Karine writes: Unst is the northernmost of the Shetland Isles. I first heard this sung at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC by the wonderful Fair Isle mother and daughter Anne and Lise Sinclair. They recorded a version of it with their family band Fridarey. I learned the song eventually from Lise's cousin, my dear friend, neighbour and bandmate Inge Thomson. The language is old Norn, fragments of which are still alive in Shetlandic speech today. Anne regards the song as a sea-prayer and suggests the translation below. It was a spine-tingling experience to sing this together in the Cathedral Cave on Eigg, with the sound of the sea in our ears. Do seek out the beautiful music and poetry that the late Lise Sinclair left behind her.
credits
from Songs of Separation,
released January 29, 2016
Traditional music and lyrics arranged by Hazel Askew, Jenn Butterworth, Eliza Carthy, Hannah James, Jenny Hill, Mary Macmaster, Karine Polwart, Hannah Read, Rowan Rheingans, Kate Young
a friend introduced me to this album two winters ago, and it's very quickly become a staple in my household (it isn't the holiday season until sing we all merrily plays).
the tracks that particularly strike me though are heading for home, the bear song, and the old churchyard - the way the world cycles on, the turning of the wheel, life and death in a beautiful dance. we could despair that our time is short, but we seek joy and love again and again.
I love this album. sophie
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