Original poetry samples
Some samples are below and will soon be on this site in either audio or video form:
Immediately below a mission/vision statement rhyming acrostic that I composed as a token of thanks to the stoic support of the Scottish Book Trust. This was published on their website.
Immediately below that is a video sample from the epic De Moray.
Since I have worked professionally as a traditional storyteller and traditional poet and singer since 1988, I can provide you with presentations that combine both the traditional with the original if need be, that can by tailored for your event.
My presentations aim to showcase live from memory
For this purpose, I have also collected and memorised traditional songs in English, Scots, Gaelic (of both Scotland and Ireland) and Norwegian.
My presentations may be customised to suit educational, historical events/anniversaries.
See also my History and Credentials
Immediately below a mission/vision statement rhyming acrostic that I composed as a token of thanks to the stoic support of the Scottish Book Trust. This was published on their website.
Immediately below that is a video sample from the epic De Moray.
Since I have worked professionally as a traditional storyteller and traditional poet and singer since 1988, I can provide you with presentations that combine both the traditional with the original if need be, that can by tailored for your event.
My presentations aim to showcase live from memory
For this purpose, I have also collected and memorised traditional songs in English, Scots, Gaelic (of both Scotland and Ireland) and Norwegian.
My presentations may be customised to suit educational, historical events/anniversaries.
See also my History and Credentials
From De Moray
lines
Immediately below in mid-Scots is a sample from the Battle of Stirling Bridge as part of the last 200 lines on the the 2,000 epic De Moray from lines 1841 - 1900 The Brygg and part of Wee'd Awa.
The full 2,000 line poem, both medieval Scots and English with appendixes De Moray, is now available on Amazon to purchase Kindle as an ebook see also reviews in the Testimonies of Original Poetry and Song page (at the bottom of that page).
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Copyright, De Moray, Paraig MacNeil 2013.
Below is a slideshow of the art exhibition by Historic Scotland's first artist-in-residence Iona Leishman who worked from Stirling Castle 2011 - 2012.
The exhibition 'Catastrophe to Crown' commemorating the 500th anniversary of the tragic Battle of Flodden where the 'flooers o' forest Wede Away', was held at Stirling Castle on its anniversary. The exhibition was opened historian by Dr. Fiona Watson, and the Flooers o' the Forest was sung by Bard Paraig MacNeil. This slideshow of Iona's paintings from that exhibition, is voiced-over by exerts of Paraig's epic poem about Stirling Castle throughout the ages, 'The Broach, the Yarn and the Unicorn', with snippets of the traditional song depicting the tragedy of the battle, the Flooers o' the Forest. |
Since I have worked professionally as a traditional storyteller and traditional poet and singer since 1988, I can provide you with presentations that combine both the traditional with the original if need be, that can by tailored for your event.
My presentations aim to showcase live from memory
For this purpose, I have also collected and memorised traditional songs in English, Scots, Gaelic (of both Scotland and Ireland) and Norwegian.
My presentations may be customised to suit educational, historical events/anniversaries.
See also my History and Credentials
Original compositions for occasions - Perspective
Are the words you hear black and white or do they weave the colours of the rainbow? Are they the drab of a dreich day or are they the lilac heather of the summer? Are they winter road-grit or the copper-bracken array of the autumn? Do they bless or depress? Do they inspire or raise the ire?
Is language just about communication?
In this age when it seems that the whole world has gone into a globalistic tail-spin being smothered with the smog of media-mastered mediocrity, wouldn’t it be refreshing to lay aside the yoke of the verbal polyester coat for the home-spun seamless garment of weft and warp in the weave of words that echoes from generation to generation?
The poem and the song performed from memory live, yet still do
leave their imprint on not only what we know but on what we believe.
Being bombarded with words daily that talk at our head, coming from all directions does take its toll. Words are powerful and can hurt, heal, deceive or enlighten. So why not exercise the freedom of expression that our nation was founded on, and embrace the weave or tapestry where words that transform from the caterpillar into the butterfly, praising true virtue generatoinally re-expressed.
In olden times the bards and makars would extoll time-endured traditional values and those exemplifying them, in verse, praising, exhorting and when need be, dispraising. All bards were grounded in traditional tale, poem, song, proverb, and riddle memorised. Many would also sow into the fabric of their work a deep knowledge of scripture and classical literature.
This is summed up in the following original song composed during Burnsong 2007 (see bottom of page). Spinners o' Yarns, Weaver o' Words, was composed during that week in memory of and celebrating the life's work of my friend (and his legacy) who had then not long passed away, Duncan Williamson :
Spinner o' Yarns, Weaver o' Words
You are welcome to read its rolling lyrics here, listen to it, and sing along:
