New this month, the Emporium is pleased to be carrying an unusual title, a book that was published in 1992 — I have got hold of some of the last copies left. Linda Gowan’s technical study Am Bròn Binn documents the survival of a medieval ballad into the 20th century living tradition.
There are a number of Gaelic ballads which survived late enough to be recorded by collectors. Few have been published or studied though, which makes this book all the more valuable. Click here to see some videos of recent performances of the ballad ‘Am bròn binn’ by the tradition bearers.
If you are interested to find out more about this kind of music, I would recommend Breandán Ó Madagáin’s book Caointe agus Seanceolta Eile which includes an audio CD of him singing the various kinds of old Irish music.
These traditions were of course common to Ireland and Scotland, but they seem to have mostly died out earlier in Ireland.
Other items new for June are two rare and hard to find items. I have perhaps the last new, shrink-wrapped copies ever of Bill Taylor’s long-out-of-print CD Two Worlds of Welsh harp Music. Very limited numbers.
Also I have Seamus MacNeill’s useful book Piobaireachd, a great overview of the Scottish Highland piping traditions.