Hirondelle

It is Wednesday and today I went out with the long walkers. We did only 8.5 miles, so I thought I would be OK and I was. Arth behaved very well and is only slightly swollen and stiff tonight.

The walk was shorter than usual because we were going to BJ's afterwards for seasonal refreshments. She and Sheila have a beautiful but small house in Riding Mill. 34 of us walked and I was a bit worried as to whether we would all fit in. It was fine and a few did not come back anyway.

I then dashed home to cook the evening meal. We needed to be early because Julie was coming with me to a concert by Hirondelle in Humshaugh Village Hall.

The group was led by the Brothers Gillespie, my favourite folk duo. They had enlisted support from a classical trio and a Occitan trio from France. (See below* for details.)

The French singers were superb.

The trio played arrangements of the Gillespie's music and played while they sang. I loved the instrumental music, but I thought the balance could have been improved. It was hard to hear what the lads were singing.

There was also a storyteller who told a long (15 mins) tale accompanied on his own drum. (The drumming could have been effective if there was less of it............!) I will forgive him because he gave us each a daffodil bulb to plant. In the Spring we will remember this evening.

It was a very special evening.

I also won the raffle and chose a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin for my prize.

It's been such a lovely day.

Julie is staying overnight.

*This is a rare collaborative concert with the classical virtuosos of 'Trio Mythos' and elemental Provencal trio 'Tant Que Li Siam' and The Brothers Gillespie. Sophie Renshaw of Trio Mythos has beautifully arranged some of The Brothers Gillespie's and Tant Que Li Siam's original music and this concert will see collaborative fusions of North and South European folk song with the classical tradition. We follow as an inspiration the spirit of the Swallow, or 'Hirondelle' in French whose travels from Africa, across Europe to the Atlantic Islands and back again unite disparate rooted communities and the music that emerges is informed by travel and migration ancient and new from the great mediterranean melting pot as well as the ancient roots of local folk song.