At Northumberland Hall, Alnmouth BYB, BYOS, Great Band.
News
The New Year, and beyond!
The Wilson’s Tales project has announced its first event for 2014 as part of its ongoing plans to support the retelling of The tales in contempory ways to modern audiences.
The first event is to be held at Berwick’s Historic Guildhall on the 30th March. There will be two principal presentations.
Firstly , local artist Morag Eaton’s interpretation through screen prints of “The Red Hall; Berwick 1296”, which tells one of the earliest Tales in the collection. It covers the siege and sacking of Berwick by King Edward 1. At the time it was held by Alexander 111 of Scotland who gave trading rights to the Flemish in return for defence of the town. The tale tells us that Berwick was a far more prosperous than London, which had none of Berwick’s natural advantages. The tale involves an interrupted wedding and the fierce battle to defend the town. The first of Morag’s prints showing the arrival of the English Fleet coming round Lindisfarne has already been completed and she will give a talk on her work , the tale and her interpretation . The 30th March has been deliberately chosen as it coincides with the anniversary of the fall of Berwick 718 years ago.
There will then be the chance to view the works on display in the Town Hall, before returning to see the second presentation.
This will be of the tale “The Royal Raid”, which deals with King James V attempts to bring the Border Reivers under control and order to the lawless “Debatable Lands”. This will be presented as an adaption as a short play by retired local Doctor Michael Fenty. Michael approached the project saying he had written three plays based on the tales some years ago but never produced them. The Wilsons tales project have been delighted to collaborate to provide an opportunity to premier this work. The Tale is based on an interpretation of the story behind the earlier Border Ballad “The Border Widow” , which will be sung at the end of the event.
The first tales published after Wilson’s death in 1835 were also written by a local Doctor from Coldingham, a Dr Carr so it somehow fitting this new presentation should also come from a doctor living in Coldingham.
The event is being jointly presented with the Berwick 900 project. Joe Lang is presently working or an update to Wilsons Tale “The Siege”, which deals with Edward 111′ s subsequent return and siege of the town, which will be presented in 2016 as part of the Berwick 900 project. Joe will give an update on his project and the 900 project generally.
Robert Wilkinson “interested in telling the Tale of Wilson himself”
We caught up with Robert Wilkinson, local playwright, after his succesful run at the Maltings with The Words in the Wires. Rob will be presenting his latest piece, an interpretation of The Lawyer’s Tale: Lord Kames’s Puzzle from Wilson’s Tales at Paxton House on Saturday. Tickets are available from the Maltings
The Wilson’s Tales Project (WT): Are you excited to perform at the Paxton Literary Festival?
Robert Wilkinson (RW)”Yes. And that’s not because my brain is hardwired to equivocate the word “festival” with “beer”.”
WT: Have you performed at Paxton House before?
RW: “Never. I don’t really perform all that much anymore. My memory is so lousy these days – can’t keep the lines in my head. I pretty much have to have them tattooed to the inside of my eyelids.”
WT: Anna Emmins, a.k.a Electric Penelope, said she was excited to see “Lord Kames’s Puzzle” because she says you are “a fabulous writer”. Are you excited to hear her song, “The Ballad of the World’s Vanity”?
RW: “I am deeply flattered that Anna would say such a thing and I’m a massive fan of Anna’s music. I heard a small sample of the song at her home and it sounded wonderful.”
WT: How are you getting on with “Lord Kames’s Puzzle”?
RW: “It took me a while to find out how to tell the story in a dramatically interesting way that would appeal to a modern audience. I had to rest it on the back-burner for a short while during the run up to The Words in the Wire but things are slotting together fine now.”
WT: How is “Lord Kames’s Puzzle” different from your other work?
RW: “I tend to write fairly romantically- swashbuckling aspirational idealistic characters who reach high and fall short… this story isn’t that at all- it’s very Hitchcock/Twilight Zone plot driven thriller. It’s a nice change of pace and a bit of a challenge.”
WT: Why did you decide to take on this challenge?
RW: “Simply, to see if I could. There’s always a danger that you can pigeonhole yourself as a writer. This was a way of finding a new string for my bow so-to-speak. I also rarely write with a set deadline. I’ve been spoiled in that all my other works have been held back until I think they’re ready… this time I didn’t have that luxury.”
WT: Would you be interested in doing more work for The Wilson’s Tales Project in the future?
RW: “I would be interested in telling the tale of Wilson himself. He has the feel of a modern historical bard. His tales would be told to the family brought together by the fireside on a Sunday evening. That’s a special thing and a heroic thing to do. To create something that brings people together is a very precious magic.”
WT: Have you read any of the Tales yourself (apart from “Lord Kames’s Puzzle” of course)?
RW: “Sadly not, I have been so busy working on several other projects that I rarely get the chance to read anymore. Reading was always a big passion for me. Thank God for bad ’80’s television or I may never have read a thing.”
Paxton literary Festival tickets now Live!
Tickets for our events at Paxton House on the 7th of September are now Live on the Maltings Website! You can buy tickets for the 3pm performance, Border Ballads and Stories and the Hume Tales, here and for the 7:30pm performcance, Wilson’s Tales of The Borders – A Renaissance of local Heritage here
Border Ballads and Stories and the Hume Tales wil be opened by Jim Herbert, a renowned local historian, talking about The Tradition of Border tales: Burns, Walter Scott and Wilson’s legacy. Storyteller John Nichol will then perform Hume, The Governor of Berwick and Sir Patrick Hume: A Tale of the House of Marchmount. The show will finish with an exclusive first ever performance of The Ballad of the World’s Vanity , adapted to music by Anna Emmins, Electric Penelope’s alter-ego. This will be followed by a question and answer opportunity
Wilson’s Tales of The Borders – A Renaissance of local Heritage will be opened by Project Director Andrew Ayre, with a focus on Wilson’s Tales: The local Legacy; The Man, The Tales and Their Context. He will be followed by another story in the shape of Mary Kenny telling The Vacant Chair. Acclaimed local playwright Robert Wilkinson and his actors will then bring The Lawyer’s Tale: Lord Kaimes’ Puzzle to life through Robert’s polished radio play style. Emmins will again finish preceedings with The Ballad of the World’s Vanity followed by a question and answer opportunity.
Both events will be in the Music room at Paxton House, which Anna Emmins says has “fabulous acoustics”. Read our interview with her here. The running order for each event is on our events page
Project secures Wilson Memorial plaque from Tweedmouth Scotch Church
The Wilson’s Tales Project have secured an important piece of Wilson memorabilia. A three foot Brass Memorial Plaque has come to light and been purchased by the Project.
A local man came forward at the Bygone Borderlands event to say that he knew of the whereabouts of a plaque which had been made IN 1904 to mark Wilson’s centenary. The Wilson’s Tales Project has since been able to negotiate the purchase of it.
Andrew Ayre, project director, said of the plaque “This is really quite an exciting find for the Project, and it shows that there was still considerate interest and recognition of Wilson and his project at the time.”
The Plaque used to be at the old Scotch Church in Tweedmouth, which was in the west end, round the corner from our partners at Berwick Watchtower gallery (See it on this map, marked as Presbyterian Church).”
We think the Church was knocked down in the 1970s, but if anyone has any information regarding Tweedmouth Scotch Church we would be interested to know. You can contact us on aa@www.wilsonstales.co.uk, leave a comment at the bottom of the page, message us on Facebook or tweet us @WilsonsTales
The Plaque reads:
IN GRATEFUL APPRECIATION,
AND
TO CELEBRATE THE CENTENARY
OF
JOHN MACKAY WILSON
BORN AUGUST 18TH 1804. DIED OCT: 2ND 1835
AUTHOR AND EDITOR
OF THE
“TALES OF THE BORDERS”
AND THROUGHOUT LIFE ASSOCIATED
WITH
TWEEDMOUTH SCOTCH CHURCH.
HIS ADMIRERS, AT HOME AND ABROAD,
HAVE RAISED THIS
MEMORIAL
DEC: 1904
That he had admirers “at home and abroad” willing to raise a memorial 69 years after his death shows that Wilson’s Tales really did have a worldwide following, hence The Wilson’s Tales Project has potential to bring in tourism to the Borders from outside of the areas covered in the Tales.
The Wilson’s Tales Project hopes to put the plaque on display at Berwick Library for Heritage Open Days between the 12th and the 15th of September.
The Wilson’s Tales Project film award at Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival Deadline extended
Aspiring Film makers now have until Tuesday, 30th July to express interest and enter, by clicking here or contact – Charlie Gregory, Festival Coordinator on charlie@berwickfilm-artsfest.com or 01289 303355. Filmakers then have until Friday 30th August 2013 to deliver finished film/s to the Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival on DVD.
The Wilson’s Tales Award is a cash prize, in partnership with Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival.
We are offering an award to aspirational filmmakers to re-interpret one of the Tales.
The Award Scheme is seeking to encourage local, aspirational filmmakers or non-professional filmmaking groups to consider re-telling one of the Wilson’s early tales in a modern filmed media format.
This year’s selection is “The Faithful Wife”, a story connected with the Battle of Flodden, which is also being commemorated this year.
There will be a cash prize of £300, and a runner up prize of £200, donated by the Wilson’s Tales Project.
Filmmakers are invited to make a short film re-interpreting the tale of not less than 1 minute and not more than 15 minutes duration.
You can read The Faithful Wife here
For further information, and to enter, click here or contact – Charlie Gregory, Festival Coordinator on charlie@berwickfilm-artsfest.com or 01289 303355.
Anna Emmins looking forward to paxton Literary Festival
Anna Emmins, A.K.A Electric Penelope, is “really looking forward to” playing at the Paxton Literary Festival on the 7th of September. She will be giving two performances of “The Ballad of the World’s Vanity”, from Wilson’s Tales of the Borders, which she has been setting to music especially for the event. There will be a 3pm matinee and 7:30pm evening performances in the Music Room at Paxton House. Emmins hasn’t performed there before, but has seen other musicians there, so is excited for the “fabulous acoustics” which the room has to offer.
Emmins is also excited to see “Lord Kames’s Puzzle”, a radio play by Rob Wilkinson, who she describes as “a fabulous writer”, also adapted from one of Wilson’s Tales. “Lord Kames’s Puzzle” will be showing before “The Ballad of the World’s Vanity” at the Paxton Literary Festival.
As well as Emmins the evening performance will also include “The Vacant Chair” by local storyteller Mary Kenny and a talk on Wilson’s Tales by Andrew Ayre. The Matinee will include a speech by local historian Jim Herbert, two tales from storyteller John Nichol finishing with Emmins’ ballad.
“The Ballad of the World’s Vanity” has been a different creative process from Anna’s usual work. It started well, “The first three verses were no problem” but as the ballad is in 14 verses, Emmins has found it “a challenge”. Because of the length of the Ballad Emmins can’t just write “a basic song”, as that would get repetitive, so the difficulty has come in adding variation throughout, which has been “tricky”. But Emmins says is “is the sort of challenge that I like”
“This is what I like to do, I like to do things that benefit the community, and this fits in well because I am already a songwriter … music is what I’m good at”.
Emmins is producing “The Ballad of the World’s Vanity” in association with the Wilson’s Tales Project, whose aim is to bring new life to a series of tales from the borders which were published in the 1800s. The Paxton Literary Festival is the Project’s first event, and Emmins is excited to see how it goes down.
“It’s the first time something like this has been done in this part of the World. It’s all authentic to this area and local people are taking the local Tales and putting their own individuality on them”
“My song is a small part of the festival so it will be good to see what the other performers have done with the tales – I will be able to experience it without knowing what to expect just like the rest of the audience”
If you wish to be in the audience for this ground-breaking event, tickets are available from the Maltings Theatre and Cinema in Berwick-upon-Tweed.
The Social Man
The Wilson’s Tales Project and Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival announce £500 worth of film awards
The Wilson’s Tales Project is pleased to announce a cash prize, in partnership with Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival.
We are offering an award to aspirational filmmakers to re-interpret one of the Tales.
The Award Scheme is seeking to encourage local, aspirational filmmakers or non-professional filmmaking groups to consider re-telling one of the Wilson’s early tales in a modern filmed media format.
This year’s selection is “The Faithful Wife”, a story connected with the Battle of Flodden, which is also being commemorated this year.
There will be a cash prize of £300, and a runner up prize of £200, donated by the Wilson’s Tales Project.
Filmmakers are invited to make a short film re-interpreting the tale of not less than 1 minute and not more than 15 minutes duration.
You can read The Faithful Wife here
Entries should be notified in advance by 30th July 2013 at the latest. The finished film/s should be delivered to the Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival on DVD by 30th August 2013.
The films will be judged by a Jury and winning entry will be shown as part of Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, Wednesday 25th – Sunday 29th September 2013.
For further information, and to enter, click here or contact – Charlie Gregory, Festival Coordinator on charlie@berwickfilm-artsfest.com or 01289 303355.
New website launched
Our new website is now live!
Look out for more news and events coming soon.