Sing on the isle of Eigg

Our singing holiday on the isle of Eigg launched an epic trip around Scotland and Ireland for Robin and me in a reckless camper van. Eigg lies off the coast of Scotland, an hour’s ferry trip from Mallaig. 85 people live there full time, and they claimed well earned fame 17 years ago by successfully buying out their own island from an absentee Dutch landlord. We met many islanders, including Donna the Piper, sharing stories, songs and hearing about the history. Our first trip was to Laig Bay, a glorious strip of white sandy beach, shrouded in a white lighted mist when we arrived. As we lay, soaking up the warmth of the misty sun, 2 cows nonchalantly strolled past us to the sea’s edge, and spent their whole day paddling, walking up and down the length of the beach. A while later, Michael called out Look! In front of us rose 2 enormous mountains: they appeared as if 500 yards away, but it was the island of Rhum, actually 5 miles away. We were in faery land. Gradually as the mist cleared, the whole panorama revealed itself. One of the aims of my singing holidays is to sing songs that originate from the place we stay in, connecting us more deeply to the people, landscape, the ancestral energy of the place. In preparation, I had researched a song collected 100 years ago from the northern township of Cleadale on Eigg, sung “to the slow rhythmic swing of the stacking of the hay”. Its melancholy feel didn’t seem to fit its use, make much sense, but as we learnt it, along with a singer who lived in Cleadale, we realized the characteristic upwards octave jump of the melody reflected the movement of the tossing up of the hay onto a high haystack. You needed the slow tempo to bend down, collect the next pitchfork of hay, before tossing up again. I love this - the line of the song was created through the action of the work. Only through the process of doing the action as we sung did we discover this.