I was so very sad to learn that Scottish folksinger Jean Redpath has died, August 21, 2014 -- here in Arizona at a hospice. She was easily the most powerful voice of my childhood -- and her album "Skippin' Barfit Through the Heather" with its achingly beautiful traditional Scottish songs, and her gorgeous voice, slow and unhurried, mostly accapella completely captivated me. I think I wore down the grooves on the record, playing and replaying songs that I still sing today when I am tasked at work, driving, or just on my own. Here are two of my favorite songs from the first album:
"Rue" -- the cautionary song of man's feckless love.
"Skippin' Barfit Through the Heather" -- the title song of her first album and so embedded in my ear that I sing it often to myself, half under my breath but always imagining that brief, poignant encounter on the hills between the nobleman and the country girl.
It is so worth getting her other albums again -- for her renditions of the child ballads and traditional Scottish songs are the best -- just that amazing voice. This album (Skippin' Barfit Through the Heather" doesn't seem to be available any more, but Amazon does carry "The Song of the Seals" which simply gorgeous, along with "Frae My Aine Countrie" --also fabulous.
Midori Snyder is the author of nine books for children and adults, published in English, French, Dutch, and Italian. She won the Mythopoeic Award for The Innamorati, a novel inspired by early Roman myth and the Italian "Commedia dell'Arte" tradition....
