Lost and found in the sands of time as musician finds new inspiration in disastrous storm
Acclaimed fiddle player reveals how old tales helped her compose new music
Almost 330 years ago, a sandstorm wiped a coastal community off the map and, as the Great Sand Drift of 1694 turned farmland into desert, those who lived on the shores of the Moray Firth at Culbin, near Nairn, were forced to flee their homes.
It’s one of a number of powerful tales of the area’s relationship with the sea that have inspired new music from awardwinning fiddle player Lauren Maccoll.
Her forthtcoming performance at the Royal National Mòd 2021 will be showcased at the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness, and ties in with the nationwide Year of Coasts and Water programme.
“I thought it was the perfect opportunity for me to draw on quite a few different tales and happenings from history around the Moray Firth,” said Maccoll.
“I’d long been interested in them but didn’t quite have a way of tying them all together. I grew up on the Black Isle so it’s central to that area and surroundings.
“It’s 20 minutes of music loosely based on four different stories, some of which are actual events that happened, others are connected a little more to folklore.
“There’s plenty to draw on and, as soon as you have the sea involved, there’s a lot of tragedy. It’s not sometimes the happiest of stories, but they come with a lot of inspiring legacy and imagery.”
Maccoll, from Fortrose, has been writing music connected to the area for the past five years.
What struck her as a running theme between the stories she uncovered was a sense of loss in their aftermath.
“Looking at all of these stories, there was the feeling that there was loss, but not just human loss,” she said. “There are so many ramifications of a loss of knowledge and loss of language in quite a lot of cases and the reach of these coastal disasters is so much more.
“That’s really what the arc of the whole piece represents, not just the loss of life but so much more.
“The one that I started the whole piece with was Culbin. It’s an amazing place to visit that has regenerated with incredible wildlife, and lots of different species of dragonfly.
“At one time, though, there was a community living and thriving there and they lost it all in a day. The basis of the whole thing is imagining what those people suffered and how, overnight, a whole community can just be wiped out.”
Composed and performed by Maccoll, the piece will also feature Mairearad Green, Anna Massie and Rachel Newton playing alongside her, with visuals by filmmaker
Zoe Paterson Macinnes, and songs from Arthur Cormack and Emma Macleod. “It’s great to be able to get back to collaborating in that way, which is something we haven’t been able to do over the last while,” said Maccoll.
Maccoll is delighted to be a part of the upcoming Mòd, having suffered the same frustrations as many musicians throughout lockdown.
The festival will mark the return of shows to the Inverness arts hub for the first time since March 2020.
“We’ve all adapted to this online world, but nothing sounds more rubbish over Zoom than a fiddle to be honest,” said Maccoll. “An instrument like it thrives on being in a nice acoustic space, all about the projection. It’s really exciting to be able to get back to play in front of people and do what we do best.”
For more information on the Mòd, which runs from October 8 to 16, visit ancomunn.co.uk