A selection of videos were made for the album
Coulter's Candy (aka Ally Bally, Ally Bally Bee)
The recipe for the original Coltart's Candy has been lost to the mists of time, but boiled aniseed sweets bearing his name are still produced and sold in Galashiels.
Many versions of this song are downbeat and emphasise the images of hardship and poverty presented in the lyrics - crying babies, skinny underfed children, and adolescents being sent to sea to earn extra income for the family. We have tried to create a much more positive and happy rendition - there is not a child in the world who wouldn't be happy at being given money and told to go and buy sweets.
We were pleased as punch when a lady in Canada sent us a video of her daughter dancing to our version of Coulter's Candy in a dancing competition.
Three Craws
Our version of Three Craws actually has four crows in it: The first, which can't fly, a second, which is crying for it's mother, a third which falls and breaks it's jaw, and a fourth, which isn't there. There is also a final verse to this song, which is not in our version, which goes:
An that's a', absolutely a',
Absolutely a', absolutely a',
An that's a', absolutely a',
On a cauld and frosty mornin'.
Dream Angus
Dream Angus is a mythical Scottish figure similar to the American Sandman. His function is to send children off to sleep. But Angus has a comically violent dark side to him: legend has it that he sits by the child's bed, drinking from a bottle of whisky. If the child is still awake by the time the bottle is empty, then Angus will knock the child out with the empty bottle!
This beautiful ballad has been recorded by artists as diverse as The Corries and Annie Lennox. The TwinkleTrax version first appeared on our Lullabies album in 2009. This new mix keeps only the vocals and whistle from the original.
Amazing Grace
This popular hymn was written by poet and clergyman John Newton (1725-1807) to illustrate a sermon he gave on New Year's Day of 1773 in his parish of Olney, in Buckinghamshire, England. Newton's lyrics were set to an old Scottish folk song called "New Britain" by an American, William Walker (1809-1875), who published them in 1835 in "The Southern Harmony". It is this tune that is most commonly used for the song today.
The lyrics describe an event that changed Newton's life. Prior to becoming a clergyman, he had been a slave trader, with no interest in religion. One night, caught in a terrible storm and terrified for his life, he called out to God to save him. Amazed that he had survived only by the grace of God, he quit slave trading and began to study theology.
Despite its combined Scottish and English origins, the song's universal message of hope in the wake of tragedy has seen it adopted almost as a spiritual national anthem in the US, where many are surprised to learn that it is not an American song. It was returned to its Scottish roots by the 1972 instrumental pipe and drums recording by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, which was in turn based on the 1970 recording by American folk singer Judy Collins.
The video was recorded over the course of an hour on the evening of 7th May 2013, at Blackness Castle, on the shores of the Firth of Forth, Scotland, and has been sped up to show the rolling of the clouds and the sunset in all its glory.
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond is one of Scotland's best known folk songs. But like Dream Angus above, it has a dark side. The lyrics are about a Jacobite soldier, captured after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, taken by the Hanovarian forces to London, and sentenced to death. His spirit takes the path of the dead - the low road - back to Scotland, while his lover takes the highway - the High Road.
The video was shot on a beautiful day in the late summer of 2011 on Loch Lomond itself, just north of Glasgow and at the southern edge of the Scottish Highlands. Loch Lomond is the largest of Scotland's lochs, but no matter where you go, the northern skyline is dominated by Ben Lomond, the most southerly Munro (a Scottish mountain over 3000ft). We started in the picturesque conservation village of Luss, moved north to Tarbet, then down to Balloch at the south end of the loch for an evening cruise.
TwinkleTrax "Scottish Children's Songs"
20 Traditional Celtic Lullabies and Children's Songs
Arranged, recorded and produced in Livingston, Scotland, by Douglas Milne with additional vocals by acclaimed Edinburgh based actor and singer Helen Raw, this collection of Celtic Lullabies and Children's songs has received rave reviews from listeners. Andrea Guy of US magazine Mossip said it is:
...a dangerously infectious collection of fun songs for children and adults... Helen Raw's voice is stunning. Listening to her can easily wash away the stresses of the day... This is definitely a must have for parents with grade school aged children, or just people with a fondness for Scottish folk songs
The album runs for over an hour, and contains the following 20 tracks:
- Aiken Drum
- Coulter's Candy (aka Ally Bally, Ally Bally Bee)
- Three Craws
- Wee Willie Winkie
- The Broon Coo
- Cock-a-doodle Doo
- Kate Dalrymple
- Can Ye Sew Cushions
- Green Grow The Rashes
- The Skye Boat Song
- Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny Aff The Bus
- Dream Angus
- Oor Wee School
- Hush Ye, My Bairnie
- Katie Beardie
- Amazing Grace
- Silkie
- Rest My Ain Bairnie
- Loch Lomond
- Baloo Baleerie
