The musical traditions most identifiable with Scotland are the marches and piobaireachd, or “pipe playing,” of the Highland bagpipe, and storytelling through ballads which have been handed down from generation to generation. The language arts of Scottish culture reflect the rich and honed crafts of the spoken and written word. The poetry, which has survived for 500 or even 600 years, reminds us that the language of the Scots is rooted in ancient words requiring translation and interpretation for modern English speakers.
Scotland's musical and literary treasure trove illuminates the lives of Douglases who were often chronicled by poets and balladeers. This treasure includes nursery rhymes, alliterative poetry, love songs, ballads, military melodies and themes, and epic verse. Selections recorded here are drawn together by the Douglas legacy mainly during Scotland's years of independence.
Balladeer Charlie Zahm who has numerous excellent recordings of his own, and bagpiper Charlie Glendinning present the first collection of music related to the Douglases ever produced.
“O Dowglass! O Dowglass! Tendir and Trewe” are lines from the allegorical and alliterative poem, The Buke of the Howlat (The Book of the Owl) by Richard Holland. The history of the “bloody heart” of Robert the Bruce carried by James the Good was early recorded in this poem. Written around 1450 while the Douglases were at the height of their prosperity, The Buke celebrates the family and is recognized as a “panegyric on the House of Douglas as a whole.”
O Douglas! O Douglas! Tender and True was produced by Dorothy Douglas Taft.
Index of Recording1.Scots Wha Hae (Zahm)
2.Declaration of Arbroath (Siddle) / Scots Wha Hae (Glendinning)
3.The Black Douglas (Zahm)
4.Hush Ye, Hush Ye (Siddle)
5.Annie Laurie (Zahm)
6.The Maid of Neidpath (Siddle)
7.In the Garb of Old Gaul (Glendinning)
8.Blue Bonnets over the Border (Zahm)
9.Dumbarton's Drums (Glendinning) / Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation (Siddle)
10.Dumbarton's Drums (Zahm)
11.Golden Anniversary of Gilbert and Sally (Glendinning)
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