YOUNG children who have missed out on music and storytelling during the pandemic are to benefit from special sessions based on Scottish folklore.
Traditional Tales For Tiny People will bring the traditional stories, language and music of the Orkney islands and the Western Isles to early years and families as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022.
The initiative is aimed at supporting families as the country emerges from the pandemic as well as helping to keep the tunes and tales of Scottish folklore alive.
Traditional Tales For Tiny People will feature live performances from some of Live Music Now Scotland’s emerging professional musicians, who are specially trained and experienced in working with early-years audiences and families. Lasting 45 minutes, each session will feature musicians performing a range of songs and telling stories that reflect nature, family, culture and tradition.
“Storytelling not only enhances knowledge and memory recall while supporting early literacy development but it also has the ability to build a greater sense of community, which is something we all need just now, not least young children who, pre-pandemic, would have had far more opportunity to regularly engage with their peers,” said Carol Main MBE, director at Live Music Now Scotland.
“With Traditional Tales For Tiny People, we hope to not only facilitate this interaction and provide support for families as we emerge from the pandemic, but also to keep the wonderful tunes and tales of Scottish folklore alive.”
In Glasgow, Sunday morning sessions will take place at Partickhill Bowling and Community Club and will feature the vocals of Josie Duncan, Kaitlin Ross and Catherine Tinney, all of whom hail from the Western Isles. Told in a combination of Gaelic, English and Scots, their stories will tell of nature, people and places, families and relationships and the tales that are embedded in society and retold many times as part of traditional social occasions, including waulking songs and puirt à beul – a traditional form of song native to Scotland.
In Edinburgh, sessions will take place on a Sunday afternoon at Holy Cross Church in Davidson’s Mains. These participatory afternoons will be led by three musicians from the Orkney islands who grew up listening to the region’s traditional tales and tunes. Aidan Moodie and Owen Sinclair both play guitar while Graham Rorie plays the fiddle.
