News

FERGUSSON’S AULD REIKIE Edinburgh, April 9.

ELECTRIC SOUP REPEAT April 5.

SCOTTISH FREEMASONRY TALK Bathgate, May 25

SCOTLAND AT PRAYER September October, 2010

SCOTS LANGUAGE WORKING GROUP 2010

THE MYSTIC TIE Double CD on Robert Burns & the History of Scottish Freemasonry



Central Reference Library, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh
Friday April 9, 19:00pm Admission Free – ticket details below

A terrific evening of poetry and music in the Central Reference Library will feature recitations by acclaimed broadcaster and author Billy Kay, interwoven with musical contributions by Rod Paterson along with some of Scotland's finest folk instrumentalists. The programme will be based on Fergusson's Auld Reekie, a compilation album of music and poetry which creates such a vivid portrait of 18th century Edinburgh. Fergusson was born off the High Street in Edinburgh in 1750 and died tragically young in the city's madhouse in 1774. Burns described him as 'by far my elder brother in the muse'.

Fergusson’s Auld Reikie/O Aw the Airts


“For naught can cheer the heart sae weel
As can a canty Highland reel
It even vivifies the heel
To skip and dance:
Lifeless is he what canna feel
Its influence”

A terrific evening of verse and music, celebrating the poetry of Robert Fergusson and the great Scots tradition at home and abroad.

Fergusson’s poetry will be recited by acclaimed broadcaster and author Billy Kay, interwoven with music from Rod Paterson, Derek Hoy and Norman Chalmers of the renowned folk band Jock Tamson’s Bairns. The first half of the evening is based on the album Fergusson’s Auld Reikie, which created a vivid portrait of 18th century Edinburgh. The second part, O Aw the Airts, celebrates in story and song the impact of the Scottish Diaspora and is based on Kay’s book The Scottish World.

For ticket information contact The Central Music and Audio Library on 0131 242 8054 or garry.gale@edinburgh.gov.uk


SCOTS LANGUAGE WORKING GROUP
It was an honour to be invited to join the Scottish Government’s Scots Language Working Group which will look into ways of promoting Scots and report to the Government in the autumn of 2010.




FORTHCOMING RADIO SCOTLAND BROADCASTS

Forthcoming Odyssey Productions Broadcasts on Radio Scotland. Remember that all programmes are available on the Radio Scotland website for a full week after broadcast….go to www.bbc.co.uk/radioscotland/


Radio Scotland Monday April 5, 2010 at 6.32


A HISTORY OF ELECTRIC SOUP

Vino Collapso, Red Biddy, Commotion Lotion, Liquid Divorce….
Billy Kay explores the cultural effect of cheap fortified wine on Scottish
Society from the boom time of VP, Eldorado and Lannie between the wars
to the excesses of the Buckfast generation today.

An Odyssey Production for Radio Scotland.


CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION AND SCHEDULED FOR TRANSMISSION IN SEPTEMBER

Monday 13th September - Monday 18th October @ 1131
and they will repeat Saturday 18th September - Saturday 23rd October @ 0604.

Scotland at Prayer

In 2010 we mark the 450th anniversary of the Reformation, an event which left an indelible legacy in Scottish society. In a major six part series for BBC Radio Scotland, Billy Kay will tell the story of the great ecclesiastical traditions which have shaped the history of Christianity in this country - Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Church of Scotland, the Free Church and Free Presbyterian Church and the evangelical tradition in the Highlands, the various Independent churches with a long pedigree in the country like the Society of Friends, the Methodists and the Baptists. We will explore the history of the churches, the faith of the people who belong to them, the local and national identity of their adherents, their influence on politics and culture, the effects of immigration, and the tension between the values of the past and the society of the present. For a majority of Scots, knowledge of other religious denominations can be scant and often based on stereotypes. This series would reveal the deep historic roots of all of the major faiths in Scotland and explore their relevance to the future of the country.



Freemasonry and the Scottish World Bathgate, Tuesday May 25

I have been invited by Archie Meikle to give a talk in Bathgate on Freemasonry and the Scottish World: Below are the details provided by Archie.


As part of the Provincial Grand Master’s fundraising programme, we have decided to host a stimulating Charity Fundraising Event within the Regal Theatre Bathgate on Tuesday 25th May at 7.30 for 8.00pm. Lasting approximately an hour and half with a question and answer session, the centrepiece of the evening will be a fascinating talk titled Freemasonry and the Scottish World by Billy Kay, the author of a book on the Scottish Diaspora, The Scottish World and the presenter and producer of the acclaimed BBC radio series The Mason Word.

Open to both Freemasons and the general public alike, the talk will tell the amazing story of the influences the Scots have had in far flung corners of the earth, highlighting the role Scottish Freemasonry has played in places as far apart as Washington DC and St Petersburg. Billy will illustrate the lecture with audio clips from his radio documentaries on the Scots abroad and the ground breaking double CD The Mystic Tie – Robert Burns and the History of Scottish Freemasonry, commissioned by the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 2009. Billy Kay is a multi -award winning broadcaster and author of influential books such as Scots The Mither Tongue. He is also a gifted communicator on Scottish culture and history, so this promises to be a very special evening and one deserving your support.

Tickets are priced at £10.00 per head on a first come first serve basis. Tickets are available from

Archie Meikle 01506 415818 07718 907750
Henry Meikle 01506 411813



THE MYSTIC TIE Double CD on Robert Burns & the History of Scottish Freemasonry produced and presented by Billy Kay is available now and can be purchased via the Grand Lodge of Scotland website: www.grandlodgescotland.com


Further Details:

For the 250th anniversary of the birth of the national bard, The Grand Lodge of Scotland has commissioned multi - award winning writer and broadcaster, Billy Kay to explore the role of Freemasonry in the life, the poetry and songs of Robert Burns. Within this double CD he also extends and re-fashions the original material he collected for his acclaimed BBC series The Mason Word and along with Freemasons and historians, celebrates the fascinating history of the Scottish Craft and the strong claim that Scotland is the spiritual home of a world wide brotherhood numbering in excess of 6 million people.


CD 1 The Mystic Tie Robert Burns and Freemasonry.

Track 1. Brethren o the mystic level

Track 2 Caledonia’s Bard.

Track 3. It’s comin yet for a’ that.

The History of Scottish Freemasonry

Track 4 The History of Scottish Freemasonry A. The Mother Lodge.

CD 2. The Mystic Tie The History of Scottish Freemasonry

Track 5. The History of Scottish Freemasonry B The Mason Word.

Track 6. The History of Scottish Freemasonry C The Maister’s Apron.

Track 7 . The History of Scottish Freemasonry. D From Washington to St Petersburg.

Track 8. . The History of Scottish Freemasonry. E “We met upon the level…”



THE KILMARNOCK EDITION East Ayrshire Libraries has commissioned Billy Kay to record his recitation of selected poems from the Kilmarnock Edition of the Bard’s poetry which appear on line with a virtual version of the book. It will also appear in the Burns Monument in the Kay Park, Kilmarnock. March 18: It is now available . Go to the link below, then click on Robert Burns, then click on Kilmarnock Edition.

www.burnsmonumentcentre.com