Glasgow Gallivanting: February 2018

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Celtic Connections

Kathryn Williams
Brother Brothers

Glasgow’s traditional music festival, Celtic Connections, runs from late January into February. As usual, we booked several gigs – Friday 1st February saw us at Òran Mór to see Kathryn Williams, a singer from the North of England. I first came across her many years ago in a documentary about Leonard Cohen in which she covered Hallelujah, and I’ve been a fan ever since. She didn’t sing that, but she closed with Bird on the Wire which brought a tear to my eye and sent me home happy (if that’s not contradictory).

Equally enjoyable was the support – not often I say that! The Brother Brothers, from Brooklyn via Illinois, had such delightful folk / bluegrass harmonies that I bought their CD on the spot. Charming young men too – real brothers, twins in fact, whose surname is Moss. I didn’t bother asking why they hadn’t called themselves Moss Bros, they’ve probably heard it before (might be a British only joke though).

What about the women?

“With” Jessie Stephen

I mentioned last month that I had two women’s history talks coming up in February – I’m pleased to report that they both went really well. The first one took place the day after the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, 1918, through which the first women in Britain got the vote, hence I’m proudly wearing my Suffragette rosette. Jessie Stephen, on the screen, is one of the women I feature – she’s one of the few working-class Scottish Suffragettes whose history we know. I recently nominated her for a scheme called Suffrage Pioneers and was delighted that she was accepted – now I just have to think of ways to celebrate her all year! As a start, I’ve guest-posted on The History Girls Frae Scotland where you can read more about Jessie if interested.

Another Suffrage Pioneer is Helen Crawfurd, and Glasgow Women’s Library currently has an exhibition, Our Red Aunt, by New Zealand artist Fiona Jack, Helen’s Great-grand-niece.

Helen Crawfurd exhibition
Helen Crawfurd exhibition
Helen Crawfurd exhibition

Some of the banners on the table read The world is ours, let us go in and possess it and What a debt we owe these women. Very true!

Mystical Gardens

Mystical Gardens
Mystical Gardens

Oo-err – strange goings on in the park! It’s part of an evening light show, Mystical Gardens, which we didn’t go to. These figures are scary enough for me …

A few days later (yesterday) the figures had gone and the slope they stood on was a winter wonderland.

A wintry Glasgow Botanic Gardens

And today, these are the views from my window.

Going nowhere!

Artist Textiles

Henry Moore: Standing Figures, 1946
Salvador Dali, Number please? c1946/7

Who do you think designed these silk squares? The first one is by Henry Moore, whom I usually associate with large sculptures, and the other is by Salvador Dali. They are from a wonderful exhibition we attended called Artist Textiles, so good that I think I’ll give it its own post later. I had no idea that at one time you could buy Picasso, for example, by the yard. Not only were the fabrics on display, but also dresses made from some of them. I loved it!

The last bit

It’s been a busy month, but not a very exciting one in terms of things to write about. As well as my talks, I’ve been up to my oxters in revisions and rewrites before the guided walk season begins.

What is an oxter, I hear you ask? It’s my Scottish word of the month, of course! It means armpit. It’s also possible to be oxtered up the road by your pals, maybe when a little the worse for wear. That has never happened to me, I can assure you, but it does make me think that someday I should run through all the Scottish words I can think of for drunk. That would certainly add colour to your vocabulary!

I hope you’ve all had a good February too. Onwards to Spring at last!

Scotland, UK , , , , , , ,

68 Comments »

  2. Your introduction on the Portrayal of the General population Act, 1918 sounds totally intriguing. It’s so fascinating how there were parallel development going on in a few unique nations at about a similar time that gave ladies the directly to cast a ballot.

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  3. What an interesting February you had Anabel! I especially enjoyed reading about the suffragettes, and the piece you wrote on Jessie Stephen. I admire her determination throughout her life to fight for changes that have made a real difference in people’s lives.

    Jude

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  4. Hi Anabel. I’m a fellow Kathryn Williams fan! I had the pleasure of seeing her perform quite an intimate gig at Perth Theatre a number of years ago. I’m quite into my folk these days so must check out the support act! I’ve never managed down to Glasgow for Celtic Connections (one of the many things I should have done whilst still living in Edinburgh); maybe next year! Last but not least, very well done on your history talks. 🙂

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  5. Glad to hear your talks went well! I find those Mystical Gardens figures most intriguing, especially the one on the left, which is very Beetlejuice-esque (kind of like Lydia’s wedding dress combined with Barbara Maitland’s attempt at a scary monster face). I can see why it wouldn’t be your cup of tea, but I think I’d be into it!

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  6. Thanks for sharing your month Anabel, especially the shout out for the Brother Brothers and Kathryn Williams. I’ve been feeling a bit meh about the playlist on my ipod, and was on the lookout for new music — which I now have!!!!

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  7. Thank you for taking us on this gallivant around Glasgow – very enjoyable as always. I think the photo of the figure in the pink dress that’s part of the light festival is particularly weird and can’t imagine what on earth it is meant to represent.
    Oxters! How I miss hearing those words. Right now I am up to my oxters in making lists of things I need to remember to do. 🙂

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    • I’m told by another commenter that the pink figure is something to do with the film Beetlejuice. Never seen it!

      Now is your opportunity to spread Scottish words like oxter to America 😉. A couple of people were very grateful because it could be useful for Scrabble.

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  8. Still a few more weeks until spring. I cant wait myself! Although, the view through your windows is much worse than what I am looking at, here in New Mexico. No snow, blue skies, but an icy wind and freezing temps at night. Have you ever been a teacher, Anabel? I can’t remember. But, I am curious as to your natural talent and confidence to give women’s history talks. Those artist textiles have my curiosity! Looking forward to a post about that!

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    • The snow is thawing now, thank goodness. No, I have never been a teacher although I used to give library instruction to students. I hated it! It was useful and essential info but so hard to make entertaining. Since I retired I have given quite a lot of talks, the difference being they were on topics I feel passion about and can convey that to my audience.

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  9. Despite having a really crazy accent Glasgow is my favourite place to go on a night out. The people make this city a wonderful place to visit. They are the friendliest people in the entire UK, most people on Scotland are very open and friendly and make visitors feel very welcome but Glasgow excels in this area. Parts of the city are also very beautiful very old and very historic so you wouldn’t be disappointed if you chose this place.

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  10. I love that word Oxter…I should use it on my hubby and watch him look at me in confusion:) The Pink get up with the beak is right from Beetlejuice so I know that well. You have received a ton of snow! We heard you got blottoed by snow. We got a huge amount Thursday into Friday but it is already melting.

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  11. Yes i still have family in Glasgow (Shawlands) and I have been hearing about “The Beast from the East” Been a while since we had snow like that in Glasgow. Some years ago we looked at the Prisoners Act of 1913 ( called the Cat & Mouse Act) as well as forced feeding. It really was a very nasty time.

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  12. Your presentation on the Representation of the People Act, 1918 sounds absolutely fascinating. It’s so interesting how there were parallel movement going on in several different countries at about the same time that gave women the right to vote.

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    • It’s still crazy out there! We live in a cul-de-sac which seems to have its own microclimate so it’s particularly thick here. Had a walk in it yesterday, but think I will stay inside today. Brrr!

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  15. A varied February mix there. For once the weather lived up to the hype. No trains or buses running past two days in my neck of the woods and most roads, even the main routes, un- drivable anyway. The Oran Mor is a great venue.

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  16. You’ve had a very interesting month, Anabel. I’ve seen lots of snow photos and they’re all beautiful. I’ve heard of ‘oxters’ before – in the Outlander series. The delightful Jamie uses that word often. 🙂

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  17. My, you have been busy and you’ve given us a good taste of what it is to be Annabel Marsh for a month. Would love to attend your lecture (not doing a countrywide tour, are you?) and wish you well. Your suffragettes deserve all the publicity you can give them, too, and I am sure you’ll find plenty of things about Jessie to write and talk about for the rest of the year.

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  18. Hi Anabel – lovely to see all of these and to read what you’ve been doing. Loved the oxter thought … well perhaps not! Good luck with the snow … but then let’s hope Spring will appear … our leaves are beginning to burst … cheers Hilary

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  19. I love reading about your monthly gallivants. Looks like you have been very busy. Congrats on the suffragette talks. And I hope it all gets a lot warmer soon!

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  20. Oh, I’m so glad we don’t have that snow! Who knows if some will come in March though. I love the artist textiles. I’m always in love with textiles in any way, shape or form. The concerts sound like fun and I’m so glad your women’s history month talks went well. Happy March, Anabel. 🙂

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  22. Congratulations on your successful women’s history talks. Well done! And like Karen, I am also always looking for words with ‘x’, ‘z’ or ‘q’ in them for Scrabble. Now, I have to check to see if ‘oxter’ is in the Scrabble Dictionary! 🙂

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  23. I, for one, would highly enjoy a list of Scottish words for drunk.

    The textile exhibit sounds fascinating. I love sewing (not that I am making time for it lately, but that’s another story), and just to see the textiles alone would be great. But to see clothing made from them? Even better.

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  25. A friend and I play Scrabble every week or two so let me start my message with the most currently important piece to me – a thank you for the word oxter. Anything with an x, z or q will always get my attention.

    I think your various artistic endeavours – performance (you and others), writing (you), and visual arts – make for a very interesting post. Thanks for sharing all of that. I’ll head over now to read your guest post.

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  26. Yikes look at that snow – hope you bought lots of yards of Picasso and are currently floating around the house in silk and in the warm!

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