Itchy
Citronella, Avon Skin-So-Soft, choking DEET sprays, lavender, hoods, high winds, bright sunlight, perpetual movement, body armour, despair: what to do about midges?
Counting down to our Scottish Islands expedition departure on 15 July… and we’re itchy. There’s a swarm of tiny, irritating, persistent and unavoidable things to do humming round our heads. Song of the Whale’s neatly berthed at St Katherine’s Dock by the Tower of London, and she’s looking sleek, blue and beautiful, but we can’t get on her – she’s got a research journey to Jersey to make before charging up the coast to Oban, where we’ll meet her, skipper Jim Compton, engineer Mat Jerram and sailor/ocean advocate Jo Royle next week. After so much planning, poring over maps, pouring tea over maps, and dreaming about the Blue Men of the Minch, we just want to get going.
Artists Stephen Hurrel and Anne Bevan joined me on BBC Scotland’s Culture Cafe yesterday. It was wonderful to hear them, along with Julie Fowlis, speak so eloquently about their own research interests and the undertow that’s drawing them to the islands. Stephen’s mother was born on Barra, and he spoke of his interest in data gathering and undersea soundscapes in the local waters. Anne’s from Orkney: she’s already begun researching the invisible life of the sea with scientists from Edinburgh University, and will arrive in the second week of our journey armed with a borrowed ‘bottom grabber’ for collecting samples – looking forward to the demonstration of how that works. Julie and fellow Gaelic singer Mary Smith have been casting nets across the rich tradition of Hebridean songs of sea voyaging, whales, seals and the beauty and sorrow of St Kilda. If the wind abates and we’re able to land there in the third week, perhaps, perhaps, the voices of Julie and Mary and Cape Breton singer Mary Jane Lamond will bring music and memory back to the silent streets and houses of Hirta.
Meanwhile, there are train tickets to hunt for, island cheese makers to contact, Scottish National Heritage and Scottish Wildlife Trust wardens to check in with, community groups and fishermen to chase up, and 32 scattered artists and 8 roving scientists to pin down, point to the west, and release.
Leis gach deagh dhùrachd
Ruth
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