“Day in a Boat: The other world was here…”

A polished andesite stone, from a Riverton beach… Of this earth but other-worldly…

Runrig is a recently-retired Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. Their name is taken from a historic furrow-and-ridge system of farming that was used for hundreds of years in the Highlands and Islands. The land was divided into towns or townships, comprising an area of cultivable “in-bye” land and a larger area of pasture and rough grazing. The in-bye was divided into long narrow strips – “rigs” – which were periodically reassigned among the tenants of the township so that no individual had continuous use of the best land. The music of Runrig is often described as a blend of folk and rock music, with lyrics often focusing upon the locations, history, politics, and people that are unique to Scotland. They are one of the few rock bands whose songs have often included Gaelic. They disbanded in 2018.

Early Runrig. Source: https://www.allmusic.com/album/all-the-best-mw0002480176

Traditional Scottish run-rig system of farming. Source: http://theindepthgenealogist.com/lowland-clearances

Google Maps view of old run-rig strips, Port of Ness, Isle of Lewis. Source: https://www.google.co.nz/maps/@58.4943964,-6.2236151,257m/data=!3m1!1e3

Remains of old run-rig strips, Isle of Skye. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_rig#/media/File:Runrigs_-_geograph.org.uk_-_308174.jpg

The end of Runrig’s final concert, August 2018. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runrig#/media/File:Runrig,_farewell_at_Stirling,_18-08-2018.jpg

On sun soaked seas
Baiting the hand lines
Neoscan at the oars
Turning the bows into the Morea wake
For the thrill of it all
Across the middle of the bay
A line of faces in the waiting hour

And I could see
The other world was here
Can you hear it now?
We’re just on the brink

Returning homewards
Together on
Alone

O mollaidh sinn
An gaol ‘s an gras
A thug dhuinn bith
Cho umhail fo ghrein
‘S i dealradh sios
Air reultan cein

It was all there waiting
Just as we reached the door
Just as we reached the door

“Day in a Boat” by Runrig

NASA astronaut Laurel Clark, who died in the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003, came across Runrig’s music while stationed at Holy Loch on the Firth of Clyde. While she was in space, a Runrig song called “Running to the Light” from the Album “The Stamping Ground” was played as a wake-up call. She told Mission Control in Houston that it reminded her of her husband Jon and her time in Scotland. Columbia broke up as it returned to Earth, killing Clark and her six fellow astronauts on board. The two Runrig CDs she had brought with her into space, “The Stamping Ground” and “The Cutter and the Clan”, were found afterwards in different parts of the wreckage and later presented to the band by her husband and son.

Author: tumblestoneblog

Retired Academic, male, living in the New Zealand countryside near Whanganui with his wife as well as Jasper the dog, Fluffy the cat, Dancer and Penny, the horses, and a shed half-full of stones. Email john.tumblestone@gmail.com. View all posts by tumblestoneblog