Taking place in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Highland Clearances saw people from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland forced from their homes. Whole communities had to seek opportunities elsewhere. The clearances were sometimes violent, with houses being burned down, and led to famine, displacement and mass emigration.
This fictional journey, based on a script by Kenneth Murray, travels through time. We hear Scotland from the 1700s to the present day from the point of view of different characters. The journey connects contemporary and historical social challenges, specifically what the writer calls “disposable places”, which existed for working class people during the clearances and still do today. The award winning sound designer Ella Kay interprets Murray’s script. Hear blacksmiths and farm animals, waulking songs and Gaelic psalms alongside voices and hubbub under the Hielanman's Umbrella.
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Walk, run, swim, drive, float, ride, fly, wheel and meander around the world as we transport you to places near and far, using only the magic of sound. freed from guidebooks and narration and with only your imagination as companion, listen to the world in joyous new ways
Dramaturg - Kirsty Housley
Writer - Kenneth Murray
Sound Design - Ella Kay
The recording “Wool Waulking Display at the inaugural Outlander Day at Highland Folk Museum” (Newtonmore, 2015) appears courtesy of Steve McLeish and Outlandish Journeys. “Gaelic psalms at Back Free Church” (Isle Of Lewis, 2003) was produced by
Calum Martin and appears courtesy of Leum Music. Samples of dialogue are derived from “The Western Isles” (1941, dir. Terence Egan Bishop) and appear courtesy of the British Council film archive under a CC BY-NC 3.0 licence.
Journey Images from: Old House of Belford, The Smithy, Kinlochewe, Ross-Shire, Market Cross, Aberdeen, At the Head of Aberdeen Docks, The Bridge at Connel Ferry, The Crinan Canal - Argyll, The Day's work begins, sheep grazing, St Saviour's Church, Ballater, Glenmuick Chapel, Ballater, The Chancel, Rosslyn Chapel, Ships in Granton Harbour, The MacKinnon Collection. Acquired jointly with the National Library of Scotland with assistance from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Scottish Government and Art Fund. Scotland market 1700 - British Library Archive C.128.k.10 69, Inverness 2024 - Image by Wolfgang Claussen Pixabay, Glasgow Bridge 1890-1900 Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Ian Cylkowski, Unsplash, David Brooks - Abandoned Croft - Unsplash.
