Poems & Lyrics (in the English dialect) (1856)

Songs of the seasons, the forest and the sea, home and exile, mortality and immortality:

an adaptation of the book, “Poems and Lyrics (in the English and Scotch dialects)“ by John Collie, of Boyndie (1834-1893), with music by his descendants in New Zealand, between 2020-2025

Listen

“Songs from the harp and lyre – a fantastic flow back from the ancient days” – Dr Emit Snake-Beings

The album includes collaborations with my nephew Hans Landon-Lane, plus guest appearances by Antony Milton and Dr Emit Snake-Beings.

“I have been lucky enough to hear some of Dave Edwards work on this at a couple of shows – very cool concept project and worth a listen” – James Trotman

Background

My great-great-grandfather published his book in 1856, before emigrating to New Zealand for the rest of his life.

Discovering this family outsider art precedent in 2018 cast fiffdimension in a whole new light! It sparked a seven-year project to record musical arrangements of his poems for a new century’s audience.

“And with a trembling hand I launch my tiny vessel into the troubled ocean of literature , where many a noble craft has been shattered to pieces…”

Like his better-known countryman (and influence) Robert Burns, John Collie wrote in both English and Scots. The other half of the album is Poems & Lyrics in the Scotch Dialect

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Poems & Lyrics (in the Scotch dialect) (1856)

Songs of alcohol, death, the devil, rebellion, kinship, and love gone awry, from 19th century Scotland:

an adaptation of the book, “Poems and Lyrics (in the English and Scotch dialects)“ by John Collie, of Boyndie (1834-1893),

with music by his descendants, between 2018-2025 in New Zealand and France.

Listen

“Songs from the harp and lyre – a fantastic flow back from the ancient days” – Dr Emit Snake-Beings

“I have been lucky enough to hear some of Dave Edwards work on this at a couple of shows – very cool concept project and worth a listen” – James Trotman

Background

“And with a trembling hand I launch my tiny vessel into the troubled ocean of literature , where many a noble craft has been shattered to pieces…”

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Auld Satan when ye first gae through

Live version 24/6/23 – from http://www.fiffdimension.bandcamp.com/albums/poems-lyrics-in-the-scotch-dialect-1856

A ‘darker’ piece from Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856)

An electric arrangement also appears on Live 2022-24

Lyrics

AULD Satan , when ye first gae through Your regions dark and awful , A sma ‘ bit favour I would crave , Gif ye but think it lawful .

Gie my respects to Souter Will , The first time ye forgather ; And tell him that I’m wae to think Him lost for a ’ thegither .

For ministers and others say He straught to you was taken ; ‘ Cause he the creed o ‘ Scotland’s kirk Had mony a day forsaken .

Gif that be true , as it may be , Though faith I’m misbelieving , You ne’er met wi ‘ a slier coof , Since ye took to deceiving.

But use him well , and gif ye can , Oh gie ‘ im a bit promotion ; O ‘ a ‘ your buts and a ‘ your bens He ‘ shortly hae a notion .

But keep him aye beneath your thumb , And work him smooth and sweetly ; Or o’er your head he’ll tak your trade , And dam your luck completely .

credits

from Poems & Lyrics (in the Scotch dialect) (1856), releases August 10, 2023

águas brilhantes: 2018-2022

“We go from bossa nova rhythms to folk to RIO to indie to, what is interesting listening if nothing else, a dog howling along to a banjo (Oscar’s Blues) […] and songs taken from Poems & Lyrics (in the Scotch dialect) (1856), where Dave paid tribute to his ancestor John Collie who wrote a book of poems more than 150 years ago.

“It is unusual to find someone playing so confidently in such diverse areas, and anyone into independent music will certainly find something on here to enjoy – Kev Rowland, muzic.nz

Listen

About

fiffdimension compilation vol 4 (a followup to Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005, Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012, and Other Islands: 2012-2018)

Made in Featherston, Masterton and Port Chalmers (NZ), Paris (France), and Suva (Fiji)
Includes tracks by The Troubled Times, Campbell Kneale & Dave Black , James Robinson & fiffdimension, Oscar (the dog), and poems & lyrics by John Collie (1834-1893)

águas brilhantes (or ‘glistening waters’ in English) is the Portuguese translation of Wairarapa, the Māori name of the region where I’ve lived the last few years.

My ancestors arrived here in the 19th century – one was a Scottish poet, another a stowaway from the Azores islands.

This compilation includes pieces inspired by the region and my ancestors, and new and old collaborators – including a torch-passing to younger members of my family.

Credits¹

by Dave Edwards – guitars, bass, banjo, harmonica, vocal, lyrics

with

Antony Milton – keyboard, electric guitar (The Troubled Times)
David Heath – drums (The Troubled Times)
Campbell Kneale – electric guitar & analogue synthesiser on ‘both chords’
Hans Landon-Lane – ukulele, accordion, vocal (Clever Hansel)
Celeste Rochery – guitar & vocal on ‘My Native Land’
James Robinson – bell drum on ‘June’s Lounge‘, lyrics & vocal on ‘the edge‘ and ‘old brain‘
John Collie (1834-1893) – Poems & Lyrics (in the English and Scotch Dialects, 1856)
Dr Emit Snake-Beings – keyboards & percussion (in Fiji)
Elario Irava – acoustic guitar & vocal (from Fiji)
Nat da Hatt – electric guitar & thumb piano on ‘June’s Lounge‘
The Digitator – keyboards & vocal on ‘Inverno‘
Oscar – vocal on ‘Oscar’s blues‘
Rhys Landon-Lane – classical guitar & vocal on ‘by my faith sirs this canna lang dee‘

released December 22, 2022

Tracklist

	1.	Nat da Hatt + James Robinson + Dave Black – June’s Lounge, part 2 02:08
	2.	The Electricka Zoo – Inverno (live at Escape Velocity, 2018) 03:47
	3.	Campbell Kneale + fiffdimension – Both Chords 02:07
	4.	Celeste Rochery – My Native Land (John Collie, 1856) 01:56
	5.	The Blast of a Wintry Day (John Collie, 1856 – live at Wairarapa TV, 2019) (bonus) 03:44
	6.	Clever Hansel – Sonnet on Summer (John Collie, 1856) 03:19
	7.	snakebeings + fiffdimension – Walu (Fiji) 03:02
	8.	snakebeings + fiffdimension – Io (Fiji) 01:31
	9.	Larry Irava – Isa Lei Lia (Fiji) 04:38
	10.	Ilhas Atlânticas (Manuel José Bernard, das Flores, 1862) 03:12
	11.	Here’s a Health to my Cronies (John Collie, 1856) 02:46
	12.	Auld Satan when ye first gae through (John Collie, 1856) 02:02
	13.	Logistical Torrents (lockdown 2020) 03:07
	14.	Guitar Ringtone 02:07
	15.	The Troubled Times – Blinking in Daylight (return of the sun, 2021) 03:05
	16.	Clever Hansel – The Land of my Youth (John Collie, 1856) 03:57
	17.	The Troubled Times – Wairarapa Bossa Nova 03:18
	18.	James Robinson + fiffdimension – Old Brain (metadada of Oceania remembering) 03:21
	19.	The Troubled Times – The Dying Monarch (John Collie, 1856) 03:05
	20.	Ilhas novos (do sul) 01:20
	21.	Classical Rain Bucket 01:41
	22.	James Robinson + The Troubled Times – The Edge (a Negentropic Diatribe) 03:25
	23.	Tony Was Here (live at the Miracle Room, 2022) 03:25
	24.	Oscar – Oscar’s Blues 01:28
	25.	By my faith sirs, this canna lang dee (John Collie, 1856) 04:04
	26.	さくらさくら / Paetumokai (Pua pua i te Kōanga) 02:10
	27.	O Henry Ending (live at the Miracle Room, 2022) 08:00

Features previously unreleased recordings, and tracks from

Further listening: the albums

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Hans Landon-Lane

Hans Landon-Lane plays accordion, ukulele and vocal on

Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856):

‘Sonnet on Summer‘

“The sweet breath of summer blows fresh o’er each plain

The woods have resumed their lost grandeur again

The grove with the notes of the blackbirds are singing

By fountain and stream the wild flowers are springing […]”

‘The Land of My Youth

“I sing of the land where in youth I have rambled

I sing of her heroes who long long are gone

And I sing of her steep crags where oft I have scrambled

When dull pining cares to me were unknown […]”

‘Here’s a Health to my Cronies’

Here’s a health to my cronies where e’er they reside,

whether this side or that o’ yon big rowing tide

I care na what country or kingdom they claim, be they English or Irish to me it’s the same

Gif their hearts to a glass o’ gude whisky incline, I instantly class them as cronies o’ mine […]”

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ilhas Atlânticas

This track was originally recorded by The Electricka Zoo (2017), and appears on the Other Islands: 2012-2018 compilation. It’s based around a (non-diatonic) Cmaj7 – Amaj7 pattern, with a bossa nova rhythm.

It’s dedicated to my great-great-grandfather Manuel Bernard.

He was born in 1847 in Ponta Delgada, Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.

The words are in (beginner) Portuguese:

Eu gosto de falar

no meus ancestrais

de as ilhas Atlânticas

Madeiras e Açores

Portugal is the westernmost country in Europe, with its back to it geographically and culturally. It was the edge of the known world for Europeans until the Age of Discovery. The Azores islands are even further west.

As a teenager, Manuel Bernard stowed away on a passing American whaling ship.

From a remote island in the Atlantic ocean, he ended up on an equally remote island in the Pacific – on the opposite side of the world, in Wellington, New Zealand.

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Scotland, postponed

Around September 2020 I’d planned to travel to Scotland, on my first visit. There was to be a family gathering for my sister’s wedding in Edinburgh.

The trip’s now postponed indefinitely, for obvious reasons

I’d planned to visit Boyndie, Banffshire, where my great-great-grandfather John Collie grew up.

In 1856, in his early 20s he published a book : Poems and Lyrics (in the English and Scotch Dialects).

I‘ve started setting some of it to music.

Continue reading “Scotland, postponed” →

Solitude

The first piece from the book Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856).

Recorded by John Collie’s great-great-grandson, during pandemic lockdown, March 2020.

‘SOLITUDE’

by John Collie, 1856

OH give me near some swelling stream to stray, 0r tread the windings of some pathless wood, For I am wearied of the bustling day, And long to meet thee, gloomy Solitude: That I with thee may climb those shelfy steeps, Which frown majestic o’er the boiling deeps. Continue reading “Solitude” →

Sonnet on Summer

A duo with my nephew, Hans Landon-Lane, from Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856)

Rosemary Bromley, Dave Edwards, Hans Landon-Lane

Clever Hansel – ukulele vocal
Dave Edwards – guitar, harmonica, vocal

This was the last in-person collaboration before the COVID-19 shutdown, recorded in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, March 2020.

THE sweet breath of summer blows fresh o’er each plain,

The woods have resumed their lost grandeur again;

The groves with the notes of the blackbird are ringing,

By fountain and streamlet the wild ﬂowers are springing.

And the breath of the heather bell sweetens the breeze,

And the old stormy ocean lies slumbering in peace;

And the wild bees are humming around the wild ﬂowers,

Afar above earth the lark proudly soars;

The bleat of the lamb on the moss-cover’d hill,

The sound of the shepherd’s pipe jocund and shrill,

All tell in a language most striking and plain,

T hat summer, fair summer, is reigning again,

The old face of nature her smiles has put on,

And the blustery appearance of winter has ﬂown.

The Land of My Youth (by John Collie, 1856)

Poem by John Collie (1834-1893),

from his book Poems and Lyrics in the English and Scotch Dialects, published in Banffshire, Scotland in 1856

Performed by his great-great-grandson Dave Edwards on banjo at Wairarapa TV in Masterton, New Zealand, 4 May 2019.

John Collie emigrated to New Zealand in 1858. This poem seems to anticipate his leaving Scotland forever, to start a new life in a new country on the opposite side of the world.

Continue reading “The Land of My Youth (by John Collie, 1856)” →