Strathspey Stories - Part 7 (of 8): KELPIES

Part 7 of 8 short films

A great danger lurks beneath the deep pools and dangerous undercurrents of the River Spey. Storyteller Dave Francis and composer Hamish Napier's continue their series of short films centred on the music and stories of Strathspey in the Scottish Highlands.

Commissioned by the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2020.
Devised & Performed by David Francis & Hamish Napier
Filmed by Hamish Napier

With:
Marie-Lousie Napier - voice of Highland Lady
Will Boyd-Wallis - fireside guitar
The Cask Strength Ceilidh Band - live ceilidh

Music:
Hamish Napier
https://hamishnapier.bandcamp.com/music
'The River', 'Lament for the Silver Brothers' & 'The Spey Cast'
From the album 'The River' by Hamish Napier
Courtesy of Strathspey Records (c) 2016
'Tree of Knowledge', 'The Tree of the Underworld', 'Hawthorn River',
'The Witches' Tree', 'The Shield Tree' & 'The Trembling Tree'
From the album 'The Woods' by Hamish Napier
Courtesy of Strathspey Records (c) 2020

Local traditional melodies:

Selected from
The Angus Cumming Collection, 1780
The Simon Fraser Collection, 1715-1745
The Skye Collection, 1887
James Scott Skinner's 'Harp & Claymore' Collection 1890-1900s
University of Aberdeen

Images:

Somhairle MacDonald - osprey & kelpie artwork
Bill Sadler & The Grantown Society - newspaper clippings
Alexander Leddingham Photography - Grantown photographs
Walter Dempster - log floater photographs
Thomas Dick Lauder - Warlock drawing
Maps courtesy of the National Library of Scotland & The British Library

Thanks to:

Chris John Halliday - Local story collector
Affleck Gray - Local story collector
Su-a Lee - 2nd camera
Maighread Stiùbhart - Scottish Gaelic text

Filming locations kindly granted by:

Douglas & Audrey Miller, Tullochgorum
Malcolm Smith, Auchernack
RSPB and The Naylors, Rynettin
Pete & Marie-Louise Napier, Grantown-on-Spey
The Denny Boyd-Wallis family, Tulloch