Tomorrow marks the start of our storytelling season, and we’re thrilled to kick things off with the talented Winchburgh Storytellers. These gifted weavers of words have brought to life the tales that lie at the heart of our Scottish Myths and Legends exhibition. Mary Baxter from Tatterhood Tales and member of the Winchburgh Storytellers has kindly shared more about the storytellers and the magic they create…
Who we are
The Winchburgh Storytellers is a group of people who enjoy stories- listening, telling and co-creating them. We meet on the last Tuesday of the month at 7:30pm at Winchburgh Community Centre– a mixture of developing, apprentice and professional storytellers, sharing stories, ideas and encouragement. We always welcome new faces so if you are interested, please come along. There’s no pressure to perform, either- every teller needs an audience so if you’d just like to come and soak up the craic that’s good too.
While some might think storytelling is for children, it actually has a long and distinguished history. In times gone by, before widespread literacy, stories were cherished both as tools for teaching life lessons and as entertainment. In Gaelic culture the shenachie (pronounced sen-ach-ey) was a combination of judge, historian, academic, school teacher and pop star, amongst other things! The shenachie was “the culture”, in a single person.
The original meaning of the word ceilidh (pronounced kay-ley) is to gather together. And where people are gathered together, stories are shared. Dancing became a later addition to the practice. Storytelling ceilidhs still happen today; the Burgh Blatherers host one at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh every other month. People sit around tables nursing drinks while a host will introduce anyone who’d like to tell a story to come up and share – kind of an “open mic” night (except without the microphone and much less scary). All are welcome.
At Winchburgh Storytellers’ Tuesday evening meetings we are predominantly aimed at adults. We start with a warm-up of gentle sharing round the circle, and then some collaborative storytelling before those that wish have time to share a story with the group. Some come to listen, some come to practice (there are a number of Storytelling Apprentices in the group) but all come to share.
The Museum Request
Jennifer Brown from Linlithgow Museum came to our 3rd ever meeting- asking us to come and support the Scottish Myths and Legends exhibition. We were thrilled at such an opportunity but a little surprised that our limited publicity had reached so far!
What Happened Next
We came up with a list of potential topics for stories- to make sure that we had a good representation of the breadth of material out there. And stories to please the purists, the youngsters, the busy and those that wanted something more in depth! While some are traditional tales, we included some newer variations. That’s the joy of oral storytelling; the stories endlessly change shape and content depending on the teller, the audience and the context. These stories live rather than being pinned down on the page!
The Recordings
A Selkie story- where a seal takes off their outer skin to reveal a human underneath. Often a Selkie’s skin is hidden by a human who traps them on the land for a period of time before they find it again and escape back to the sea. Recorded by Beith Watson.
The Trowie Wedding
A Kelpie story- where a magical horse comes from the loch seeking to capture unwary passers by and drag them to the depths for a light snack. Here the boy wins against the Kelpie- hurrah! Recorded by Ruth McCabe.
A story of the Cailleach – ancient and fearsome Scottish goddess of winter, who rules the land until springtime, when Bride (or Bridget) takes her place for the next few months. Diana Watt recorded a modern interpretation of her power and majesty.
The story of Thomas the Rhymer – a young man is taken to Fairyland for the price of a kiss. When he returns, many years have passed, but he has been compensated by being given the gift of truth. Thomas’ words have power, and he earns enough by his speech to build a tower in the Borders which can still be seen today- before leaving to be reunited with his Fairy Queen. Recorded by Daru Mcaleece.
The Bannock Boy
A Trowie story. Trowies (fairies in Orkney) live in Fairy Mounds and generally cause havoc. In this story, a fiddler is diverted into a Fairy mound and returns several months later, to the annoyance of his new bride. Recorded by Mary Baxter.
The Wee Bannock Man is the Scots version of the Gingerbread Man- and always makes me laugh. Recorded by Eleanor Bell.
The Loch Ness Monster needs no introduction; Alison Philip told a story of the monster meeting with St Columba, an interplay of myth and history.
The Unicorn and the Lion is a modern story about the significance of emblems to reassure and encourage – told by Traci Mackie.
These stories are all available to hear within the museum via push-button and screen (audio-visual) technology.
The live tellings
Various of the Winchburgh Storytellers have volunteered to tell stories live within Linlithgow Museum. We’ve tried to pair up more and less experienced tellers and will be presenting a wide variety of stories both of traditional Scottish myths and legends, and stories from a broader range of time and space to keep things fresh. We look forward to seeing as many of you as we can!
In the meantime, if you’d like to know more about Winchburgh Storytellers we have a web page at https://marytatterhoodtales.wordpress.com/winchburgh-storytellers/ and an email too: winchburghstorytellers@cantab.net . Or just come along to our next session- we’d love to meet you!
Linlithgow Museum is thrilled to be partnering with the Winchburgh Storytellers, whose passion for sharing Scotland’s rich heritage is truly inspiring. Together, we’re bringing our Scottish Myths and Legends exhibition to life in an exciting new way. As part of this collaboration, the storytellers will be hosting a series of live sessions right here at the museum – and we can’t wait to welcome you! Come along, immerse yourself in these captivating tales, and meet the storytellers who keep Scotland’s legends alive. Book your spot today!
Our Scottish Myths and Legends exhibition is on display until 28 September 2024.