Well, a strange bit of synchronicity has come about this morning which makes today’s post a no-brainer. Yesterday was a bit of a foul day weather wise so my walking friend and I decided to visit the new tourist attraction that officially opened in our town a couple of months ago. If you look at my banner photo at the top of the page you will see a castle right in the middle, built on a hill on the east side of the River Ness. It’s not an old castle, but was built in Victorian times to house the town’s courthouse and jail. Although the town jail moved to a new building a long time ago, the courtrooms were only recently replaced by a fancy new Justice Centre. It had long been mooted that the castle should be a tourist attraction, situated as it is right in the centre of town, so that is just what happened and we now have the Inverness Castle Experience. As locals, we can buy a special pass for the price of one ticket that allows us to visit as many times as we like between October and March, thus yesterday’s visit before our pass expires until autumn.
The castle lit up at night
Last time we went (I’ve now been three times and four times to the lovely restaurant), we concentrated on the building called the south tower but this time we spent our time in the north tower where there are three rooms dedicated to the band Runrig who hail from the islands off the west coast of Scotland. They were/are loved by the global Scottish diaspora and we in The Highlands also have a soft spot for these lads who took Gaelic Rock to a whole new level in the late 20th century.
Runrig in 1987
It made for really interesting reading, about how they got started – playing for ceilidhs in village halls on the islands – to recording their albums and touring the world. The synchronicity I mentioned at the outset was because on Rol’s Saturday Snapshots this morning there was a photo of Runrig. The puzzle is to find a link between all 15 photos and it turned out to be that the artists had all made songs about “bodies of water” and I immediately thought of their rousing performance of the traditional song Loch Lomond. I had never seen Rol mention Runrig on his blog before so coming straight after my visit, and my plan to write about them today, it felt like a weird coincidence indeed. Here is a clip of them live at Loch Lomond giving the song the full-blown Celtic rock treatment (especially after 3:00).
Here are some of the photos I took of the exhibition but as such behaviour is generally frowned upon, they were limited to just one room. The recording equipment is what they used to record their second album (I had a cassette recorder just like that one).
It was not until I arrived in The Highlands that I really started to appreciate some of the great Celtic rock bands that hail from this neck of the woods. Runrig‘s lead singer at that time was Donnie Munro whom I later found out had taught Mr WIAA art at school in the ’70s. When he’d told the class he was involved with a band, and that they played a kind of Gaelic/Celtic rock, the class were highly sceptical (this was the decade of glam rock, punk and disco after all) but he certainly proved them all wrong. In the period 1987-1997 they were signed to the Chrysalis label and released five very successful studio albums. I remember buying The Cutter and the Clan not long after arriving in The Highlands and I saw them perform three times in a short space of time at various venues, including a large marquee during a memorable homecoming trip to Skye.
The song An Ubhal as Àirde (The Highest Apple) from The Cutter and the Clan album gave Runrig their highest placing to date on the UK Singles Charts, debuting at number eighteen in May 1995, eight years after the release of the album because of its inclusion in an advert. The song made history when it became the first song to be sung in Scottish Gaelic to chart on the UK Singles Chart. They even performed it on Top of the Pops.
The band has changed its line-up many times since forming in 1973 but the two songwriters Rory Macdonald and Calum Macdonald have been there right since the beginning. Donnie Munro left in 1997 to pursue a career in politics but was replaced by Bruce Guthro, from Nova Scotia, who seemed to be just the right fit. In 2016, the band announced their retirement from recording following the release of The Story, their 14th studio album. Their final tour started the following year and in August 2018 the band performed their final shows, entitled The Last Dance, in Stirling City Park beneath the castle ramparts. An estimated 52,000 fans attended.
I hope I’ve done a good PR job promoting both the new tourist attraction in our town and the band Runrig. The castle isn’t full of stuffy artefacts and long passages of writing, but is quite immersive with audio visual displays and plenty of opportunities to design your own tartan or mix a new Runrig track. Funny to look back at photos of the young lads who were brought up on crofts, and films of where their love of music took them. Do come for a visit.
Until next time…
Loch Lomond Lyrics
(Song by Unknown – Traditional)
By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines on Loch Lomond.
Where me and my true love spent many days
On the banks of Loch Lomond.
Too sad we parted in yon shady glen,
On the steep sides of Ben Lomond.
Where the broken heart knows no second spring,
Resigned we must be while we’re parting.
You’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road,
And I’ll be in Scotland before you.
Where me and my true love will never meet again,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
Ho, ho mo leannan
Ho mo leannan bhoidheach
You’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road,
And I’ll be in Scotland before you.
Where me and my true love will never meet again,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
Postscript
The band got their name from the runrig system of land tenure practised in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands and Islands. It was designed for subsistence farming rather than commercial production. The runrig system was systematically dismantled during the Highland Clearances and the Scottish Agricultural Revolution (18th-19th centuries). The strips of land are called rigs and the run is the channel that runs between them.
What's It All About? 
My knowledge of Runrig is limited to say the very least. Rockular links to bodies of water is probably more my bag – tho’ apart from that one about the Lake Geneva shoreline and Crossing the Red Sea I’d be phoning a friend. Oh, Fog on the Tyne! Damn! This is gonna keep me awake tonight; beats counting sheep, I guess.
JM
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Sorry to hear you were having a sleepless night John and sorry if yesterdays snapshots link kept you awake!
I’m always amazed at how few people in the rest of the UK have heard of Runrig as they played momentous gigs in the same vein as Knebworth and Glastonbury. The Scots diaspora loved them.
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You pulled all this together in a few hours after finishing Rol’s weekly torment? I’m impressed. All I feel up to after that is having a lie down.
I’m not qualified to comment on Runrig but talk of castles and Loch Lomond prompted me to dig out this oldie performed by people who are clearly unfamiliar with the word “yon”. Produced by Phil Spector so listen quickly before R*l cancels it
https://youtu.be/NMtshEkIYw4?si=5_Q_43GosqXmgOoV
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Since my blog’s 10th birthday I’ve tried to keep Saturday morning free for Snapshots and then blogging. I had actually finished this one by lunchtime but I then had to head off for a bit of puppy-sitting so didn’t get a chance to edit and publish until the evening. It’s been working well for me so far this year.
That is some version of Loch Lomond. Don’t think they know how to pronounce loch either but not many outside Scotland get the **ch words right.
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We were having a coffee in a cafe in Bradford,Skye while Donnie Munro was waiting for a takeaway pizza!
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Showoff
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Gaelic rock stars also eat pizza!
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CC – yes, no star status for Donnie on Skye. I have a friend who lives in Portree and last time we were there we went for a meal in his son’s restaurant. Donnie was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher. He also made the tablet that we had with our coffee.
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Looks like I’m not your only reader unfamiliar with their music; you’ve given me somewhere to start.
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Can’t believe you’re not familiar with them George having lived in Scotland. Or is it a different George?
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In all likelihood the George whose comments you are familiar with., Alyson. So, scottish. but not a friend of the stars like Mr CC
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Thought it was you but still shocked you’re not familiar with them. Wonder what the Portuguese equivalent of Runrig is!?
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As Ernie says, an impressively and quick response to our usual Saturday morning challenge! And I love the synchronicity. The castle sounds excellent – it’s great how a lot of attractions like this are made to be immersive and fun now, a far better way to learn about their history and the fact that you’ve been three times already speaks volumes. There’s a stately home just down the road from me where I’ve taken different friends on three occasions but it’s been the same every time, so it becomes predictable for me (although they do a fantastic lemon drizzle cake in the cafe and I’d be quite happy for that never to change…)
As for Runrig, very much just a name (and a vague memory of them on ToTP) for me without having ever given them much other thought so it’s good to get more of an insight. Love the fact that they sung in Scottish Gaelic!
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As I said to Ernie, since the blog’s 10th birthday I’ve tried to keep the time straight after Snapshots free for blogging and so far so good. I’m in the zone so just keep going! Weird coincidence this weekend though as I’ve never seen Rol share anything by Runrig ever. And, the song refers to the largest body of water in Great Britain!
I like the new Castle Experience but wouldn’t like to have to pay every time. We specialise in different rooms each visit and then have coffee and a warm scone in the restaurant – 10% discount for pass holders. I’ve noticed in the early reviews that most people love it but some people really don’t – the ones who want to go and see historical artefacts and read up about the history of the area. Personally I think that is already covered by the Museum and the Culloden Visitor Centre so this works best for families with children and for people who don’t like to read a lot in tourist attractions (Mr WIAA). Cross fingers they do well during the summer season and then in October my pass will be valid again.
I have written about them a couple of times before and told that story about what the art class told Donnie in the ’70s but in the main they don’t seem to be that well-known in the rest of the UK. Strange since they’ve performed at massive outdoor venues over the years and get Knebworth-esque crowds. They sang in Gaelic but also in English so half and half really. Loch Lomond has been adapted as a song for the Tartan Army who will hopefully be in fine voice during the World Cup this summer (although I do fear that it might not all go to plan, all our matches taking place in the US of A).
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I hope Donnie Munro also mentions his claim to fame in having once taught the highly talented award-winning silversmith and sculptor Mr WIAA!
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Ha ha – I think he will have long forgotten that spotty teenager with wild hair.
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Another really weird coincidence C. We have bitten the bullet and are having new flooring laid in our house this week and chose the town’s oldest flooring shop as it has the best reputation. We had to drop by the shop this morning and guess who was in discussing having his own flooring laid – Donnie Munro from Runrig!
I’ve never bumped into him in a local shop before as he lives on Skye so coming straight after my castle visit, Rol’s snapshot, my post about him at the weekend and the fact I’ve been viewing Runrig clips since then, it was weird indeed! Needless to say he didn’t recognise his old pupil Mr WIAA but he still had that air of being a rock musician – at 72 he still has the thick dark hair and was wearing a smart coat and shades. I have to admit I was a little starstruck but did my best not to look at him as he was ordering. The sales guys in the shop are all older gentlemen who will have known exactly who he was but stayed professional throughout and didn’t mention it.
I’m wondering what the next weird coincidence will be now!
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That’s so strange! Of all the places and people! A very notable experience – ooh, the lines of fate connect up in mysterious ways! I bet he has a nice floor too…
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I was certainly taken aback at this additional weird coincidence. He has a house on the shoreline in Portree so he’ll no doubt have very nice floors.
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For about thirty years, starting circa 1975, there was a folk-music venue called Cherry Tree Music Co-op in Philadelphia. Wouldn’t surprise me if Runrig appeared there.
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You could be right Neil. They certainly went across the pond a lot to North America and also supported some big names – Rolling Stones and U2.
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