Kirkcaldy

New Scotland

I stand on your rocky crag

A thousand years of wind and rain whipping my face.

I swear I can hear the voices of the cruel past

In the scream of the wind.

I can taste those years in the rain

But now the castle is in ruins

And the chains of the peasants are broken.

There will be no respite for the lords of the manor.

The voices whisper.

The ship makes a course for the closest harbor.

It is too late.

The master is no longer master.

The crew turns the boat around,

Heads back out to sea

To another port

Where they will take the future on board

And sail it to a new Scotland.

       

     We played in Kirkcaldy, Scotland on Thursday night.  It was a long day of driving, and business before we finally arrived there.  We exchanged rental cars at the Edinburgh airport.  That meant that we arrived a little later than we would have otherwise, but no problem.  The last time we were in Kirkcaldy we were staying with friends near Glasgow, drove over and back in the dark, or with nightfall coming on.  This time we drove into Kirkcaldy in broad daylight and were better able to see what kind of place it is.  When we arrived at our hosts house, we both had our doubts about what kind of accomodations awaited us.  It was an old building with a sign in front designating it as a post office for a place called “Pathhead”. 

     As it turned out it was a beautiful, charming home.  It is three stories.  There are objects on the steps going up to the second floor, and paintings, pictures on the wall all the way up to the third floor.  The lounge is a comfortable place, and there is a deck leading to a lovely garden with a view of the neighbors roofs.

Our hosts, Davey, and Mary are retired social workers.  We instantly connected.  I’m not sure at all how that worked.  I was in an exceptional chatty mode all the time we were there.  They were pretty good talkers too, so it worked out fine.

     There is a referendum up for vote that will make Scotland a separate country, will take it out of the United Kingdom. The truth of the matter is that I really had no idea what this meant.  I have not been generally a fan of states seceding from their mother country, suspicious of the motives, and doubtful about the outcome for both the seceding state, and the mother country.

     On the other hand, Scotland IS another country with it’s own language, customs, and social mores that are separate from the English.  The general story that I heard from our hosts is that Scotland is a much more leftist country than the UK, and they want the right to pursue their own socialist destiny.  There is only one conservative MP out of Scotland, the rest being quite liberal.  I have stayed with conservatives, and with liberals in Scotland over the years of playing there.  I don’t necessarily engage in long political discussions as a guest, not wanting to end up sleeping in my car.

     Later in the night we talked about many things including the aristocracy in the UK, and whether they have any real use at all.  From what I could gather, having a queen, king, etc. is like having a soccer team, and is a distraction from reality for the masses of people.  Having written that I realize that I’m probably going to hear more about it, whether I want to or not.  I mentioned the fact that having a group of people who are born into privilege like royalty underlines the unfairness of the economic system in practice.  Strangely enough, most people don’t see it that way.  I could have talked to Davey and Mary more.  They seemed to me to have answers to many of my questions.

     We were there to play music, which we did.  It was a great audience that clapped loudly, and enthusiastically.  They laughed at our jokes, and we felt like we were truly sharing our music with them.  It all took place at the Polish Club, and they have a custom that if you say Polish Club they will all shout “hey” at you, or it could be something else, but it is loud, and it is fun to say “Polish Club” a few times in a night.  Oh, and the drinks were free for the musicians at the bar and it is probably the most highly paid gig we will play while we are here.  I say, the more you get paid, the better you get treated.

     Friday morning we went for a walk with Mary after they fed us breakfast.  She took us down to the beach where there was a “Dovecote”, and a castle, and walls along the beach that the local aristocracy had built to keep the “riff raff” off of their property.  There were sea birds, and crows.  We got just the right amount of exercise, and a look at the local history.  The “dovecote” is a beehive shaped stone structure that was built to house pigeons which were used as a source of nourishment for the local aristocrats.  As much of a project as it must have been to build such a robust structure, the pigeons must have been tasty.

Dovecot (Scottish "Doocut")

Ravenscraig Castle (beach view)

Building began in 1420 looked like this when finished

     On our way to Kirkcaldy the GPS had taken us through the countryside on an “alternate” route.  It was entertaining, and quite rural as opposed to the customary A1, which we would have driven if using just a map.  On the way back there was construction on the alternate route, and we ended up on the A1 where there was about a 20 minute delay for construction as well.  We are happily back in Blyth where life chugs along at its’ normal pace.