Lismore’s Music and Literature Festival 2019 was blessed with great weather and wonderful performances. But most of all with professional planning and organising. Behind the scenes Jennifer Baker and Memory McDonald worked with too many volunteers to list. Great thanks to everyone.
The festival, which ran from Thursday 19 September to Sunday 22 September, opened with Lismore Lumiere’s showing of “Dirt Road to Lafayette”, the film of James Kelman’s book “Dirt Road” which was a feature of Taproot 2017.
The following day, Friday, Davy Maddock and Sarah Campbell ran a recording session at crossroads studio at Tirlaggan.
Norman Bissell introduced “Barnhill – A Novel” based on George Orwell’s time on the island of Jura.
Norman Bissell
In the evening Mairi Campbell gave us a moving and often amusing tale of her adventures with Scotland’s most famous song. Her take on the Auld Lang Syne story featured events from her own life told using her voice, her movement, and her wonderful viola playing. It was co-devised and directed by Kath Burlinson, with original music produced by Mairi and Dave Grey.
Mairi Campbell
At the end of a packed Saturday Leslie Riddoch screened her film of the “Faroes” which she sees as a possible inspiration for an independent Scotland. Her ability to engage her audience is well known and a great evening was followed by lively questions and discussion.
On Saturday morning Helen Witcher introduced her book Madame Scotia, Madam Scrap, the story of her aunt Héloïse Russell-Fergusson, an eccentric spirit and pioneer of Hebridean and unconventional clarsach, or Celtic harp music. It was a tale of discovery for Helen who pieced together the scraps of her aunt’s life learning a lot about herself on the way. She portrayed a true eccentric in her talk about the book in articular mentioning the car Russell-Fergusson would unorthodoxly record her music in and the potted plants lining its dashboard.
As well as the music and literature, there were informative and well patronised island walks. Mary MacDougall took her walkers to familiar and not so familiar places which were full of interesting sometimes forgotten island stories. Bob Hay took his group to the old part of the cemetery and introduced significant literature figures who are buried there.
Day three of Taproot , Saturday, was when resident Lismore artists performed. And there was no shortage as Lismore either attracts or creates creative residents. ( No-one knows which way round this works .) The ceilidh was a preview of the artists on a CD “Sounds from the Great Garden” which the very talented David Maddock has recorded and Katy Crossan has assembled. We heard Gaelic song, choral works from Lismore Voices and the school children, poetry, various other songs and readings from short stories. Jennifer Baker introduced.
In the evening Gerda Stevenson spoke about her poetry in general but very specifically about “Quines” a collection of odes to Scottish women of all eras, ages and classes, all of whom had achieved invisibility despite great achievements in their lifetimes. Addressing this age old story with her considerable talent as a researcher and poet was indeed impressive.
Gerda Stevenson
Iona Sound were the final act exploring folk material connecting Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia. The Isle of Iona sits at the geographical epicentre of the Dál Riata kingdom, which linked Ireland and Scotland. On Lismore they played traditional folk pieces, Long Dances, Waltzes and Airs.
Iona Sound
Sunday the last day
Priscilla Morris introduced her novel “The Painter of Bridges” set in Sarajevo in April 1992. The main character Zora is a landscape painter whose husband, Franjo, is visiting their daughter, Dubravka, in England when violence breaks out. No one believes the fighting will last longer than a week or two. In any case, Zora has grown obsessed with a painting of a bridge that she’s working on and does not want to leave Sarajevo. Priscilla’s book is based on her family’s experience of the Seige of Sarajevo and she read several moving extracts.
Priscilla Morris
Sunday afternoon in the church was the true finale with Findlay Hay on classical guitar and Mairi Campbell on viola delighting the large audience. Findlay is in his last year at the Menuhin School in Surrey and is already an extremely accomplished and sensitive guitarist with a great future if his astonishing Bach is anything to go by. Mairi and Findlay alternated their performances with lighter moments finishing with Caledonia which delighted the audience who were eager to join in.
Mairi Campbell and Findlay Hay
No report would be complete without mention of the craft people and the cafe, the later doing an amazing job over the three plus days keeping everyone fed and watered to a high standard. Thanks to Sarah and Dan and their assistants Bethany and Babs. They all went beyond the call of duty. The craft people sold their made-in-Lismore wares in the marquee. Hazel MacCormick founder and CEO of Lismore Luminations had her original handmade soya candles in an amazing array of interesting flavours, Roxanne Prando CEO of Shepherd’s Cottage was selling her handmade soaps and body moisturizers in enticing flavours, and Erik Tovarsson his beautiful leather and wooden jewellery.