The hymn is sung in Barra as part of Christmas Eve Mass Folklorist Frances Wilkins on the beauty of a Gaelic Christmas hymn and the tales of emigration which lie behind it…. Emigration, whether forced
Last modified on Thu 25 Feb 2021 23.37 EST
A bob of seals wriggles through the turquoise waters facing a Hebridean beach as an unseen speaker from decades past explains how a mermaid once forecast a storm. Lobster creels plop off the side of a boat as a fisherman elsewhere catalogues the seasonal catches of skate, herring and âbig ugly eelsâ. A jellyfish balloons and pulses through cloudy water as the words of the Scottish Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean are spoken: âThe incomprehensible ocean fills with floodtide and a thousand sails.â
Watching Iorram (Boat Song) can be a disorienting experience. This first theatrically released documentary entirely in Scottish Gaelic blends archive recordings of voices, stories and songs from the past with visuals of contemporary island life.