The Pioneer from The Woods by Hamish Napier
For letter 'B' of the Scottish Gaelic tree alphabet.
B is for 'BEITH' [Beh], birch, birk.
- Silver birch, beith-dhubhach, Betula pendula.
- Downy birch, beith-chlùmhach, Betula pubescens.
- Dwarf birch, beith-bheag, betula nana.
A slow air for the beautiful birch.
‘B’ is the first letter of the Early Medieval alphabet (the Ogham) which is very apt since it was one of the pioneering species to spread across the barren post ice age landscape 10 millennia ago.
Their leaves are among the first to appear in spring. A birch wood in a summer sunset can turn an incredible fluorescent green. The lush drooping green canopies turn yellow-gold in autumn and leave behind a purple-brown crown of bare branches in winter.
How do you tell the difference between silver bich and downy birch? Silver birch has a straighter trunk with brilliant black and white bark and more triangular leaves, while downy birch trunks are less ordered and smaller with slightly browner bark and more rounded leaves.
Birch is plentiful in the Highlands and so was put it to a myriad of uses by the Highlanders of old: firewood, arrows, spinning wheels, rope, candles, sap wine and fodder for livestock.
Tracklist
| 1. | The Pioneer | 3:26 |
Credits
Musicians:
HN: F bamboo flute, piano
IW: fiddle, strings
SL: cello
JH: uilleann pipes
JL: bass
SB: guitar, drums
Woodpecker, swifts, chaffinches: vocals
All tracks composed by H Napier PRS/MCPS.
Produced by Andrea Gobbi & H Napier.
Arranged by S Byrnes & H Napier.
Recorded, mixed & mastered by A Gobbi at GloWorm Recordings & Carrier Waves, Glasgow.
Additional recordings by Barry Reid on location in Hamish’s livingroom, Grantown-on-Spey.
Field recordings by H Napier, W Boyd-Wallis and P Smith.
