Tonight we have a moonlit chat with our very dear friend, Scott Gardiner. Tom and Scott have a lovely, wandering blether across the bothy ballad and traditional Scottish song scene, touching on the history of this unique music and how it stands today. They talk about the culture and lifestyle that created the bothy ballads, a bit about the bothy system in the Orkney Islands and reminisce about "Bothy Nichts", an old Scottish bothy songs television show. Tom and Scott speak about the sad passing of many of the great old singers and songwriters they both admire, including recently Orkney's own Billy Jolly. Scott tells of some of the singers who inspired him and he even favors us with a few of his favorite bothy ballad songs, including one of his own!

So pull up a chair, pour yourself a dram and settle in for a good, old-fashioned blether among friends.

In this episode, we're treated to these traditional songs:

• Guise o' Tough (traditional), 1890s
• Generations of Change, by Matt Armour, 1975
• Princie and Jean, by George Corrigall, 1959
• ... ending with a tongue-in-cheek song that Scott wrote for the Out of Doors Radio Scotland programme!

Drop by again on the NEXT full moon, when Tom will talk about Scottish coastal culture and stories and tell a few tales from his new book with History Press, Scottish Folk Tales of Coast and Sea.

Podcast theme music courtesy of Fionn McArthur.

"Ower wi' the moon" artwork created by Jenny Steer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.