BRAND AMBASSADORS

A native of Perthshire, the grand-nephew of a seanchaidh, cultural revivalist Paraig MacNeil has been the bearer of the traditions, ancient lore, and heritage of Scotland since 1988.

From memory, and in all of Scotland’s languages,  Paraig recites ancient tales with verse, and song.  He has a vast oral repertoire, is also an author, and acclaimed composer of original verse.

Honorary bard/seanchaidh for Clan Gregor Society since 2000, Paraig has also served on The Guardians of Scotland Trust, and is registered with: TRACs, S.B.T. and Equity.

From the root of authentic cultural expression, working in education as well as festivals, here and abroad, Paraig has also worked on radio, screen, and in cross-media collaboration.

From his own words: “A people or nation without an in depth knowledge or sense of native culture and roots is likened unto a body without a soul.

From the age of 15 I became enthralled and inspired by the national music of composers such as Edvard Grieg of Norway, whose classical reinterpretation of norsk native folk-song provided a link between the root and the fruit, now handed down to Norwegians from their mother’s knee, and in their own tongues.  Such was due to the stoic work of collectors Asbjørnsen and Moe concurrently with Grieg and the Norwegian independence movement.

I had also lived in Ireland for a period, where I also witnessed the effects of where a deep sense of cultural roots with its articulation and belonging went hand-in-hand due to the stoic work of the folklore revival led by Pearce and MacNeill.  

Finding that both peoples exuded a sense of confidence in who they are, I found to be most inspiring, and indeed hopeful when turning to the question of how my native culture might be properly expressed.

From a domestic background of traditions of storytelling, verse and music, building up to about 1000 pieces in my oral repertoire (memory) of all topics in bardic style, ranging from the hero-tale, original Ossianic verse, tales of wit and wise fools, clan poetry, place names, pipe-laments, incantations etc. etc. where accompanying song is never far away. 

 Having been one of the original pioneers in what was originally intended to be a traditional or ethnic storytelling revival, beginning in the late 80’s, I have endeavoured over the last third of a century, to do my part in bringing the culture back to the people.  This has mostly involved work in arts festivals, on stage or on the air, here and abroad, and in education whereby previously taboo subjects for schools were now to be introduced under banners such as language, history and expressive arts. 

So topics were brought into schools that once would never have been considered such as The Jacobites, The Highland Clearances, The Wars of Scottish Independence etc.  So, I have refused to compromise in the face of trans-national intrusive political correctness.  In short, I would not have my speech, hence my tradition censored or diluted.  Whilst some have been willing proxies for this new zeitgeist, I still hold firmly to the belief that in order to be relevant to the next generation, as a tradition-bearer, I need to honour what those who have gone before me have entrusted me with.  Needless to say that I spend most of my professional life correcting twee-suppositions, often parroted even in traditional arts circles, the media, of course, the big screen.  

Reflecting with ethno-re-expression, wearing ethnic period dress, I have composed new verse, but in keeping with traditional ethos and allusion, such as original Gaidhlig verse that I have produced for Clan Gregor Society as their honorary Bard/Seanchaidh, expressed in traditional metres, and in the native panegyric code.

My original work in the Scots language, with period orthography, is best illustrated in one of my 2000 line medieval epics: De Moray, following the tradition of expressing iconic military exploits in metred verse, rendered in rhyme in both 13th century style Scots (12 lines now on stone) and also in rhyme (not just translation) in modern-day English.   It has margin-references with appendixes, make it a literary innovation in its own right, i.e. the Companion Poem (see a review).  Another innovation is the metrical mirror rhyming system expressed in my 4120 line epic now under the title of Scotland the Brain, extolling 101 Great Scots or Brainhearts who changed the world by way of innovation, resulting in Great Scots becoming a new topic in education, innovation being part of our national heritage.  Other literary innovations are:  The Novel-Riddle and the Rhyming and Metrical Acrostic Riddle (RAMA).

As joint-winner of Burnsong 2007, I have established my work also as a song-writer upon the national stage, in new verse, and in melody, as well as satire/parody, hence keeping the living stream flowing.  I was also a nominee for national Scots Scriever and Stirling Makar.

My aim is to see that neither the feather of the goose (the pen) nor the iPad any longer drives away the memory of man in a day and time when memory is no longer esteemed or even valued.”