Recycled Mini-Album Pages–The Road to the Isles

WOYWW visitors – please scroll down for this week’s post.

After thinking I’d finished the Scottish pages, I thought I’d add one more, devoted to the Scottish song, “The Road to the Isles.” This was my dad’s favourite Scottish song, and mine too – it is so evocative of the pull that the Western Isles has on those with Scotland in their blood, and those who have chosen to be adopted by that wonderful country.

Many years ago when I was a child, and we used to have musical evenings in our home, a couple who were old family friends used to be regular visitors. The wife was a brilliant accompanist, and her husband had a fine baritone voice. While they used to perform classical music, they were also very fond of popular songs, and they regularly performed the song “The Road to the Isles,” which we always used to request because he sang it with such gusto!

In the course of my search for the full lyrics of the song, I came across a Youtube video of Kenneth McKellar singing it. He was a wonderful singer and sings this with great flair. The music is full of “Scotch snaps” and based on the pentatonic scale which is so common in Scottish music. I love the dialect words, and the evocative names of the locations in the Western Isles that so drew the writer of the song.

Anyway, to my page. I created a very subtle (too subtle probably!) background on which to write the lyrics of the song. Here are the materials I used.

I swiped across the pages with the distress stains (Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough and Dried Marigold) to suggest a tartan design. On top of this, I added some perfect pearls with a soft brush – Forever Violet, Green Patina and Cappuccino. Once dried, it was very dark, but it catches the light, and it doesn’t dominate the text, which was written with the white marker pen.

You can see a bit of the colour on the left-hand page. I added another border, and a few more thistles around the text. Here are a couple of detail shots. The colour shows up much better in real life.

“May the best ye’ve ever seen

Be the worst ye’ll ever see

May a moose ne’er leave yer girnal

We’ a tear drap in his e’e

May ye aye keep hale an’ herty

Till ye’re auld eneugh tae dee

May ye aye be jist as happy

As we wish ye aye tae be.”

…and lang may your lum reek (long may your chimney smoke)!