Local musicians accompany Christine De Luca in poetry reading at Lunna Kirk
EVERYONE who braved the misty conditions on Friday evening to get to Lunna Kirk for the poetry and music event was in for a real treat.
In the ambient setting of the historic kirk, guests were taken on a journey around Shetland through the poetry readings of Christine De Luca.
Stewart Grains started the evening with the fiddle tune Slockit Light, the slow air by Tom Anderson. Ami Grains then accompanied Stewart on a second fiddle with a beautiful harmony.
The theme of the evening was Shetland’s abandoned crofthouses and so Slockit Light set the tone for the readings to follow.
Christine began with poems about crofthouses in Lunnasting such as Bönidal south of Lunning and Sannik in Swining Voe.
From there, avid listeners learned the stories and history of other past dwellings around the isles as Christine continued to read from her new book Vod.
In collaboration with Neil Fraser, Christine created this book which has poems about 38 locations in Shetland, written in both Shaetlan and English.
With lots of information, photos and grid references, this is an ideal read for anyone interested in learning more about Shetland’s heritage.
Ami Grains, the current Young Fiddler of the Year, performed her traditional set from the competition earlier this year. The music and poems complemented each other as the Unst Bridal March led on to a poem about a Shetland wedding.
Irvine Grains, who came second in the Junior Traditional Accordion Solo section at Perth Accordion and Fiddle Festival this year, performed a piece he had written for accordion hero Ian MacPhail.
The intimate event was concluded with more tunes from the three Grains family members and Grant Nicol on guitar.
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