On the 9th of May I wrote my first "People of the Land" Blog. I explained then how so little was known about my father's family history yet, there seemed a connection to the land - when he and mum got engaged they holidayed at a farm and enjoyed fishing at a nearby river. In addition, before dad's memories began to drift away, he talked of herding cows to a dairy and a photo showed him carrying milk. In the early stages of dementia, it is true that people can remember memories from childhood but as health decreases the door to the past can close, photos then the only key.
Interviewed about People of the Land on the radio - afterwards, I took a drive and found myself heading to the only named place I knew. But, in such a large area? I had driven past here before but without any clues. This time, I drew up beside the pub and went in with the total sum of my information: 80+ years ago dad was photographed carrying milk. 60+ years ago him and mum had holidayed here. The staff were very friendly but asked for more information. I explained I knew nothing more, I just had photos of mum and dad fishing. "Ah ha!" was the reply and I was told that the river behind the pub had trout and another recalled hearing that milk was once got from some place outwith the village. Some farm tracks driven up, more conversations were had with folk I met on my way and then I came home to piece together the jigsaw.
Yes, I had found the buildings that had once been the farm.
In addition to the farm discovery, I suddenly recalled
shadows which I had seen on the pool of a burn.
The 2011 shadows from a bridge
linking me to my dad's old photo of the 10th of August 1952
From 2011, I could now look back to 1952
- finally able to link the people in the photo to the specific place
"The 1952 Fishing Expedition"
L-R: Sonya, Minnie, Wullie, Jean (mum) and Nenny
With old photos, some detective work and the kind help of 'strangers' - a bridge to the past has been built. Eighty years ago, Hugh McMillan holidayed here as a boy. Year's later, he took his girlfriend here, Jean Thorburn. A year later they married and then, another ten plus years passed and I arrived. And by then the family holidays to the Sutherland had begun, (to Balnakeil farm, Durness and Kinlochbervie). Yet, looking down the East Lothian farm track to where my folks had fished all these years before - what a similarity between these places, not just in the look and feel of the land but in the friendliness and helpfulness of the people I met as a stranger.
As a child, regularly on holiday in Kinlochbervie, my beloved dog Corrie came from there. And I am left wondering, my dad's first dog - was this where he came from (the similarity I see of the farm building behind?). I'll never know for sure but sometimes I think, these small details don't matter so much as the importance of taking the journey, for me a journey from 2011 to 1952, 1930 and beyond.
My special thanks to all who gave me their time yesterday and now,
I very much look forward to going back there with my fiddle
to enjoy a tune in the pub and to meet new friends!
The more I have looked at sunsets, the more I have learnt to 'read them.' Each is unique in it's own way but still, something beautiful can come from even the most cloudy evening. As clouds drift across the sun, it might appear that the best of the day has gone but knowledge, patience and perseverence are worthy attributes to hold...
If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again.
Some spectacular sunsets I have missed because I wasn't in the right place at the right time. But now in my life, when I see and am able to photograph so many beautiful sunsets - does that imply that my luck has changed? My mum used to say "what's for you won't go past you" but, as with all these sayings there's a lot more to understand. To create one's 'own luck' needs a combination of many things and not the least of these is effort, the motivation to keep trying. That thought came to me today, as I looked back through my photos from last night (what hard work goes in to creating your own good luck).
A PHOTO ESSAY: Changing light, fishing and 'goodluck'
I like to catch the light as clouds turn pink - we need some 'clouds across the sun' to show up the colourful parts of the sky at its best. When a day clouds over, if the sun sinks below the cloud line, it shines back up and the clouds turn pink. Seeing the banks of cloud build up yesterday, I knew if I waited then 'luck might be on my side'. Finding an area of the shore that would give me a good composition I prepared to wait (and wait and wait and wait). I must have been there for over an hour but I enjoyed watching the birds flying around. I've always wanted to photograph a tern diving for fish but they're so fast. All I could do was line up the shot and try to photograph the moment I saw them turn and dive. Did I get the shot? No I didn't. I was disappointed as I thought I might have got it 'just above' the water (but all I caught was the before, the splash and then after). It's too difficult I thought... But what if the tern missed a fish and decided, no, it's too difficult? The tern will repeat, repeat and keep repeating until it is 'lucky'. And somehow, then the three photos I took seemed to tell a bigger story - a story about life and that "what's for you won't go past you" - as long as you try, try and try again. Goodluck rarely visits by chance (a tern knows that).
After my wait on the shore, I hadn't managed to capture the tern (just inches above the water) but, I did learn from my experience. On the first look at my photos I thought "ah, it's too hard" but from a second look I see I am nearly there and with all things we want in life, when the knock backs come we just have to dust ourselves off, get back up and try again. So, did I get the "pink sunset" that I had gone their to capture? Yes, "I was lucky" but then again, I've taken more photos of sunsets than terns. It's all the sunsets I missed which have pushed me on to keep trying to improve. NO FILTERS, NO PHOTOSHOP, NO TRICKS, every single photo in my Blog has been captured by me through the colours of natural light, trial and error.
A blog about one of my all time most favourite songs which so beautifully expresses my thoughts on friendship. Hence, why I have combined with the Waterboys music, a selection of my photos from special places in Scotland which I greatly enjoy, places of happy memories for me, family and friends. Places in the future that'll know many happy times to come.
My video - my way of saying a thank you to all my friends.
In 1989, I got to know the music of the Waterboys through their album Fisherman's Blues. From a fishing family it was my mum who first told me "you have to hear this group and their song." She'd heard them on the radio "a band from Scotland and Ireland playing their own amazing combination of rock and traditional music" - her description reflected them well. A band whose music I loved the first time I heard them play and, over the years, their music and that of Sharon Shannon's has become somewhat of a musical soundtrack to my life. In 2010, twenty one years on from Fisherman's Blues, my year started with "Saints and Angels" - a most magical song played by them and Sharon Shannon. That song, so often in my mind since. Now in 2011, I have worked to produce a video which reflects for me the words of their song in a combination of special photos.
Growing up in Edinburgh, on its border with East Lothian, visiting family there and similarly in Sutherland - I really identify these 3 areas as my 'home' in Scotland. And special memories of a place are formed over time through the special people who we benefit from having in our lives - people who are always in our hearts so that, when we are apart from them, that bond of love still continues and never dies. This song expresses for me that bond, a sentiment we may not always even express out loud, the feelings we know for those we care for, that they be safe and well until we meet again: "May the Saints and Angels watch over you." There are songs which seem able to make the world a better place. Here, the music and the way it is played is beautiful but oh, what truly magical, powerful lyrics.
My story behind Saints and Angels begins on 31st December 2009. At home in Scotland, I was telephoned by a DJ from Liveireland Radio and told that my People and Songs of the Sea project CD had won 2010 Compendium Album of the Year. Featured in Liveireland's radio programme, broadcast from Chicago and Dublin, I listened over the internet to the album's recording (the track of 100 fisher folk recorded in the Auld Kirk in Cockenzie and Port Seton with local people from Newhaven, East Lothian and Eyemouth).
Having been prompted to “celebrate the fishing community” by my mum in 2006, three years on, it was very emotional to hear that the album had won this award and to hear her name "Jean Thorburn" as they talked about the project’s music and 2009 exhibitions being visited by 12,000 people. In producing this album, a compilation of Celtic artists, local fisher folk and two songs from myself - my goal (with Greentrax Recordings) was to produce an archive collection of music reflecting the story of Scotland’s fishing. An industry which in the past, was also contributed to by Irish workers, both at sea and on the land. Irish fishermen sailed after the Herring (the silver darlings) and along the coast, teams of hardy fisher girls followed to gut the fish (a woman able to gut up to 1,000 fish in a day). Coming from Ireland, joining the Scots Herring girls here, these women worked from Scotland down to England as the huge catches of fish were landed. A multi-cultural workforce, Scots and Irish earning their living together, sharing culture, music and song.
Descended from a Scottish fishing family (which I think Irish fisher women married in to), I was motivated throughout the years of my project to see my work produce a legacy for the fishing community and industry, now so sadly in decline and surely undergoing the greatest period of change in its history. In addition as a singer and musician, who has learnt to play through musical sessions with many others, having enjoyed so much happiness through my music there's a desire in me to similarly 'give something back' through music. And on my personal musical journey, although many musicians have inspired, influenced and encouraged me - surely none more so than the music of the Waterboys and Sharon Shannon (who in 1989, all played together). Through the Waterboys I travelled to Ireland and through Sharon, a short visit to Galway became extended with me finally living there for many months. Such strong musical influences and memories of happy times weave a rich tapestry which intertwines with time so that finally, all these experiences become your life - a personal musical soundtrack to revisit and relive memories of many, many great and special times.
In January 2010, at the end of the Liveireland radio programme, still listening to the broadcast from America - as one programme went on in to the next, a wonderful song came on. I could not believe how beautifully the words and music reflected the emotions and sentiments that I so often feel for my many friends who are scattered around the world. In addition, 'may the Saints and Angels watch over you' - how well these words reflect the unspoken emotion I so often feel when I watch a boat put out to sea. And in stormy weather, that intense relief that fisher folk experience when they stand and watch a boat come safely back in to port...
I had never knowingly heard this song before, such well chosen lyrics and music. It wasn't the best connection to America and I strained to hear who the artist was - "the Waterboys and Sharon Shannon" And I smiled at the musical combination of talented friends playing a song I consider to be one of absolute 'perfection'.
Saints and Angels was written by Mike Scott and Steve Wickham and on this track they are joined again by Sharon Shannon. Such wonderful music it has greatly inspired and moved me with its sentiment. So, one year on, I have looked through the photos I have taken since 2006 and chosen from these the images those which best reflect what I see in my mind when I listen to this song. Photos from the Firth of Forth coast, from East Lothian, from Edinburgh to Eyemouth. And from my very special 'home' up north in Sutherland - photos from the North West Highland villages that I have frequented all my life with my family and my closest friends. Finally, I wish to say to all my friends, (past, present and future), the lyrics of this song say it all: "May the Saints and Angels watch over you."
For more great music from the Waterboys and Sharon Shannon, please visit their respective websites:
On 28.06.10, I visited Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders.
Having spent four years photographing fisher folk, along the Edinburgh to Eyemouth coast for my People and Songs of the Sea project, I asked the Harbour Master at Eyemouth to write down the names of every local fishing boat. When visiting, I had been thinking that the majority of the fleet must be out at sea... to my shock and great upset, I learnt that there were now only a few local boats left. I was aware that, during my project, boats had been being sold off, boats decomissioned etc, etc. BUT, I did not realise just exactly to what extent and speed was the industry's decline.
The Harbour Master gave me a list of boat names and said, at least I was taking an interest - the industry was suffering and the heritage of the fishing community was slipping away but it did not seem to be a story that was receiving much attention in the newspapers, I thought that was wrong. People who fish have generally come from generations of fisher folk, such rapid change in the industry effects everyone, not just the economic standing of the area but it's cultural identity. Eyemouth is a town which has been built on the fishing. For fishermen, fishing is not a 9-5 job and what happens to one boat has far wider consequences with a knock on effect which touches the whole community, the whole area. I took the list of names I was given and set about my photography record. The first photograph I took, the dark blue boat on the left in the picture is the "Homeland" - a boat sailed by two young brothers from North Shields. Young men in an industry which so desperately needs the young to carry it forward to the future, lads with the sea and fishing in their blood.
Tonight, RIP the Homeland which has gone down at sea.
The small fishing boat has been hit by the huge Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry. The ferry was in the local fishing grounds, the small fleet of boats fishing just a mile or so off shore. The incident, in sight of the land and those from the Berwickshire coast who could see something was happening as the tragedy unfolded. Since, the local boats have been out looking for the body of one of the brothers on the Homeland who did not make it. Tonight, the search has been called off. For now, a quiet stillness has settled over the town and nearby communities. For days to come, questions will be asked as to why a 10,000 ton ferry has its route through these fishing grounds? Yet sadly, all the questions in the world will not bring back this young man, a son, a brother, a friend. His memory now, and forever, in the thoughts of those who knew him - the community extending their condolences to his family and friends, those who will grieve the hardest for his loss.
Home land, ‘Homeland’ – what are you to me?
A place I was brought up in, or a boat that sailed the sea?
A fisherman's life is lost, when so much was yet to come
Hearts are heavy grieving, for the North Shields fishing son
NB: A call for questions to be asked is NOT an accusation of blame against ANY party. No one at sea would ever want to endanger the risk of another. However, in the bigger picture of events, questions need to be asked to do as much as possible to ensure that no such similar incident happens again in the future. On a small boat, when men are engaged in fishing - there is MUCH NOISE and activity going on. So engrossed in that process, it would be possible not to see or hear such a huge vessel approaching. So high up in the water, it would be difficult for the ferry to see a small boat below AND, even if it did - the speed of such a huge and heavy vessel moving through the water would prevent rapid action being taken to avoid collision. Questions can enable an ACCURATE picture of events to be built up so that, in as much as is possible, something like this does not happen again. Unfortuantely, fishing is one of the MOST dangerous occupations. Accordingly, all that can be reasonably, logically done to minimise the risks for those at sea needs to be done.
Life is about choices. Surely, our most important decisions relate to our usage of time. Technology having the potential to be a curse as well as an asset, self-discipline required to use it to enhance our lives and not let it distract from that which we want to achieve. Harnessing technology, cultural connections can put us in contact with a wider circle of like-minded people who enjoy similar interests and creative pursuits. Through this blog I can share photos and stories in communication with a global circle of people. But all stories need a beginning so, I start my Blog with some background information on myself and my Scottish home, in a scenic location which provides me with inspiration 365 :-)
From Edinburgh, Scotland's capital city, I was fortunate to grow up in a house with nearly 360 degree views of Edinburgh and the coast. On one side was the sea, the city buildings from Leith to Portobello and over the sea across the Firth of Forth was Kircaldy in Fife.
The coastline of Portobello and Leith with Arthur Seat behind
On the other side, our house looked on to Arthur Seat, an extinct volcano rising up from the centre of Edinburgh. From a certain angle, it's shape like a huge lion at rest and guarding the city below.
Arthur Seat from the Holyrood Park in the centre of Edinburgh
Built on seven hills, Edinburgh is a beautiful city and also, I loved the rest of Scotland which I saw. Every year I holidayed in the Highlands and enjoyed living and working in Scotland. Yet, I also had a healthy thirst for knowledge and the desire to explore and learn more about the rest of the world. Through music and work in project management, I was fortunate to do a lot of travelling. However, when I came to settle in Inverness (and the years began to pass by) it was then that I experienced the strongest longing for my Edinburgh / East Lothian 'home' which I had left behind.
My house in Inverness, the city viewed from across the Moray Firth
My house in Inverness had stunning views of the Kessock Bridge and the Moray Firth. Inverness, for me had been like the Gateway to the road north to Sutherland (my spiritual home in the Highlands). Yet, on a day to day basis, I missed being in Edinburgh, easily able to walk around Arthur Seat or to take a drive to East Lothian and walk along the beautiful beaches in the region's 43 mile coastline.
Edinburgh, Scotland's capital city as viewed from Arthur Seat
In 2006 I moved home and in my career I developed a new strand as a freelance photo-journalist. The work gave me the flexibility I required to be there for my family, my mum becoming increasingly unwell. Through my mum "Jean", Jane Ritchie of the Thorburn Fisherrow family, I was descended from the fishing community.
L-R: Wilma, Jean, Billy, Lily, Crissie, Christina and Archie Thorburn
My great-grandfather Archie and my granda' Billy had been fishermen who had gone on to be Harbour Masters at Fisherrow. My great-granny Jane Ritchie Thorburn (Jeannie) had worked as a fishwife and my granny Crissie, a fine singer like my mum, had sung in Fisherrow Fishwives choir, their love of music being passed on to myself.
Celebrating her 80th birthday, my mum, Jean Ritchie Thorburn McMillan
On my return back home, my mum had asked for a special request for her 80th birthday - she asked that I produce a project to celebrate the fishing community. A huge task, I gasped when she asked and gave all the reasons why it would be such enormous work but she smiled and said "but you could make a start and, if you did your best, that would be good enough..." So, I began with mum's stories, old photos and then, I met with other relatives and fisher folk. News of what I was doing led to an invitation to write People of the Sea, an article for East Lothian Life magazine to commemorate the 14th October, 125 year anniversary of the Eyemouth fishing disaster in 1881, when 189 fishermen died. My own life changed whilst researching the story, I found my great-grandfather had survived being swept off a boat but, in the here and now, my mum was diagnosed with cancer. I dedicated the article to my mum and just days after it was published she lost her fight to cancer.
After my mum's loss, I continued and my subject archive grew to over 500 old images and 3,000 photos. Hearing about my collection, I was invited to stage an exhibition at Port Seton library. The exhibition coincided with what would have been mum's birthday. It was an amazing opening night with an impromptu ceilidh. Over eight hundred people came to visit the exhibition and more libraries invited me to exhibit. I believed the demand for my project was because the community was looking to come together, my work was a catalyst for this and so, I formed an ambitious plan. For the Year of Homecoming 2009, I saw a partnership project with all the libraries along the coast, other organisations and community groups brought together through exhibitions and events - a People of the Sea May-Dec tour in 14 fishing communities from Edinburgh, to Eyemouth, to Anstruther. I also wanted Celtic music in the project and to involve as many as I could through a compilation album 'People and Songs of the Sea.' Aswell as professional artists from Scotland and Ireland, I wanted to involve 100 local fisher folk. I saw a unique recording of the fishing hymn 'Will Your Anchor Hold' recorded at the Auld Church of Scotland Kirk in Cockenzie.
2009 Article in East Lothian News
The album was produced in association with Greentrax on their label http://www.greentrax.com/ It was launched together with my Edinburgh to Eyemouth exhibitions and over 10,000 people visited. Then, on Hogmanay 2009, I was telephoned from Chicago to be told that People and Songs of the Sea had just won Radio Liveireland's Compendium Album of the Year 2010. The news was broadcast live on air from the station's studios in America and Ireland and over the internet the story went around the world. For me, listening at home in Edinburgh, how very special was the moment I heard our 2009 recording in East Lothian being played back to listeners from Liveireland in Chicago, Dublin and beyond.
My house in Inverness, the city viewed from across the Moray Firth
Moving back to Edinburgh, reconnecting with my home, a legacy project emerged from my family's cultural connections to the fishing community. On the album's front cover, as a wee girl dressed in the traditional costume of a Fisherrow fisher lass was my mum - photographed with family and friends, collecting at Fisherrow Harbour for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution which relatives have served in and friends from the past and today still do.
People and Songs of the Sea album (CD from http://www.greentrax.com) Cover: Jean Thorburn, 2nd right, Wilma, 1st right, Christina holding flag
The last years have been a pivotal time for me and seen the rekindling of old friendships and the building of new ones. My photography, music, writing and art - all benefitting from the exhibition feedback and constructive criticism from my sites eg:
As a musician who learnt to play by ear, just as the music of many others helped me in learning to play the fiddle, so too I feel fortunate to have benefitted from a growing circle of artistic friends, their art contributing to an outward rippling pool of creativity. I am influenced by the creative outputs of people like John Bellany, Mark I'Anson, Doug Roberston, Michael McVeigh, Heidi Wickham, Alastair Cook, Richard Demarco and Julie Thompson. And then, there are photographers such as Laurie Campbell and film-maker Paul Bellany whose input I have found to be invaluable.
So many great artists exist, setting my own creative offerings adrift on to the internet can be daunting. Yet, I am heartened when I recall wise words said to me by friend. In Scotland, on tour in January 2009, Cape Breton fiddle player Jerry Holland spoke about his life, on those who play professionally and on those who may be early in their playing of music but find much happiness in playing and sharing music with others. Jerry said "It's not about being THE BEST, it's about being the best you can be so YOU enjoy music and your journey through life. If others enjoy your music, then all the better for that but its not a competition". Like my mum would say: "do your best and in doing your best, you can know you've done well enough."
Enjoying a laugh: Jerry Holland in Edinburgh, January 2009 with myself
In setting up my Blog, I have selected a special photo from Fisherrow, a picture I took at the start of January 2010. To be exact, the photo was taken on the day that the local press invited me there for a photograph in connection with my 2010 People and Songs of the Sea award. This most beautiful sunset was, for me, a very fitting end to a day which has seen the close of one chapter and the beginning of a new one in my life's ever changing journey.
Article in Berwickshire News, January 2010
What joy I feel when a sunset paints the sky like a huge illuminated canvas of colour. A unique materpiece by Mother Nature, only there for a few short inspirational moments before darkeness and a period of rest before a new day dawns again. In the bigger picture of the universe, our lives are gone in the blink on an eye. It seems so important to embrace how precious time is and to make the most of our lives. From Edinburgh and a lover of East Lothian's coast like myself, famous author Robert Louis Stevenson wrote "there is no duty in life that we so underrate as the duty of being happy".
For me, there is never a sunset or sunrise I see which does not make me feel glad to be alive. Such times bring me happiness and, if I can photograph nature's special moments and share these times with others, to smile and pass on that feeling of happiness - that seems to me to be something well worth doing. If you have enjoyed visiting my blog, I hope you post a comment and come back again. I also hope that you will join me in rippling out 'positivity' from your own life's journey - not letting your talents be stifled and kept in the dark but seek to bring them out in to the light, to share with others, family and friends. I hope in life you SMILE :-D and PASS IT ON!
The Janreen at Aberlady, enroute home to Port Seton at sunrise
I was brought up to hold a deep appreciation for the beauty of the natural environment: a coloured sky at sunset, the music of bird song, the sounds of the sea breaking on the shore. These things inspire me 365 and 'IF' my photos and comments inspire another then, I am pleased to share with them my small place here in cyberspace, my personal philosophy in life being to: SMILE :-D and pass it on!
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