Unto The Hills, it was a must for me to highlight Karen in a poem called Praise, in which my heart poetically went out to this lady of song and to her husband Donald Shaw. I am proud of the words, which were inspired by thinking of Karen’s voice against a Highland scene – such a lovely voice to match the landscape.”

Tam’s verse includes the lines:

“When the sun departs

“And the red turns the sky,

“Then to hear this lady sing

“Would make an angel cry.”

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