Making New Scots Songs - Community Songwriting in Action

Making New Scots Songs
           Community Songwriting in Action

The New Makars Trust                                                        Songwriting In Action

Making New Songs With Scottish Communities
The New Makars Trust has over 8 years developed a unique approach, bringing professional songwriters into Scottish communities to work
with local people to create their own songs about their own lives.The Trust's first big project was in the Kingdom of Fife, 1997-2000,
creating and gathering hundreds of songs. The success of this project won Scottish Arts Council funding in 2003-5 for another major
project, in which South Lanarkshire communities created hundreds more songs, and in smaller projects in particular Fife communities
the Trust's approach has been developed and refined.

In projects to date the Trust has worked with many organizations including over 50 schools, and 30 day centres and old people's homes.
Over 3500 people have been involved in creating and singing songs about life in their own community, and performances of the resulting
songs have been attended by audiences of over 15,000. Many other projects have also been spawned from the work.The Trust's work
has been strongly supported and funded by the Scottish Arts Council, South Lanarkshire Council and Fife Council.

Anster Is Humming

The In An Aroon Anster project in the former fishing port of Anstruther in Fife's East Neuk
has netted a fine harvest of songs, gathered onto several CDs. "People see the world
differently from Anster, and what a joy it has been to see it expressed in song."   Gifford
Lind.

Welcome the Humming Beans has songs written through workshops at Waid Academy,
arranged and performed with the help of the Fence Collective.

The Songs o’ Anster Life CD and booklet has lively songs written by the Bairns o Anster
with Gill Bowman, Ian Walker and Gifford Lind, some created in schools, some in the
Fisheries Museum and the Waid Centre. The Bairns have performed their songs on the Ross
Bandstand in Edinburgh, and Anster's Central Pier. On Anster Tracks are 20 new songs,
reflective and vigorous, by local songwriters about the life of the town, while Walking In
The Lea Of Time ’s collection of fine songs arose from work done by songwriters Andy
Shanks, Scott Murray and Gifford Lind with residents of Lady Walk Home and Harbour Lea
Sheltered Housing.

Gifford Lind was the key influence on the establishment of the Trust, and has run both
phases of songmaking by the New Makars Trust in Fife. During this time he has kept
organising Dunfermline Folk Club and has even been involved in writing songs in
Norwegian schools.

Songwriters Kenny Anderson (King Creosote) and Johnny Lynch (The Pictish Trail) run
the Fence Collective and Fence Records in Cellardyke, and their involvement in the
Anster work was invaluable. Other songwriters also involved in Anster have included
Carol Laula, Gill Bowman, Ian Walker, Margo Cook, Matt Armour, Jenny Gordon, Kirk
MacGeachy, Jack Cockcroft, over 70 Anster Bairns and 22 Humming Beans from the
East Neuk of Fife.

Songlines - Lanarkshire Community Songwriting

"It has been my privilege to be the Project Director for     SONGLINES for the period that it
ran in South Lanarkshire. During that time I have seen a wide variety of people engaged
in songwriting. They have ranged from primary and secondary school pupils through youth
groups to individual adults and songwriting groups to senior citizen organisations. The
standard of songs produced is excellent and many have and are still being performed. I
thank everyone who has helped make SONGLINES a great success."            Billy Stewart

Songs of past and present events in the communities of Forth and Braehead were made for
the CD Across The Ages . "People of all ages, from 9 to 94, celebrated their community.
A worthwhile and lasting resource has been created. "        Anne Carruthers, Development
Officer, Forth Community Resource Centre.

Four songwriters created songs with groups and classes: The Travelling Minstrel Show,
Blackpool, snow, the washhoose, a local ghost, footie in the park, miners, and much more.

Guns And Roses songs are by P6/7 of St Helen's Primary, Cumbernauld, about World War
2 with Billy Stewart. Biggar P4 class investigated with Ewan McVicar the stimulating exhibits
at Moathill Heritage Centre, then wrote and recorded a series of songs about what they
had learned.Crawforddyke P6 wrote songs about pencils, skateboarding, Carluke Gala Day,
and the Town Hall bell with Ian Walker. Ian also worked with Kirklandpark School and
Avonpark Home in Strathaven. The Home provided the memories for the pupils to write
the songs. More CDs of songs came from Leadhills and from Craighead."This was an
outstanding example of enhancement of the curriculum through specific external expertise."
Mike Dunn, Music Principal, Hunter High School, East Kilbride.

Primary Schools: Stonehouse, Newfield, Law, Crawforddyke, Douglas, Leadhills, Kirkland Park, High Blantyre,
Biggar, Libberton, Carnwath Halfmerke, Forth, Braehead, Dalserf, Robert Owen.
Secondary: Hunter High School, Blantyre High School, Craighead School.
Adult Learning: Auchentibber Adult Learning Centre.
South Lanarkshire Council: Education Resources, Museums Access

All Around Fife

The Trust's first project was Celebrating Fife In Song. From 1997 to 2000 the Trust deployed
17 experienced songwriters across the Kingdom. 1400 people participated in songmaking
workshops, over 150 new songs were generated, and two CDs of new Fife songs produced.
Between The Tay And The Forth had 21 new songs of Fife life, and a double CD held a
fraction of new songs made in schools. "When these kids grow up Fife may well become
Scotland's answer to Nashville" Robin Laing."

In 2004 Song Views, an enhanced CD of new songs and old pictures (plus a bonus Space
Invaders game!), about the Abbeyview area in Dunfermline, was created. Church groups,
school classes, day centre users, and local residents with a tale to tell in song all contributed.
Song topics include stories of the past of the town, the celebration of a visit of a school
band from Norway, a local who always sang going home from the pub, peace and pollution
and hopes for the future. Abbeyview is an area of regeneration - a post war housing
development where a number of agencies are currently involved in the social and structural
regeneration of the area - something which some of the songs on the album make comment
on.

Organisations involved in Fife projects: Abbeyview Day Centre, Aberdour Primary, Alexander Westwater
Memorial Trust, Anstruther Primary, Anstruther Sailing Club, Anstruther Youth Club, Appin House Kirkcaldy,
Bellyeoman Primary, Blacklaw Primary, Buckhaven Primary, Canmore Primary, Canongate Primary, Cowdenbeath
Primary, Cowdenbeath Resource Centre, Crail Folk Club, Culross Primary, Cupar Library, Dalgety Bay Library,
Donibristle Primary, Dunfermline Carnegie Library, Dunfermline Folk Club, Dunfermline Heritage Youth
Theatre, Fife Council Arts, Glenwood Library, Greyfriars RC Primary, Headwell School, Jean Mackie Centre
Dunfermline, John Douglas Home Dunfermline, John Fergus School, Kelty Library, Kelty Primary, Kirkcaldy
Folk Club, Kirkcaldy Museum, Kirkcaldy North Primary, Ladywalk Home Anstruther, Langlands Primary,
Lawhead Primary, Leven Library, Lochgelly High School, Lochgelly P5s, Lochgelly P7s, Lochgelly West Primary,
Lynburn Primary, Methilhaven Home Methil, Methilhill Primary, Mountfleurie Primary, Newcastle Primary,
North Eden House Cupar, Pitcorthie Primary, Pittencrieff Primary, ROAR Group Rosyth, Rosyth Library, Rosyth
Resource Centre Rosyth, Scottish Fisheries Museum, St Andrews Library, St Andrews Preservation Trust, St
Clair Centre Kirkcaldy, St Joseph’s RC PS, St Ninian's Church Dunfermline, St Paul's RC Primary, STANZA
Poetry Festival, Strathkinness Primary, Valley House Cowdenbeath, Valleyfield Support Group, Viewforth
Centre Kirkcaldy, Waid Academy, Woodmill High School.

Gentle Giants and Banterers

In March 2005 Robbie Shepherd's Sunday radio show gave 20 minutes over to celebrating
the Clydesdale Horse, featuring the new album, Gentle Giants , issued jointly by The New
Makars Trust and Greentrax Records.

The Gentle Giants CD project was assembled by Robin Laing, with not just new specially
made songs, but older compositions and bothy ballads, and highly informative notes about
the giants who could pull three times their own weight.

Performers include the Battlefield Band, Jack Beck, Christine Kydd, Ken Campbell, Jock
Duncan, Alan Reid, Isla St Clair and Matt Armour as well as songwriters active in Trust
projects.

Two South Lanarkshire songwriters, Robin Laing and Billy Stewart, and Gaelic poet Aonghas
MacNeacail, went in 2003 to the Edinbane Festival on Skye and created a slew of songs and
poems from the history and stories of the area. The Edinbanter Community Identity  project
also included the work of local writers Ali Pentland, Hamish Macfarlane, Alistair Danter,
Donald Macleod, Joseph Pentland, Ricco Perri, and of course the children of Edinbane
Primary School.

Among the fine songwriters who have worked on the South Lanarkshire Song Lines
project are the members of the Lanarkshire Songwriters Group, Ian Walker and Ian
Bruce, Karine Polwart, Carol Laula, Fred Freeman, Lorraine Jordan, Martin Coffield,
and Ewan McVicar.

Billy Stewart, director of the South Lanarkshire Song Lines project, has since 1990
written many dozens of songs in schools and community projects. Billy is also a member
of the well known folk group HAGGERDASH and this has given him the opportunity to
bring his songs to audiences both at home and abroad. He is also the organiser of the
Stonehouse Folk Club and a member of The Lanarkshire Songwriters Group.

Gallant Men and Covenanting Heroes and Villains

                   The Fourteen Gallant Men CD celebrates the dramatic but often poignant tales of 14 heroic
                   Lanarkshire winners of the Victoria Cross, from songwriters of the Lanarkshire Songwriters
                   Group.

                   The Indian Mutiny, the Crimean War, Gallipoli, the Somme, Vimy Ridge, the battleship
                   Tirpitz. Pipers, bomber pilots, Lewis Gunners, privates and officers, midget submariners.
                   A Companion CDROM has portraits and stories of the medal winners by artist and historian
                   Duncan Brown.

                   On The Grassmarket Butchers CD nine songwriters tell of the terrrible Killing Times in
                   17th Century Lanarkshire and neighbouring counties, of Bonny Dundee, hangings, martyrs,
                   open air conventicles and pitched battles. The project arose from years of research by
                   Lanarkshire artist and writer John Young.

                   The Lanarkshire Songwriters Group includes some of Scotland's finest songwriters. Peter
                   Nardini, poet Aonghas MacNeacail, Robin Laing, Ian Davison, Billy Stewart, Maggie
                   Dewar, Andy Munro (Mr Boom), John Malcolm, Dave Gibb, Martin Coffield, Jim McKenna,
                   Tom Clelland, Alison Rodger, Chris Rogers. Davy Lees has helped greatly with various
                   Lanarkshire projects. The fine design work of John Young graces the Grassmarket
                   album.
                   Community Groups: Carnwath Youth Theatre, Tinto Summer Music School, Greenhills After School Club,
                   Crawfordjohn Spring Fling, Lanarkshire Songwriters Group, Whuppity Scoorie, Leadhills After School Music
                   Group, Stonehouse Folk Club, Biggar Little Festival, Forth Community Resource Centre, Lanark Celtic Music
                   Weekend, East Kilbride Arts Centre, The Moat Museum, South Lanarkshire Summer Literacy School, Wardlawhill
                   Parish Church, Forth St. Paul’s Parish Church, Scottish Museum of Country Life.
                   Senior Citizens Organisations: The Red Deer Centre, Law Lunch Club, Lorne Park Nursing Home, Braehead
                   Lunch and Leisure Club, Kirkland Park Nursing Home, Orchard House Nursing Home, Forth Wall Hanging
                   Group, Kirkton House Nursing Home, Dunvegan Residential Home, Abbey Lodge, Kittochglen Nursing Home.
                   Partnerships: Greentrax Recordings, Lanarkshire Songwriters, Forth Community Resource Centre, Dementia
                   Services Development Centre.

What Else Are We Up To?

The Trust has run various other songwriting projects in Scotland, including the STANZA,
Poetry Festival in St Andrew's and the Largo Life project with Kirkton of Largo Primary
School. During 2005/2006 the North Ayrshire Council has commissioned songwriters from
the Trust to support pupils in Arran schools to develop and perform songs about life on the
island.

In one project an album of songs about mining life was written with visitors to Kirkcaldy
Museum's 7 Pit Wynd MAC bus project, winner of the UK Educational Initiative Category
of the Museums and Heritage Awards for Excellence 2003.

Songwriters have developed the Trust approach and taken it to Orkney, Tinto Festival,
Edinbane on Skye and many other festivals.

Of course the Trust did not invent community songwriting in Scotland. Bob Pegg in Ross-
shire, Billy Stewart in Lanarkshire, Ewan McVicar in schools all round Scotland - all were
active well before the first Trust project. But the New Makars Trust has developed and
delivered songwriting to communities in exciting, innovative and very popular ways.

Now the Trust is working to develop a wider approach, spreading news of their approach,
seeking to support songwriting initiatives in more communities and to assist the work of
Scottish songwriters.

NMT has been fortunate to have wonderful illustrations by Jim Douglas to grace its Fife

Who are The New Makars Trust?

Convener Robin Laing, Secretary Gifford Lind, Treasurer Ewan McVicar

CURRENT TRUSTEES Carol Laula, one of Scotland's finest contemporary songwriters. Ian Davison, stalwart of Scotland's
political songwriting scene. Scott Murray of Fife's Sangsters, Scott is a director of the TMSA. Fine traditional singers and
organisers Jack Beck and Steve Byrne - Steve organises Edinburgh's Ceilidh Culture.

Previous trustees include former TMSA organiser Elspeth Cowie, Nancy Nicolson who for several years ran the community
side of Glasgow's Celtic Connections, and multi-award winning singer Karine Polwart.

Songwriters involved in Trust projects: Adam McNaughton, Alan Reid, Alan Stewart, Alex Nicolson, Alison Rodger, Andy
Munro, Andy Shanks, Aonghas MacNeacail, Belle Hammond, Ben Sands, Billy Stewart, Bruce Davies, Carol Laula, Chris Rogers,
Christine Kydd, Colin Stewart, Dave Gibb, Dennis Alexander, Ewan McVicar, Fred Freeman, Gifford Lind, Gill Bowman, Ian
Bruce, Ian Davison, Ian Walker, Jack Beck, Jenny Gordon, Jim Douglas, Jim Hall, Jim McKenna, Jim Malcolm, Jim Reid,
Jim Russell, Jimmy Scott, John Malcolm, Johnny Lynch, Karine Polwart, Kenny Anderson, Lorraine Jordan, Maggie Dewar,
Margot Cook, Martin Coffield, Martin Wardrop, Matt Armour, Nancy Nicolson, Peter Nardini, Robin Laing, Scott Murray,
Sheena Wellington, Steve Wilkinson, Tom Clelland, Tom Hall.

                                                The New Makars Trust
                                               www.newmakarstrust.org.uk
                                        email: secretary@newmakarstrust.org.uk
                                                   Gifford Lind, Secretary
                                       30 Pitcorthie Road, Dunfermline KY11 8DR
                                                     Tel: 01383 729673

Robin Laing, one of Scotland's most respected songwriters, is often on tour abroad, with several CDs to his name. Robin
has been Convener of the NMT from the beginning. Begetter and organiser of the Lanarkshire Songwriters Group.

Ewan McVicar has written a Top Twenty hit, several books about Scotland's songs, and hundreds of songs with dozens of
school classes and groups of elderly people in day centres or homes. For several years he ran the Songmaker In Schools
project.

The New Makars Trust
            The New Makars Trust
        www.newmakarstrust.org.uk
 email secretary@newmakarstrust.org.uk
           Gifford Lind, Secretary
30 Pitcorthie Road, Dunfermline KY11 8DR
              Tel 01383 729673