P is for Pottery

A song for today about Places  
The Old Maid in the Garrett

I grew up in a Pottery village ... Belleek China is world famous for collectors - and my father worked in the Pottery all his life - he started at 13 sweeping floors and was General Manager when he retired at 70.



The Pottery pretty much ruled life in the village when I was growing up ...  The hooter would go at 1 for dinner break and again at 5 when the workers were finishing up - so whoever was at home would have the meal ready by the time they got back to the house.

The Pottery had and still has a policy of 'no seconds', so anything that didn't reach the standard was destroyed ... And moulds were broken after the allotted number of pieces were made there .... A real treat for my brother and me was getting some old moulds to play with.  And my father loved to experiment with different soils in the area to see if something else would work instead of having to import the kaolin from Cornwall, and further afield in later years.    So we made many little dogs and pigs and other ornaments from clay out of our garden or out of the field and then it would be taken in to the kilns to be fired along with the real stuff!

I've always adored the fragility of parian ware and collect a few pieces.    Here are some of my treasures.

Today is the 16th day of the A to Z Blogging challenge for April.  Letter P.

Do you collect anything?
Is your home town famous for anything?

I Still Think of You

I wrote I Still Think of You for my father on his anniversary.  I was driving past a bluebell wood and the words just came to me in a couple of minutes, complete with the tune in place.


My Dad had died 12 years earlier and it felt like I had never stopped grieving - just the thought of him brought a lump to my throat and a catch in my voice.  But straight after completing this song all of that went away.   Now I feel he is always with me.

My Dad was a pottery worker - in the famous Belleek Pottery - and towards the end of his time there he even added designs to the output - not bad for a man who had left school at the age of 13 and started his time working there, sweeping the floors.

I Still Think Of You

(Words and music by Fil Campbell © 2001)

I still think of you sometimes
And I still feel you by my side

I still miss you, 

I still wish you still were here.

I still think of you sometimes

When bluebells ring and small birds find

Their voices earlier each day

And summer starts in May

I never knew you, not really well

I never knew you.

 I still think of you sometimes
And I still wish that you would find

A way to let me know just why you left

I still think of you sometimes

And I still wish that I could find

A way to let you know how much I cared.

I never knew you, not really well
I never knew you 

I Still Think of you sometimes
And I still feel you by my side

I still miss you

I still wish you still were here.

The Spinning Wheel

For quite a while I've been wanting to write blogs about well known women's Irish songs and here's No. 1 in what will hopefully become a series.

The Spinning Wheel (John Frances Waller)

Listen to : Fil Campbell – The Spinning Wheel
From the TV series - Songbirds - the First Ladies of Irish Song

Mellow the moonlight to shine is beginning
Close by the window young Eileen is spinning
Bent o’er the fire her blind grandmother sitting
Is crooning and moaning and drowsily knitting

When I first learned this as a little girl I pictured this beautiful young girl gazing longingly out of the window, dressed of course in a perfect long skirt, with long hair and an angelic face!!   The old lady was knowingly sitting in the corner  ....   

I can still see the sash window, the moon shining, the wood outside where the young lovers ended up walking ...  Isn't it funny the pictures that stay in  your head with a song:))

Delia Murphy

The Spinning Wheel is one of the most famous Irish folksongs  and was one of the first songs I learned as a child.

The Spinning Wheel was written in the late 1800s by John Frances Waller (1909-1894) and it's said that the melody is actually French, although it quickly became known as an Irish song.   Really, it was a parlour song that was part of the Anglo Irish tradition, nothing at all to do with traditional Irish music, but more to do with an idealised quaint way of life.  It quickly became a favourite for young girls to sing and instantly brings back memories of a gentler way of life.

Well known singers of the song
It was one of the songs recorded by Delia Murphy in her first recording session in 1936, one of the songs that made her a star and she in turn was the person who made the song popular.

Later, it became the first international hit for Mary O'Hara, although she didn't even want to record it.   Delia sang it at her husband's inauguration as the first Irish Ambassador to Australia and she said that if it's sung correctly you should feel the spinning wheel turning.  In our TV series - Songbirds, the First Ladies of Irish Song - it was the only song that we found that had been recorded by all the featured ladies - Ruby Murray, Margaret Barry, Bridie Gallagher, Delia Murphy and Mary O'Hara - and they all sang it in very different styles.

Mellow the moonlight to shine is beginning
Close by the window young Eileen is spinning
Bent o’er the fire her blind grandmother sitting
Is crooning and moaning and drowsily knitting

Eileen a chara I hear someone tapping
Tis the ivy dear mother against the glass flapping
Eily I surely hear someone sighing
Tis the sound mother dear of the autumn winds dying

Merrily cheerily noiselessly whirring
Swings the wheel spins the reel while the foot’s stirring
Sprightly and brightly and airily ringing
Thrills the sweet voice of the young maiden singing

There’s a form at the casement the form of her true love
And he whispers with face bent “I’m waiting for you love
Get up on the stool through the lattice step lightly
And we’ll rove in the grove with the moon shining brightly”

The maid shakes her head on her lip lays her fingers
Steals up from the seat, longs to go and yet lingers
A frightened glance turned on her drowsy grandmother
Puts one foot on the stool spins the wheel with the other

Lazily, easily swings now the wheel round
Slowly and lowly is heard now the reel sound
Noiseless and light through the lattice above her
The maid creeps then leaps to the arms of her lover

Slower and slower and slower the wheel spins
Lower and lower and lower the reel rings
E’er the reel and the wheel stop their ringing and moving
Through the grove the young lovers by moonlight are roving

******
The songwriter: 
John Francis Waller (1810 - 1894) was born in Limerick, educated at Trinity College, Dublin and was called to the Irish Bar in 1833. He became a contributor to and ultimately editor of the Dublin University Magazine, usually writing under the pseudonym of "Jonathan Freke Slingsby"

He published several volumes of poems and also wrote popular songs, including Cushla Ma Chree, The Spinning Wheel and Song of the Glass. He was responsible for the explanatory notes and a life of the author in a new edition of "Gulliver's Travels" written by Dean Jonathan Swift. 

Connected
If you're interested in spinning as an art I found this fascinating blog from a lady in Scotland.

Have you any memories of the song?  

France and Spain

Before the last gig :)

Here are some images from our busman's holiday trip around France and Spain.   We haven't taken a holiday for 15 years so this was a rare treat and even the couple of gigs we did were different from our usual events and felt like a break from the normal.

We spent time with friends and family in 3 different areas  - and it was just wonderful - and neither of us wanted to come back and are plotting our return!

We arrived back to the rain but thankfully the Indian summer we were promised has shown up .... but in the coming weeks I'll need constant reminders of the sun :)

Montmorillon - I love all the red roofs - this is known as the writer's city - the old town is full of bookshops and things to do with writing.

A calligraphy shop in the city of writing.

We took the ferry over from Ireland to France and started in the middle of the country staying with friends we haven't seen in over 10 years.    To protect the innocent I'm leaving them out of this picture blog ... but the area was beautiful ... sunflowers and castles, red roofs and red wine.

Sunflower hiding

A few days later we headed down into Spain - beautiful scenery - and it was in the 30s centigrade all the time we were there - total bliss.

Marremetaco with Paco (Tuna and Potato Stew)

The gorgeous waters near Bilbao in Spain

A day out at the seaside

We took a boat out to this little beach island - the Spaniards take sunbathing very seriously!!

Back in France with some more old friends whom it's been far too long since we caught up with

At the market (near Cahors, France)

At the market

Most houses aren't painted in France,
but every house has pots and pots of flowers outside
glorious explosions of colour.

Just behind our friends' house - rows and rows of vineyards
We'll have to go back - didn't get drinking it all!!

Happy Memories.
How was your summer?
Did you get a holiday?

SINGING - for Alzheimers

How singing unlocks the brain

By Jane Elliott
BBC News Health reporter 

As Bill Bundock's Alzheimer's progressed he became more and more locked into his own world.

He withdrew into himself and stopped communicating with his wife, Jean.
Jean said Bill lost his motivation, and his desire and ability to hold conversations, but all this changed when the couple started attending a local sing-song group, aimed especially for people with dementia.
Jean said Singing for the Brain had unlocked Bill's communication block.

Personality change


"The first time we went to Singing for the Brain he did not join in. On the second session he was starting to join in and by the third he was thoroughly taking part.

"It was wonderful for us. The singing had started to change something. It really did make a tremendous difference. He started to come out of himself.

“ I would take the song sheets home after the sessions and we would sing them at home ”
Jean Bundock

"His personality started to change and he became much as he was before, and he was able to hold a conversation.

"He is 82 and likes all the old-time songs, but he also started singing some Beatles songs and songs from the Broadway shows and even some modern stuff as well.

"He seemed to be able to slowly learn things again. I would take the song sheets home after the sessions and we would sing them at home. It enlivened him and he really enjoyed doing it."

Bill, from west Berkshire, has been in hospital recently after having a stroke, but Jean kept up the singing and said it has given them both a focus, even helping his slurred speech recover following the stroke.

"I don't know what it is that changes in the brain when people with Alzheimer's sing, but obviously something does change and there is something very beneficial about it. It seems to kick-start something in the brain and has made such a difference to Bill."

Emotional resonance


Chreanne Montgomery-Smith, who founded Singing for the Brain, three years ago, said the weekly sessions had proved so popular they were hoping to expand the project and get more weekly groups.

"We do have quite an avid following in the group that we have. Families believe it has enhanced their lives and in some ways it has kept people well longer.

"People who have constant memory problems are so undermined by this, but somehow the memory for singing is preserved for ever in the brain and it gives people a lift when they can remember things".

“ We choose things to sing for people that have an emotional resonance ”
Chreanne Montgomery-Smith

Chreanne started singing with groups when she was working in a residential home and was so amazed by the positive effect on people with dementia that she decided to include this when she went to work for the Alzheimer's Society West Berkshire branch.

"We choose things to sing for people that have an emotional resonance, things that allow them to express their emotions such as feeling cross or sad as well as happy.

Singing tutor Liz McNaughton, a freelance voice coach with Singing for the Brain, explained the concept had been so popular and successful that she had been asked to run workshops for people with Parkinson's Disease, those who had strokes and head injuries and for people with special needs.

"It would seem, and there is a lot of research about this, that the music has the ability to access words. It is so powerful that people who have lost their ability to speak can access songs and words from the melody."

She said the singing sessions appeared to have positive effects on participants' cognitive powers, their physical ability and their emotions.

Rhythm 'beneficial'

Clive Evers, of the Alzheimer's Society said Singing for the Brain was proving so popular and beneficial that he hoped more groups would soon be established.

"What Chreanne Montgomery-Smith is tapping into is very important. It is not the stream of consciousness, but a level of consciousness, a level of awareness people have with the real world.

"The music allows them to engage. Her project is very important and shows what can be done."

Clive Ballard, director of research at the Alzheimer's Society and Professor of Age Related Diseases at King's College, London, said singing as an activity did seem to help people with dementia.

"People seem to enjoy doing something jointly with other people and there is a lot of evidence that being socially engaged is good for people with dementia."

He said the part of the brain that worked with speech was different to the part that processed music, allowing those who had lost their speech to still enjoy their music.

Mr Ballard said rhythm had also been shown to be beneficial, particularly for those with diseases like Parkinson's where movement was a problem. He said listening to rhythms, even just a metronome, could help.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/4448634.stm

Published: 2005/11/20 00:01:11 GMT

© BBC 2012

Signs of Autumn

I'm totally new to this idea of blogging although I can find at least 3 or 4 attempts to set one up over the past number of years. I guess I'd like to have a place to look back on to see my travels and thoughts over the coming years.   So I'll have another attempt at coming back from time to time and writing some notes. 

Already the leaves are starting to fall and the beach beside our home looks browner when the tide is out.   There's a chill in the air and we've had the fire lit for the past few nights. 

In the old Celtic calendar Autumn began at the beginning of August - it was the start of the harvest.   There's a Threshing Day in a field not far from here on Saturday - I must go - to bring back memories, although I don't ever remember the thresher in our field.  Ours was a smaller operation but I do remember the smells of this time of the year  - as children we had to do our share in saving the hay - after the grass was cut with a scythe, we helped rake it into long rows, the length of the field.   After a few days,  we helped in turning it - there was a knack to it - either pulling it to you with a rake, or turning it over with a fork - so that the underside could dry.  And then the next day building hay stacks - the smaller ones had the honour of standing on top of the stack as the men threw up the yellow straw like strands to complete the rounded top of the rick.  

"Being dry is the key to preserving hay -- a wet stack will rot from the inside, or ferment, causing enough heat to catch the stack on fire. But a properly dried stack can last many years outside."

 Turning the hay....

In the hay field, tea was brought to the men in a tin can which I would carry on the bar of the bycycle when I was deemed old enough to be entrusted with such a precious task.  My mother had been baking scones all morning and making egg and onion sandwiches.  I've never tasted sandwiches as good as those and the tea had the most special flavour.  

Bringing the turf home from the bog was another smell altogether - the smell of winter coming in.  The dark peat had been drying for ages and on the day it was piled onto the red and blue cart, the children  piled on top of the turf - at least 3 or 4 of us -  to be taken home by the donkey and pulled up the Pullen Brae.  That road was closed off not long afterwards when the Troubles started in the late 60s - the end of a childhood.