The Minch

far.

And the area that they have to cross to get to the Outer Hebrides is the Minch, which is quite a challenging crossing point as well.

Is that what it's called?

Yeah, it is actually called that, yeah.

On one voyage, he was tasked with transporting cargo from Norway to the north of France.

But as he steered his ship through the turbulent waters of the Minch that lie between the Scottish mainland and the Outer Hebrides, a storm seemingly arose from nowhere and forced him to dock at Stornoway for shelter.

The years at sea had greatly changed his appearance.

For one thing, he was now a full-grown man, and on his full-grown man face, he had a full-grown man beard.

The feychan is sensitive about not having wings or the gift of flight, so it waves a spiked club at all living things that cross its path.

The Blue Men of the Minch, or sea kelpies, prey on sailors.

They sport green beards and hair and are pretty buff.

Some say that these creatures live in caves underwater and that they can control the weather and the seas.

If you ever plan on sailing the high seas, make sure you have what it takes to defeat the sea kelpies.

According to folklore, captains have escaped disaster on the water simply with their sharp tongues.

However, the Blue Men of the Minch can only be beaten in rhyming duels.

Huldufolk are Icelandic fairies that are somewhat neutral.

The feychan is sensitive about not having wings or the gift of flight, so it waves a spiked club at all living things that cross its path.

The blue men of the Minch, or sea kelpies, prey on sailors.

They sport green beards and hair and are pretty buff.

Some say that these creatures live in caves underwater and that they can control the weather and the seas.

If you ever plan on sailing the high seas, make sure you have what it takes to defeat the sea kelpies.

According to folklore, captains have escaped disaster on the water simply with their sharp tongues.

However, the Blue Men of the Minch can only be beaten in rhyming duels.

Huldufolk are Icelandic fairies that are somewhat neutral.

The harbour slips behind you, the horizon opens up and for a time you exist between two worlds.

Well this voyage carried us out through the Minch and towards the southern islands of the Outer Hebrides where the sea seems to widen and the light changes constantly.

After the detour through Skye, the approach to Barra felt like a small triumph.

This was the crossing that had refused to happen at the beginning of the journey and now at last the island appeared ahead.

To the west, the Machair opens out towards long Atlantic beaches, bright in summer with wildflowers and backed by dunes, sand and grazing land.

Inland, freshwater locks break up the peat moor so completely that water often seems more common than dry ground.

And to the east, the coast becomes more indented and sheltered, with sea locks, mudflats, skerries, and views towards the Minch.

This mixture gives North Uist a quieter beauty than Barra or Harris, less dramatic at first glance, perhaps, but deeply rewarding once you begin to notice its patterns.

But with things like rowing songs, you have to work a bit harder.

in your imagination to think okay I'm having to get from the Isle of Skye across the Minch to Lewes I'm rowing what rhythm do I need to get there and what's that going to feel like and what song is going to help me get there so it's that sort of embodied sense which I'm really interested in

And it was fascinating listening to your talk hearing music from centuries gone by and just understanding how a piece of music can be written down in a particular way with a particular title and then someone at a later stage decides to write it with a slightly different title and the next thing you know you've lost a lot about the original meaning or derivation, I suppose, of the music.

Yeah, the one particular tune I was presenting today is a tune I found with the title Cronan Marini in Alistair Ruai.