MAIREARAD GREEN & RACHEL NEWTON – Anna Bhán (Shadowside Records SHADOW06)

Anna BhánThere is a story behind this record; a story told in music, song and spoken word. Mairearad and Rachel are cousins although this is their first recorded collaboration as a duo. So there is an element of family history here but that is only the start of it. Anna Bhán was their great great grandmother but there is more. Anna was part of the Coigach resistance against the Highland clearances of 1852 which is the real story here. Coigach is in the north west of Scotland, so remote that the road doesn’t even merit a number, and it’s here that Mairearad and Rachel came to record.

The album begins with ‘Anna Bhán’ – a lilting instrumental beginning on Mairearad’s accordion – she also plays pipes and piano – before giving way to Rachel’s harp and three short verses describing rural life on the peninsula before things changed. The second track, ‘Achnahaird’, is essentially an instrumental topped off with segments of a conversation with their uncle, recalling what he had been taught about the clearances and the rebellion.

‘1852’ picks up the theme of the title track and is built on Mairearad’s piano. The story would make a good film. The sheriff’s party arrived by boat and were promptly set upon by the woman and a few disguised men. ‘The Burning Of The Writs’ describes, musically, how the warrants were discovered and burned on the beach – there’s more but I won’t spoil it for you. I should say at this point that Mairearad is also a painter and it is her work that forms the album’s cover and is found throughout the booklet.

‘Not Today, Not Tomorrow’ is a song in Gaelic and English, accompanied on pipes and heavy percussion, which, again in very few words, states the women’s determination not to be beaten. ‘Lady Stafford’ is a piano piece addressed in just twenty-one words to one of the landowners behind the clearances. There is a grandeur in the music as Lady Stafford “danced and dined and sported” in contrast to the women who stood ready for what was to come. ‘Ceit Bheag’ is a delightful pipe tune with hints of another melody that I can’t quite recall. You could say that its tone is not appropriate to the story of the punishment of another leader of the resistance.

‘The Wick Fishermen’ is another musical description, this time of a failed attempt to arrest some fishermen who didn’t care for the clearances either. The local newspaper reported that “a scene of riot and outrage” was averted only when the Fiscal of Ross was persuaded to back off. The music successfully depicts the brouhaha which took place with pipes and harp alternating the lead. I really do want to see this film!  ‘Am Banais’ is the only traditional song and one which is contemporaneous with the events being depicted. It’s a solid tune with the accordion rumbling beneath. Finally, ‘Tha Sinn An Seo’ is a sort of musical valediction for the resistance and, again, there is the hint of another melody in there. It translates as ‘We Are Here’.

Anna Bhán is a triumph for the composers and performers – who are the same people, of course – and for producer Andy Bell who drew it all together with his customary skill. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a Gaelic speaker or don’t have an interest in Scottish history – although I defy you not to follow up on the story. You can just enjoy the music.

Dai Jeffries

Artists’ websites: www.rachelnewtonmusic.com / www.mairearadgreen.co.uk

‘Tha Sinn An Seo’;

We all give our spare time to run folking.com. Our aim has always been to keep folking a free service for our visitors, artists, PR agencies and tour promoters. If you wish help out and donate something (running costs currently funded by Paul Miles), please click the PayPal link below to send us a small one off payment or a monthly contribution.