The Fairy Pools, Skye
World Rivers Day
Sep 27
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"The hurlygush an hallyock o the watter
a-skinlan i the moveless simmer sun
harles aff the scourie mountain wi a yatter
that thru ten-thousand centuries has run."
~ The Hurleygush, Maurice Lindsay (1948)
The Amazon, The Congo, The Ganges, The Rhine, The Yangtze, The Mississippi, The Volga, The Danube, The Thames are some of the most well known rivers in the world. But it is the smaller rivers which also inspire with their beauty and sounds ...
Hurlygush
"Hurlygush" is a Scots-Irish the noisy rush and bursting out of water, as from a pond or river.
World Rivers Day is a celebration of the world's waterways. It highlights the many values of rivers and strives to increase public awareness and encourages the improved stewardship of rivers around the world.
Scotland has more than 125,000 km of rivers and streams varying from small highland burns to deep, wide lowland rivers such as the Tay.
Hurlygush by Maurice Lindsay (1948)
The hurlygush an hallyock o the watter
a-skinlan i the moveless simmer sun
harles aff the scourie mountain wi a yatter
that thru ten-thousand centuries has run.
Wi cheek against the ash o withered bracken
I ligg at peace and hear nae soun at aa
but yonder hurlygush that canna slacken
thru time and space mak never-endin faa,
as if a volley o the soun had brocht me
doun tae the pool whaur timeless things begin,
and e’en this endless faa’an that had claucht me
wi ilka ither force was gether’t in.
For research on Scottish river and wetland birds including the Dipper, Grey Wagtail and Common Sandpiper and Goosander), which depend on the clean waters of their native habitats, click the bridge over the river.
For a video of the dance performed by the Dunedin Dancers, see below.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
