Tales From The Western Isles – The Delerium Trees

 

AMJ005

 

All tracks composed by Drew Jarvie 2020/2021

 

Recorded – Crackerbox Palace, Turriff and ARC Studios, Mintlaw, both in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

 

Drew Jarvie – Narration, Vocal, Piano, all Keyboards, Post Horn, Trumpet, Cornet, Trombone, Guitars, Accordion, Drums, Bass, Percussion and Programming.

 

With

 

Heitor Alves – Mixing and Mastering.

 

Ashley Craig – vocal on The Dance At Baleshare.

 

1) St. Kilda – The Delerium Trees

 

Based on a ‘Tango in D Minor’, composed by Drew Jarvie in 2015.

 

During 2017 Drew visited St. Kilda, a place of staggering beauty, on probably the calmest ever crossing to the island, to discover and look at the island’s prehistory. Whilst at ‘Lover’s Rock’, he proposed to his now-wife, Ashley. On leaving Hirta, the main island with its famous village, they sailed around the various stacks, each with their own individual history. On arriving back to Harris, Drew quickly scribbled some notes and chords onto manuscript paper in attempt to paint a musical picture of the island’s history and people. This eventually became St. Kilda, the title track of ‘Tales From The Western Isles’.

 

 

 

2) St. Clement’s Church (Harris) – The Delerium Trees

 

St. Clement’s Church is in the small village of Rodel on Harris, just south of the ferry port of Leverburgh / An-t-Ob. Built in 1520, the church has Scotland’s finest wall tomb. Several restorations have kept this magnificent building in good order. Being a church organist, Drew composed a medieval-style hymn and four-part fugue for organ to remember his visit. Across from the church is the Iron Age dun – Rodelpark.

 

 

3) The Oa (Islay) – The Delerium Trees

 

Islay would be another place with much prehistory for Drew to discover in 2018. It also has much more to be discovered – the distilleries, nice villages, beaches and sites at the Oa Peninsula and Kilchoman concerning tragic incidents during 1918.

 

 

The American Monument was built in 1920 to commemorate the loss of two ships. A U-boat torpedoed the passenger liner Tuscania on 5 February 1918. Carrying over 2,000 American soldiers and crew. An estimated 230 lives were lost. Eight months later, on the 6 October 1918 the HMS Otranto, carrying Allied soldiers and crew, collided with the steamship HMS Kashmir during a heavy storm near Machir Bay resulting in the loss of over 400 lives.

 

 

Being mainly a brass player, Drew started to compose a piece representing the events of these tragedies with theme that resembles the Last Post. He has tried to paint a musical picture of the sea’s depth and the loneliness of Islay’s west coast, once well populated and now de-populated.

 

 

The military cemetery at Kilchoman, overlooking Machir Bay, is the final resting place for those lost during the tragic events of 1918. Drew visited the cemetery on his return to Islay whilst holidaying on Jura 2021.

 

 

4) Tea At Inverlussa (Jura) – The Delerium Trees

 

During his Islay holiday of 2018, Drew visited Jura, along with Ashley plus Bess, their pet dog. Jura is an island with very few inhabitants and even fewer roads. The main village of Craighouse is home to the bulk of the island’s 200 population; happily, that number is gradually increasing. At end of a minor road near Ardlussa, Inverlussa is a small hamlet located at the mouth of the River Lussa as it enters the Sound of Jura. It has a small harbour that was mainly used to load slate from nearby quarries.

 

After a busy day exploring, the explorers unbelievably found a tea hut with cake – the now-famous ‘Tea On The Beach’. Drew quickly started writing a modern waltz with a traditional feel whilst watching the dog splash about in the river.

 

Further exploration of Jura was required, so the threesome returned in 2021. Obviously, Tea At The Beach was visited and cake was eaten!

 

5) The Dance At Baleshare (North Uist) – The Delerium Trees

 

Baleshare is an island connected to North Uist’s mainland by a spectacular causeway. It contains many prehistoric sites, duns, crannogs and chamber cairns. Whilst visiting the dun at Dun Mor as evening set in, St. Kilda could be seen clearly to the west, inspiring Drew to write this modern Grand March. A dance at the island’s hall is probably a very good night indeed.

 

6) Down The Brae Into Uig (Skye) – The Delerium Trees

 

Uig is a small but very important village because the ferries to Lochmaddy (North Uist) and Tarbert (Harris) leave from and return to here. It is one of the gateways to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.

 

After an eventful day on the way to Uig, the harbour’s pub provided some good refreshment and food. It also provided a cracking sound system belting out some of the Western Isles’ musical talents.

 

 

Drew’s pen was set quickly to manuscript and he composed a Jig incorporating a version of the ‘Skye Boat Song’. The composition also includes some guitar strumming by Drew, This was the first time he had used Stuart Adamson’s guitar, gifted to him by one of Big Country’s roadies.

 

Future Plans

 

Drew intends to release this album on vinyl, perhaps in 2022. He is also rewriting the entire album for orchestra. Hopefully, this version will also be recorded and released as an album.