the word: arts / winter 21014/15

If you go

down to

the woods

tonight..

Song and dance

at the heart of

the community

page 6

The millionaire

who lost the lot

and turned to art

page 8

Science writer

Duncan Lunan

on alien signalspage 10

the on the streetsAyrshire’s arts music & culture magazine Issue 1 Winter/Spring 2014/15

How the horrbile historyof Dean Castle put the

fighteners on visitorspage 13

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TAKE

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Editor: Gerry CassidyM: 0798 543 9752E: gerry@ thewordayrshire.com

Design and Production:Raspberry Horse Limited97 Crofthead Road, Ayr KA7 3NE01292 268671

Advertising:01292 268671

Contributors:Scott WanstallCraig McAllister

Thanks:Ian WallaceSanchez Isle

Special mention to myhero and big brother,Mike Cassidy ;-)

the word is a

production

Face and FlowersMaree Hughes and Nina Meahan23 January – 23 FebruaryLaunch: Thursday 22 January, 7pm – 9pm

In this mother and daughter exhibition of small scale oil paintings, drawings and prints, viewers will be invited to see very different approaches to a similar subject matter.

SignpostsJim Hardie10 April 2015 – 1 June 2015Various Venues within North AyrshireLaunch: Thursday 9 April 2015

Painter, poet, pilot and ex-Glasgow School of Art tutor Jim Hardie will exhibit his vast body of work in this North Ayrshire-wide exhibition. Pop into local libraries, the Heritage Centre in Saltcoats and other venues and follow Jim’s ‘Signposts’ to his larger exhibition at the Harbour Arts Centre. Female Trouble

Rosie Dahlstrom6 March – 30 MarchLaunch: Thursday 5 March, 7pm – 9pm

As part of International Women’s Week, Glasgow School of Art Graduate Rosie Dahlstrom will exhibit some of her oil paintings, collages and prints thematically concerned with female behaviour, beauty and ugliness.

Harbour Arts Centre, IrvineExhibition Programme January – March 2015

www.north-ayrshire.gov.ukFor further information please call the Harbour Arts Centre 01294 274059

2 thewordonthestreets.co.uk

raspberryhorse

the music book

6-7

10-12

14-15

16-17

18-19

Scott Nicol on life inthe music business

Sound and vision: anew art collaboration

Not letting the sun godown: Nik Kershaw

Chris Dooks: Meet amulti-artist at home

Soldier On: Gigs,mods and videos

P8-9: Roman Nose, the interview

the arts parts

6-7

8-9

10-12

14-17

18-19

Sample the power of the written word

Sound and vision: anew art collaboration

Space: Have theybeen in contact?

From millionaireengneer to artist

Centrestage: a community at play

P13: Spooks out at Dean Castle

thewordonthestreets.co.uk 3

When Dianamet Robert

CULTURES collide in a spectacularnew pro-duction from AyrshireOpera Experience.

Actéon meets Tam O’Shantertakes a tale from Greek mythologyand fuses it with Robert Burns’ TamO’ Shanter in a dark depiction ofvoyeurism and tragedy – told in theScots language.

Tenor David Douglas and hisAyrshire Operatic Experience will beperforming the piece at the RobertBurns Humanitarian Awards night atthe Burns Birthplace museum in Ayron January 22 and later in theSpring they are planning to performit at the Gaiety Theatre and TheAlbany in Greenock, with a possibledate in Arran also being pencilled in.

David said: “It is a reworking of thechamber opera Actéon by one of themost important French composersof his generation, Marc-AntoineCharpentier.

This ground-breaking piecemerges Scots Language with French

Baroque Opera and Greekmythology, retelling the story of ayoung hunter, who like Tam O'Shanter stumbles across an illicitvision. Unfortunately Actéon wasnot as lucky to escape the darkforces who, under many guises,punish voyeuristic men.

Ayrshire Operatic Experience hasaround three dozen members, madeup of amateur and communitysingers as well as a number ofprofessional singers.

David adds: “Opera is seen as ahigh art form while the Scotslanguage is often looked downupon. This production raises Scotslanguage up to a level where it is asgood as any other language.

More information on AyrshireOperatic Experience is available viatheir website page.

Meanwhile, David’s own websiteat daviddouglasmusic has details ona number of events and projectswhich may also be of interest.

Whit aboot this? A big yins’ panto

ROCK without mercy is promised in a hell-raiser of a show featuring some of themost iconic songs of the past four decadesat the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr.

The high energy RoxVox describes itself asthe ultimate rock compilation show, per-formed by some the finest male and femalevocalists around.

They pay homage to icons of rock includ-ing Queen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Survivor,

Guns & Roses and The Eagles, among others.Songs by solo greats such as Rod Stewart,Phil Collins, Meatloaf, Bryan Adams, SuziQuattro and Meatloaf are included in thistwo-hour rockstravaganza.

Catch it at the Gaiety on January 17.Tickets on sale now via ayrgaiety.co.uk

They will, theywill rock you!

Painter, poet, pilot and ex-GlasgowSchool of Art tutor Jim Hardie is touringSignposts, an exhibition of his work,around North Ayrshire in spring. Theshow launches in the Harbour ArtsCentre, Irvine, on April 9 and from thereit will travel round local libraries, theHeritage Centre in Saltcoats and othervernues throughout the area.

Jim Hardie art tour

WHEN the panto season is over and allthe booing and hissing has ceased... youcan do it all again at a panto with adifference in the Harbour Arts Centre,Irvine.

But this time you can leave the kids athome. Scotch Broth present DickWhittington (A Panto For Grown-ups) isaimed at an over18s audience. With

side-splitting comedy, sensational songsand plenty of audience participation, ittells the tale of Dick, who is on a quest toappear on Big Brother before he’s 20.

He boldly heads for Irvine town, whereSheena the cook gives him a job in thebest bakery in the toon... and so theadventure begins.

But a panto wouldn’t be a panto

without a good villain to boo. Enter soorfaced King Rat.

Will Sheena’s eldest lassie stop eatingaw the steak bakes? Will King Rat get akick up the jacksey? Will the Good Fairystay sober and mind her words?

It’s sure to be a laugh a minuteevening for these dark winter months.Tickets for the February 7 show are £8.

Maclaurin puts thewhole lot on showFOR the first time ever, the entire Mackaurinart collection has been put on public display.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of thegallery, every painting, sculpture, drawing, orprint purchased since its inception in1976 will be on view.

The exhibition covers theentire Maclaurin Gallery andthe adjoining RozelleHouse. The collectionbegan with a generousbequest from Mrs MaryEllen Maclaurin, who leftthe money to establish agallery and an artcollection in memory of herhusband and is consideredto be one of the finestcollections of 20th and 21stCentury art in Scotland. Theexhibition runs until February.

START HEREGO ANYWHERE

APPLY NOW FOR COURSESSTARTING IN JANUARY

Ayrshire College is a registered Scottish charity. Reg No SC021177

www.ayrshire.ac.uk

r r...like B endan Behan, BBC Media App entice

The 2014 Open Studios eventwas launched in March at theUniversity of the West of Scotlandwith guest speakers Councillor BillGrant and actress Libby Macarthur.

The evening included freeworkshops to the public, whichwere well received and it is hopedto build on these next year.

The Maclaurin Gallery also

showcased four artists’ work andDumfries House kindly offered thePrince’s art studios to members toexhibit for a week.

UWS students also participatedin the event with a wonderfulexhibition at the university.

For further details on the 2015event and how to join, visitayrshirestudios.com


ARTISTS and art lovers sharedthe success of the 2014 OpenStudios Ayrshire event whenmore than 550 pieces of art were sold.

Now entering its third year, the2015 event is expected to be thebiggest yet as new members signup. More than 50 Ayrshire artistsopened their studios last year towelcome more than 5700 visitorswho came out to support artistsand to enjoy the Ayrshire art trail.

Chairperson and artist IreneWalker is looking forward to more

artists and makers joining themembership.

She said: “It is goingto be a fabulous

year ahead withopportunities toraise profiles formany artists. It isa friendly andsupportive event.We are working

hard to securevenues for artists

who do not have theirown studio space. We

are also planning some newexciting initiatives in 2015.”

WHAT�SGOING ON?

We want to hear whatyou’re involved with. If you

are planning a show or exhibition, Email us at

[email protected]

Artists draw

Twa’ Dugs by John Byrne

THE Green Door, a new musical by StephenLangston and Jane Robertson is amongthe joint first productions by the Universityof the West of Scotland and the GaietyTheatre. Book your seat on a one off jour-ney you will never forget. Preview on Janu-ary 28 with the premier on Friday 30th.See ayrgaiety.co.uk for details.

Green Door opens


up 2015plans

VISUAL artist Calum Colvin and poet RabWilson have collaborated on a major exhibitionof poetry print and ceramics.

Burnsiana in the main gallery of the DickInstitute in Kilmarnock features a collection ofwork created over a period of 13 years.

The work is a union of the mundane andsurreal, as Colvin assembles everyday objects tocreate a 3D canvas onto which he paints directly.

The result is rendered photographically anddisplayed alongside Wilson’s poetry.

Wilson’s poetic work is created in response toColvin’s art and in keeping with tradition, iswritten in the Scots language. Wilson wasformerly the Robert Burns Writing Fellow – inReading Scots and has performed his poetry atvarious festivals across the country includingEdinburgh Fringe festival.

The exhibition is free and runs from December20 until April 18.n Complementing the Burnsiana exhibition, theJames McKie Collection celebrates the life andwork of the creator of the ‘KilmarnockBurnsiana’, James McKie.

A printer, a collector of Burns, McKie (1816 –1891) was one of Kilmarnock’s most prominentcultural figures of the Victorian era.

He became most famous as a printer andcollector of Burns. His collection of Burnsmanuscripts, books, paintings, and generalBurnsiana, grew to such stature that the Townpurchased them to be displayed in the newBurns Monument museum.

Burns still inspiresartists of today

n FRIENDS of IrvineHarbour Arts Centre presentA Pie, A Poem and a Pint, ashort relaxed evening ofBurns songs and poems forBurns Night, 7-8pm January25. Tickets are £5 each.

n LEARN the skills of wirewrapping with qualifiedteacher and designer/maker Sheila Kerr at theHarbour Arts Centre, Irvineon Sunday February 15 at1-3pm. Suitable forbeginners. Tickets are £10

The two music teachers set upCentrestage as a social enterprise whichwould bring benefits to members andalso to the wider community who wereinvited to take part in the classes andattend the shows and activities being

staged. Thecentre

has a dance and rehearsal room, anauditorium and a large communal areawith a cafe where people attendingclasses can meet and chat or simplydrop in for a coffee and a snack.

Among the classes are musicaltheatre, a gospel and soul choir, a choralgroup, an acting skills group and a smallcompany called Boys2Men formed frommales aged 14 and upwards, who haveperformed on numerous occasions atCentrestage and are in demand forvarious community events.

Dance, technical theater and fitnessclasses are also available alongside anumber of community projects whichreach out to various parts of thecommunity.

Sales and Marketing manager RyanFerguson is a former pupil of Grange

Academy and is one of a couple ofdozen people on the staff. Assistingthem are several hundred volunteerswho have become part of the fabric of

what is a very community-orientatedoperation.

“The Choral Group meets everywednesday and a lot of them comealong a bit early and have lunch beforetheir class, then come back to the cafeafterwards to relax and chat,” said Ryan.

“Some sit in the cafe and do theirhomework. We have so many peoplewho love to be involved.”

Throughout 2014, hardly a week hasgone by without at least one productiontaking to the stage with a huge diversityof events on offer. Among the dance,musicals, plays and showcases, localaudiences have been treated toperformances of Romeo and Juliet theMusical, Steel Magnolias, Brian Kennedywith the Gospel and Soul Choir, theProclaimers musical Sunshine on Leith,and the Little Mermaid.

A busy winter schedule is also plannedin the lead up to Christmas and into theNew Year.

MANY towns across the country haveamateur operatic groups and dramaclubs. Few have an entireentertainments industry on the scale ofKilmarnock’s phenomenal Centrestagemusical theatre group involvingthousands of people of all ages fromacross Ayrshire and beyond.

Since their first full musical in 2007,Centrestage have evolved into a multi-interest organisation welcoming around900 visitors on a weekly basis with adiverse range of classes, activities andshows involving members of the localcommunity from the age of six monthsand upwards and including children,young adults, care home residents andpeople with additional support needs.

There’s also an outreach group whichvisits Bowhouse Prison near Kilmarnockoffering workshops on music, song,creative writing and poetry.

A busy schedule of activities in thepurpose-built building at James LittleStreet offers classes on music theatre,voice training, acting, dance and theatreproduction, with events for pre-schoolchildren and people with additionalsupport needs.

This imaginative and successfulproject is the brainchild of two formerschoolteachers, Fiona McKenzie and PaulMathieson, whose success with musicalproductions at Grange Academy in thetown led to them devising a plan tomaintain contact with the talentedyoung actors and singers passingthrough the school.

Centrestage:Song, dance and theatre fromthe heart of the community


CENTRESTAGE is morethan just an amateurmusical theatre group forlocal enthusiasts.

Part of the philosophybehind the organisationis to provide arts-basedactivities that will enablethe most vulnerablemembers of communitiesacross Ayrshire to takepart.

On the day we arrived,the hall was packed withelderly visitors, manyfrom care homes,enjoying the MusicalGenerations project.

They gather everyMonday afternoon toenjoy a sing-along,dancing, conversationand refreshments – allfree – in the company offriends, carers and familymembers.

Another project,Connect and reconnect, is

aimed at children whohave difficulty engagingwith the mainstreamschool system. Otherprojects involve peoplewith additional supportneeds, and one is aimedat women with mentalhealth issues with lowself-confidence.

The valuable workcarried out there hasbeen recognised with theaward of Recognition ofOutstanding Contributionto Centrestage directorFiona McKenzie by theAssociation of ScottishBusinesswomen.

The Maclaurin Festival 9th November - February 2015

Celebrating 35 years building one of the finest collections of 20th & 21st Century Art in ScotlandFor the first time ever the entire Maclaurin Collection will be on display.

Every painting, sculpture, drawing and print purchased since its inception in 1976.

A unique opportunity to see this eclectic collection.

OPENING TIMES:MON to SAT: 10am - 5pm SUN: 12noon - 5pm

Mystical Landscape with Snake Mask by Alan Davie

Twa Dugs by John Byrne Market Place St. Ives by Patrick Heron

Protrait of a Girlby Jankel Adler

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Visit centrestagemusictheatre.org.uk and find them on Facebook.

More thanmaking abit of a songand dance


THOUSANDS of visitors passed through the five galleries ofthe 2014 Art Exhibition at Rozelle Galleries in Ayr, raisingmany thousands of pounds for Save the Children.

For one of the artists represented in the record 370 paintingson display, this sale of one of his own submissions markedanother stage in a remarkable lifestory which so far has seenhim leave school with no qualifications, become a first classengineer, set up phenomenally successful businesses earninghim a jetset lifestyle... only to lose everything in the creditcrunch.

Gone was the yacht in the Algarve, the magnificent Allowayhome. Brent Morrison and his wife, Lorraine, who was hisbusiness partner in a property company, were destitute andforced to start again from scratch, signing on for Jobseeker’sAllowance.

But Brent’s rise to the heights of business success is all themore remarkable when you hear that he was unable to readand write until the last few years and, despite achieving an HNCthen HND in art and design – and graduating as Student of theYear 2014 from Ayrshire College with straight-A passes, he isstill attending adult education classes.

Overcoming his dyslexia is Brent’s next target as he settlesinto the third year of a BA Honours degree in Art at GlasgowKelvin College, an associate campus of Dundee University.

Education was a closed book to Brent throughout his schooldays. Due to unhappy family circumstances, he attended 16primary schools by the time he was 12.

“I hated school,” he admits. “At high school I was put into a

remedial class and I used to turn up for registration class andthen disappear.

“I left school with no qualifications, but the ironic thing is, Ialways knew I was clever. I’d be sitting next to someone in classand be amazed at how they could write, but I knew that I wasprobably cleverer than they were, if that doesn’t sound to big-headed.”

Leaving school, he joined a government work programme andlearned metalwork and technical drawing, where his skillsfinally began to shine through. He joined Norse Fabrication asan apprentice and despite being unable to handle formalstudies on his day release course due to his dyslexia, he waskept on by his employers who recognised his gifts.

By the age of 21 he was a foreman and at 24 he was in chargeof a team of 60 workers.

His first venture into business followed with Apex Engineering,which was recognised as one of the country’s top up-and-coming businesses, with contracts as far afield as the FalklandIslands.

After five years, he and Lorraine set up a property business,buying and letting, and they prospered for several years, buyinga yacht, travelling the world and enjoying a cruise on the QEII toNew York.

Then came the collapse of Northern Rock, where they carriedout their banking, and the ensuing credit crunch.

“I knew that was the end for our business,” he recalls. “I saidto Lorraine that this was going to take us out completely.

“We sold the yacht and put the money back into the business,

The millionaireengineer wholost everythingin the crash, joined the dole,went to collegethen began to sell his artwork


but I knew it was the end.” Before long the business was gone,along with their home. “We both signed on, but I knew thiswasn’t for me. After a few weeks Lorraine decided she wasgoing to go back to college.

“I had been going along to an art class for the previous twoyears, just for something to do, so I thought I would take myportfolio along to Ayrshire College to see whether they would letme on to one of their courses.

“During the interview I asked the lecturer how soon I wouldknow if I had been successful and she said to me: ‘Oh, you’re in.We’re giving you and unconditional.’

“I couldn’t believe it. I was shaking, but then I knew I had totell her I was dyslexic and she said: ‘Oh, don’t worry about that,so am I. We can get you help for that.’”

And so began a new chapter in Brent’s life. He was assigned a“scribe” who would sit beside him and take notes for him.

Now, as a university student, Brent is achieving what he neverbelieved would be possible.

“I had always wanted to go to university, but because of mydyslexia, I thought that was something that would never beavailable to me.

“If I had not been given the opportunity by Ayrshire College Iwould never have been able to do this.”

That honours degree is still two years away, but Brent iscontemplating a future as a college lecturer.

“I get on well with the lecturers and the students, so I have afoot in both camps,” he says. “The lecturers at Ayrshire Collegeasked me to give them a lecture on dyslexia and I managed todo that and I enjoyed it.”

There are many dyslexic people around, but hardly anybodyreally understands what it is like, says Brent.

“Dyslexia and intelligence are two completely differentthings,” he says. “But some people go through life being toldthey are stupid because they cannot read or write, but I believein very many cases the dyslexic people are more intelligent thanthe people calling them stupid.

“Dyslexia is just a different was of looking at life.It’s like takingin a different view.”

Brent reckons his successes throughout his life – he took upkarate and excelled, then learned how to sail and was part ofthe winning crew in 2009 Scottish Series, winning the TarbetShield – have all been about proving to people that he is clever,and although he has trouble with words he is not stupid.

That is part of the motivation that drives him on through hisuniversity studies. He no longer has a scribe, but throughground-breaking software and an amazing “scribe pen” he isable to record lectures and make bullet points in class whichwill then be transcribed for him at home on his computer.

“I will always be grateful to Ayrshire College and to my AdultLearning tutor, Zoe, who has been brilliant.

“I am still getting there and still learning how words areformed, but I will do it.

“What I lacked in using letters I have more than made up forwith figures throughout my life, but getting this degree will bethe final achievement.

“Because when I graduate I will have letters after my name.Letters have always been a problem, but they will no longerhave me, I will have them.”

n Of all the achievements inBrent’s life, the one hetreasures most is having apainting of his become a partof the Burns Cottage Museumdisplay. The painting, left,depicts farming tools whichwould have been aroundduring the lifetime of thepoet. “I have been told that itwill be hanging there longafter I am dead. I am reallypleased about that,” he said.


Written

Science writer Duncan Lunan dealsin science fiction, science fact ...and ponders the possibility that

we may already have been contacted by an alien intelligence

knew I would never be able to sell them,”he recalls. “But things took off ratherdramatically the following year – 1972 –when I stumbled upon what seemed to bethe first message from anothercivilization,” he adds in a ratherdisconcertingly matter-of-fact way.

He continues: “Back in the 1920s in thedays of long-distance radios they startedpicking up echoes of transmissions fromEarth which were coming from at least thedistance of the Moon. They weren’tthinking in terms of space craft but whatthey were picking up appeared to bepatterns of varying delayed time pulses allbeing returned by the same object andthere isn’t any natural object up there thatwill do that.”

They mystery of the transmissions wasto form part of Lunan’s first book, Man andthe Stars. At the half-way stage of his

work on the book, he had written that thesignals appeared to be a naturalphenomenon. But something niggled atthe back of his mind. Mulling over thepossibility that the signals might be acoded message revealing where they hadbeen sent from, Lunan hit on an idea andstarted toying with a “star map” usingdata from the messages.

“Well, the stars are spaced at random inthe sky, so a set of star map co-ordinateswould be a random series of numbers,” hesaid. “So I started drawing graphs andturning the axes around, not expecting tofind anything at all – then suddenly on thetrain going through Paisley on my wayback home to Troon, suddenly I foundmyself looking at what appeared to be arecognisable message.

“I was down to a tiny wee corner on thepage where I had drawn a minute little

graphic and I thought ‘That looks morelike an intelligent signal, in fact it looksfamiliar. I know what that is. A star map ofthe constellation Boøtes!’

“I just looked at it and I thought: ‘Weare not alone. Interstellar travel ispossible. They can communicate with us,logic is universal.’ And I looked at theother people on the train and I thought:‘Shall I tell them?’ And looking at theirfaces, I thought; they’re just going to pullthe communication cord. I just sat there.”

Instinct won over emotion. The worldwould just have to wait for thismomentous revelation. Lunan wrote up apaper on his theory and submitted it tothe British Interplanetary Society. “One oftheir people included it in a lecture and iteventually came to the attention of theDaily Telegraph, who fell on it as a scoopand suddenly everything was up in the air.

A QUIET afternoon in a Troon tea-room.The gentle chinking of cup on saucer andthe application of jam to buttered sconeprovides the background as we exchangepleasantries over handshakes andintroductions.

Over the next hour and a half, however,our conversation will cover a 12th centuryking, knights, a pope, interstellar travel,green-skinned children, Walter Cronkite, aTory peer and the (possible) discovery ofthe first message to Earth from alienintelligences.

Meet polyglot Duncan Lunan, with hisdegree in English and Philosophy backedwith Physics, Astronomy, French and Logic– not to mention his achievement as theauthor of an international best-seller inthe 1970s.

Regarded as a bit of a visionary by somesci-fi buffs, and still quoted by aficionadosof extra-terrestrial exploration, DuncanLunan has never found the divide betweenscience fiction and science fact too wideto bridge.

On leaving university, he found earlysuccess as a science fiction short-storywriter for American magazines Amazing!,Analog and Galaxy who honoured his firstpublished story by making it their coverfeature with an illustration by the award-winning and much respected artist JackGaughan.

With such favoured treatment from thesci-fi bible, Lunan became an instantfigure of curiosity among other writers andreaders, who wondered who was this newarrival on their scene. Demand for hisstories mushroomed and just as it seemedthat his future as a writer was signed,sealed and delivered, a postal strike inthose pre-digital days brought a suddenend to the momentum.

“My stories were piling up, unsent, and I


in the stars

Background image:

Barassie beach,

© MJFerrier

Inset image:

Duncan Lunan,

© Thomas Brash,

Ayrshire College

For the next two or three years I was aminor celebrity, doing radio and TV all overthe place. I appeared on the Walter Cronkiteshow in the States. I was sampling life in thefishbowl and it got to the stage where Icouldn’t go out to the pub for a pint withoutbeing called back to the house becausethere was an American radio show on thephone.”

His book became a best-seller in the USand at home and sold in huge numbersacross Europe. Lunan adds: “It was ahardback and paperback in the UK, the USAand France, a paperback in Spain, serialisedin Holland and Japan and was pirated inGreece – there was a Greek edition for whichnobody received the proverbial drachma. Soit did very well.”

The story was taken very seriously byother researchers but, over the years, astechnology developed and scientific

knowledge moved on, holes began toappear in the theory, says Lunan.

New questions arose and eventuallyconfidence in the theory that these weremessages from another civilization beganto wane. He adds: “The astronomicalinformation was ambiguous. Partsof it made a lot of sense, butsome of it didn’t quite hangtogether and when we gotbetter information on thestar it turned out that thebest bits weren’t the rightbits and the bits that didn’tfit were the right bits.”

Now, four decades onfrom those heady Eureka!days, what is Lunan’sposition on the theory?

Cont. p12


He hesitates, then says: “Maybe.”So after all this time, the jury is still out

on the precise nature of those signals. Theoriginal story still rumbles on overcountless acres of web space, added to,twisted, augmented with falseinformation – and the original author hasno control over it. The Duncan LunanWikipaedia page is littered withinaccuracies. “I did a count last night andthere were 13 major errors,” he says, “butyou’re not allowed to edit your own page.The guy who writes it complained that‘the author keeps interfering’ and hiscomplaint was upheld!

“So now there is a completelyfictitious persona there which is stillgetting added to constantlybecause, supposedly, I am stillinvolved in all kinds of UFO stuff.”

However irritating that might be,it cannot detract from that initialrush on the train to Troon when hestumbled on the apparent origin ofthe message. He says:“Undoubtedly, that was one of thebiggest moments in my life. If thereis nothing to it in the end it won’ttake away the memory of it.”

But the Troon author of eightnon-fiction and two fiction bookscould never be accused of avoidingpotentially controversial subjects inhis ceaseless research.

One work, The Children of the Sky,deals with the story of two childrenwho emerged from an earthworksin the Suffolk village of Woolpitduring the 12th century. They woreclothes of a colour and materialnever seen before, spoke alanguage that was not recognizedby anyone else and their skin wasgreen.

And this is not a work of fiction, buta piece of historical research.

Lunan says: “This has been treatedfor more than the last 400 years as afairytale but, whatever this is, it reallyhappened.

“In 1993 I was covering aconference on at the British NationalSpace Centre for the Herald and Idecided it was time to do somethingabout the Green Children so I went upto East Anglia thinking I would getsome background colour for an article.

“Wandering around this village inSuffolk, I was made very welcome,they opened up the local history museumspecially for me, but in reply to myquestions they kept saying: ‘You’ll have togo to the County Records Office for that.’So I did, and five hours later I knew I wason to something because I was findinganswers to questions and it was clear Iwas onto a line of enquiry that nobodyelse had pursued.”

That was the starting point for 10 years

of meticulous research, uncovering thestory of how King Henry II quarantinedthe village by throwing a garrison oftroops around it while investigations werecarried out; how the children were finallyquestioned about their origins – once theyhad learned how to communicate inEnglish – and how Pope Alexander III, inresponse to questions from the Abbot ofBury St Edmunds wrote: “I am instructingthe king to give it back to you (Woolpit)when he is finished with it.”

Lunan continues: “It turns out theknight to whom the children were takenwas Richard de Calna, who was basically

the head of the secret service.”He describes the story of the Children of

the Sky as “The X-Files of the 12thcentury,” adding: “They described theplanet inadvertently. The Bishop ofLondon is questioning them. So he asks:Do they believe in our saviour there? Thegirl says ‘Oh yes, you can’t see the placefor churches.’ And he asks: ‘Does the sunrise or set there?’ All they had to say at

that point was Yes, because in mediaevalEngland it was believed there was no sunin Fairyland. So this is the question toestablish whether they are human or not.And she says ‘No.’

“She could not bring herself to lie atthat point and what she described wasthat they lived in a land of permanenttwilight separated by a very broad river,from a land of very bright sunlight andthat it never changed. The sun shone allthe time and neither rose nor set.

“They said they were herding theirfather’s livestock – wherever they were –when they suddenly found themselves

instantaneously transported backto Woolpit.”

Lunan continued: “The boy died,but I have traced the girl. I knowwho she was. She grew up andmarried Richard Barre, one ofHenry II’s senior ambassadors, soshe wasn’t just a runaway fromsome tribe in the woods.

“I have got her family tree downto two descendents, one of whomwas Robert Shirley, the 13th EarlFerrars, Deputy Leader of theHouse of Lords under MargaretThatcher. He was ‘outed’ by theEvening Tmes on the eve of the1997 election under the heading‘Tory Peer Descended from GreenWoman from Outer Space’ – muchto the annoyance of the SNP, whohad promised they would begetting the page that day. And hesaid: ‘Bizarre! I knew my ancestorswere colourful, but not thatcolourful.’”

The fascinating story is packedwith detail, much of it gleanedthrough Lunan’s own translationsof centuries-old records which mayhave been misinterpreted in thepast. He also presents a theory onplanetary alignment which linksthe Green Children story with theconstruction of Stonehenge andthe ancient pyramids of Egypt.

Lunan’s view of the GreenChildren mystery is that it involveda piece of extraterrestrialtechnology, such as mattertransmitter, which malfunctioned,possibly due to irregular activity ofthe sun.

He adds: “If it’s notextraterrestrial, here is the politicalthriller of all time, because theinvolvement of the king, the pope,

de Calna and Richard Barre is definite.Whatever was going on they were in it upto the neck.”

Children From the Sky is available as ane-book and, like Lunan’s other books, isavailable online and from Waterstones,W.H. Smith and other outlets, as well asfrom the publishers.

Visit the website at duncanlunan.comfor more details.

From p11

Duncan Lunan’s Astronomers of theFuture Club meets regularly in Troon.Run under the auspices of the AstroCosmic Terran Association, the club isopen to members of all ages. Meetingstake place on the last Thursday ofevery month, the aim being to bringtogether people interested in learningabout astronomy and space throughtalks, lectures and events. Find them onFacebook and check out the blog at actascio.org/blog.asp

Find out about astronomy


visual arts theatre live music comedy festivals museums country park athletics

To find out what’s on in East Ayrshire visit:eastayrshireleisure.com


DEAN Castle: spooky. DeanCastle in the dark:spookier. Dean Castle inthe dark with ghoulies,ghosties and severedheads lurking around everycorner: heart pill territory.

Everybody likes a goodscare and the closer to thetruth, the scarier itbecomes. Which is why TheBloody Boyds, set in thegrounds of Dean CastleCountry Park was such asuccess.

The history of the Boyds ofKilmarnock isfascinating andfittingly gory.

Proud, powerfuland ambitious, andveterans of the Battleof Bannockburn, theBoyds came close tosnatching the Scottish throne whenscheming familymembers kidnapped theeight-year-old boy king,James III, when theyambushed him on a huntingtrip.

But other Scottish noblesrose up against the Boydsand in the end Sir AlexanderBoyd was found guilty oftreason and beheaded atCastle Hill in Edinburgh.

And so the stage was setfor a fantastic weekend ofhair-raising tours whenConflux, one of Scotland’sleading outdoor theatregroups devised The Bloody

Boyds to bring a dark periodof Ayrshire history to life.

Groups were met at thecastle by ‘Sir Robert Boyd’and instructed to be scoutsto patrol the groundssurrounding the castle.

He warned them to sticktogether and sent them offinto the woods.

The scouts came across achanting hermit standing inthe river, a lone, paranoid,scared soldier who hadbeen waiting in the woodsfor years for additional

troops from the castle toarrive. Heeding his warningsto stay alert, the scoutscontinued on their way,encountering a headless tea party, ghostlyapparitions, a stray bodypart or two all against abackground of eerie noisesfrom the graveyard.

A battle re-enactmentbrought the Bloody Boyds toa dramatic end.

The Bloody Boyds wasorganised by East AyrshireLeisure to celebrateHomecoming 2014.

SPOOKED!Ghostly goings-on at Dean Castleas Bloody Boyds welcome visitors

I don’t understand how it could havehappened. I knew what it could do -Paraquat. I’ve been a gardener most ofmy life. Don’t use weedkillers much.Well, when you get a bit behind, theyhelp you get back on top - of the weeds,you know. So I do keep some in theshed.

I do most of my weeding by hand. OutI drag them - one by one and onto thebonfire. I think that's better thanpoisoning them and watching themshrivel and die. I keep going until thebed looks clean. Black soil framing theflowers.

Have you ever thought that weeding’sa bit like that ethnic cleansing? No? Ihave. I almost don’t like to do it. They’replants too. Still, if it’s in the way of whatyou want, it's got to go. That's what thewife says. For the greater good of thegarden, you know. Sounds a bit fascist,doesn’t it? I’m not like that at all, really.Just a gardener.

See, when you’re weeding, it’s likeyour mind's in neutral and these strangethoughts just pop up. They grow like theweeds, spindly little things but if youdon’t root them out soon, they get ahold. I had a thought since I've beenhere but I rooted it out. Perhaps, Ishould get one of those - what you callthem? – an iThing. That would stopthem but I would probably just get atune I couldn't get rid of instead. AndI’d miss the sound of the wind in thetrees and, of course, the birds singing.

On a summer’s evening, I love to hearthe blackbird singing up high, whileyou’re sitting admiring your day's work.Can’t beat it. Do you think that I’ll everhear a blackbird again? I know you thinkI won’t, but I might. I mean, there’s achance that my liver and kidneys mightrecover – or just hang on – then I couldmanage OK with the oxygen. You canget it at home, I know that. Providedyou don’t smoke. I don’t. Never have.

What's it at now? Six litres. Bit morethan yesterday. Makes my nose dry butit does help. See I can talk. Well in shortbursts. Yes, thanks. Just a sip to wet mywhistle. Gardening makes you dry.That’s why I always had a bottle oflemonade in the shed. Just go in andtake a slug. Of course I knew as soon asI swallowed it that it wasn’t lemonade.Spat out what was left in my mouthstraight away. But quite a lot had gonedown. I tried to be sick but I justcouldn’t. Not more than a spoonful ofpuke. Sorry! That’s not nice. Still you’re anurse; you’ll understand.

So here I am. Well for the time being,if I look on the bright side.

I know some people keep theirweedkillers in lemonade bottles but I’msure I never did. Different bottles.Different shaped bottles. Up on theshelf; not down on the bench. I can stillremember the feel of the bottle in myhand. Long and thin. Lemonade.Definitely. I never looked. Why would I?I always just go in, grab, unscrew andtake a swig then straight out into thesunshine.

Of course, the shed’s dark inside whenyou’ve been in the sun, so I couldn’t seewhat was in the bottle. But it was theright bottle. That’s what I don’tunderstand.

Anyway Nurse, you’ll need to be offnow. Thanks for listening. Visiting timesoon. Wife’ll be coming as usual. She’sbeen so good while I’ve been in. Nevermisses. And she calls every morning,you know. Always asking.

I’m ashamed to say, a little while agoI thought she felt I was in the way.That’s how the garden became myplace – and the shed. But since I've hadthis happen, she seems a changedwoman. Bright and cheery. Never downlike she was before. I think she’s tryingto keep my spirits up.

Off you go! Here she comes.A s

pot

of w

eedi

ngSHORT STORY By JAMES ROSE

POETRY By CATHERINE LANG

Death is NeutralA church, a town,

a river running through.

Some simple words,

stone carved, enduring.

The names of men beneath.

I read the words.

Remember how they sound

in English,

not this foreign tongue.

‘No greater love…’

They died our foes.

They’re them, not us.

Yet still my eyes blink back the tears,

for hope destroyed

and dreams denied.

They fought,

not for a piece of land

a leader’s rant, a country’s pride.

But more to keep a mother safe,

to see again a sweetheart smile.

Cold stone alone now speaks their name,

a stranger’s tears their requiem.


WE have a very activemembership of around 60and are delighted thatthis year among our newmembers is a group ofvery keen and talentedyoung people.

November 19 sawa group of us entertainingTroon OIR (Opportunitiesin Retirement) to an

afternoon of readings from our work, somepublished, some still awaiting that magicmoment when an editor says Yes. There waspoetry, flash fiction, short stories, travelarticles, science fiction and a brief history ofthe club as well.

We meet every Wednesday and have agreat variety of activities. Between now andFebruary, there will be workshops on dramaand writing short stories as well as a speaker,Kate Blackadder, on writing women's fiction,and Doug Skelton talking about writing truecrime.

Michael Malone is organising a Dragon'sPen, like the Dragon's Den but scarier whenwe have to pitch our ideas for books, and ofcourse, we have our annual pre-Christmasnight at Waterstones when the poormanager has to entertain us and talk booksto us.

In the New Year, we have furtherworkshops on researching true crime andalso on writing children's TV scripts, with aspeaker, Malcolm McGonigle, giving us thebenefit of his knowledge about children's TV.

Preparations for the Scottish Association ofWriters' Annual get-together at theWesterwood Hotel, Cumbernauld next Marchare also keeping us busy. Entries for themany competitions are due in by midJanuary at the latest so we are all busywriting towards that. The novel entries aredue in at the end of November so heads arebowed and keyboards red hot from theefforts to meet that deadline.

And many of us are publishing our workboth in print and online. Our success book isfilling up nicely for this year with themagazines Scottish Memories and Primaproviding great outlets for our efforts.Members Kirsty Wyllie and the Litereightgroup have brought out a children's storyand an anthology respectively.

Make sure you follow us on Facebook. Ourwebsite is www.ayrwritersclub.co.uk Visitorsare welcome on payment of £3 and newmembers are especially welcome. We meetat the Carlton Hotel, Prestwick at 7.15 for7.70 every Wednesday.

It’s the writething to doBy ANN BURNETT, AYR WRITERS’ CLUB



THREE authors, three books, threevery diverse styles and threeincredibly gripping stories.

Douglas Skelton’s second novel,Crow Bait, was launched inOctober, the second in a series offour books tracing the chaotic lifeof a volatile young man tortured bythe memories of his violent,psychopathic father.

Davie McCall is a bit of a fighterhimself, struggling between a lifeof violent crime and the desire tocarve out a new life without theburden of his darker side.

It’s set in 1990s Glasgow, 10years after Blood City, which sawMcCall put away for a crime he didnot commit, and reintroduces thecharacters who survived the bloodbath of that opening tale.

Skelton’s books are bursting atthe seams with hordes of all-too-believable characters, the dialogueleaping off the page for readersfamiliar with West of Scotlandconversation.

There’s an honesty about hispeople, crooks and non-crooksalike, as he exposes their foibleswith the skill of a master butchersetting about a carcass.

As a journalist and author of 11non-fiction crime books, Skeltonbrings a grisly reality to his pages,with vivid descriptions of placesand people plus a plot which twistsand turns like the road through theCarrick hills.

Readers had a year to wait forthis second instalment after thesuperb opener and the good newsis that the third in the series isundergoing final revisions and thefourth is already largely written.Bring ’em on.

MICHAEL MALONE’s The GuillotineChoice is a change of directionfrom his previous crime novels. Thistale also revolves around a murder,but it is a story of humanity,dignity, compassion and familyloyalties.

Set in French-controlled Algeria

of the 1920s, it is based on thetrue-life story of Kaci MohammedSaoudi, who faced a lifetimesentence in the notorious Devil’sIsland penal colony rather thansend his cousin to the guillotine asthe actual murderer of a colonialFrenchman.

The book was written inconjunction with the centralcharacter’s son, Bashir Saoudi, whospent 30 years researching hisfather’s story, and is so much morethan a report of a historical wrong-doing. Malone’s lyrical style ushersin a fascinatingly exotic landscapeagainst which the story unfolds ofcultural sensibilites which stoodbetween an innocent man and hisfreedom.

A beautifully written rollercoaster of a novel.

CATHERINE CZERKAWSKA alsodeals with cultural sensibilities in ahistorical setting in her fascinatingnovel The Physic Garden.

It takes place in Glasgow andAyrshire, but time, as they say, isanother country and the Scotlandof the early 19th Century presentsa setting which is both familiar andstrange.

The story is told by an elderlyWilliam Lang, looking back on hislife as a young man besotted withJenny, the love of his life.

Both are from humblebackgrounds; he works in thegarden of a Glasgow professorwhile she is a needleworker.

They are perfectly matched, or soit seems, until a series of shockingdiscoveries turns William’s lifeupside down.

Purity, morality and class are apotent mix in this story of restraint,self-respect and betrayal in whichthe pieces are gradually broughttogether as William concludes hisaccount of a bitter-sweet life.

Written in the style of a periodnovel, this wonderful book is athought-provoking and absorbingread.

Read an Ayrshire author

Crime and punishment in Glasgow,Ayrshire & Algeria, centuries apart

THE VICTIMS

DOUGLASSKELTON

Crow Bait

Luath Press£9.99

MICHAELMALONE

The GuillotineChoice

Contraband£8.99

CATHERINECZERKAWSKA

The PhysicGarden

Saraband£8.99


FRAMERS are sometimes theforgotten llink in the artisticchain. But a good craftsmancan be the difference betweena fine piece of work and amemorable exhibit.

Douglas Young has been aframer for 24 years andthroughout his time at theFrame Shop in Alloway Street,Ayr, he hasbeen taskedwith helpingartists andphotographersto present theirwork to its bestadvantage.

Occasionally hehas been trustedwith a treasuredheirloom or twowhich the ownerwants to put onpermanent displayin their home.

“That’s the kindof job I enjoy most,”he says. “It can be reallyinteresting to work with acollection of different piecesand to put them together in amulti-aperture frame.”

The centenary of theoutbreak of World War I hasseen the re-emergence of justsuch treasures, many of whichhad been gathering dust,tucked away in a drawer forthe past few decades.

He has also framed medalsfrom the Boer War and many

other military encounters upto and including the Iraqi war.

A chance encounter with a sporting great providedDouglas with anotherchallenging job some yearsago. He recalls: “Tiger Woodswas playing in the Open atTroon and a female spectatorwas struck by a ball he had

hit, breakingher arm.

“Later shecame in to theshop with thecast, which shehad had signedby John Major,the PrimeMinister of thetime, and theactual ball whichhit her. We putthem in a boxframe for her andshe had amemento totreasure.”

Professional framing isenjoying a bit of a revival asclients appreciate thecraftmanship and care that isoffered by a professionalframer who can advise on thechoice of material for anyparticular job and help toselect appropriate glazing andframe formats.

Frame Shop owner RonWarbrick added: “Framing isour speciality and we arehappy to provide this service.”

In the workshopDOUGLAS YOUNG: The Frame Shop, Ayr

Douglas Skelton, left, and Miichael Maloneat the launch of Sketlton’s Crow Bait


TAKE one Ayrshire musician, add an international multi award-winning Hungarian photographer and what do you get? StaraZagora, a multimedia partnership embarking on what promises tobe a stunning collaboration.

Of course to call Sean McGeoch just a musician and just aphotographer does a great disservice to both. Sean has been craftingsongs for a decade and the beautiful, haunting, ethereal tunes on theStara Zagora Soundcloud demonstrate what a special talent he has.

Árpád, meanwhile, is a photographer, film-maker and graphic artistwith a list of awards as long as your arm.

They met when Árpád took pictures for Selective Service, a bandSean played drums with. Sean says: “He did some really amazing andcreative pictures for the band. He's really easy to work with cause youknow he has a natural eye for a good picture.

“He's just awesome, can't really say much more. He is able toconvey in one picture what every artistic person feels about life...if thatmakes any sense.”

Although Stara Zagora is described as “a one-man project” Árpádregards himself as very much part of the act. “Yes, I do the visual partof Sean’s music,” he observes. And that Hungarian name? “It means‘city of poets’ in Bulgarian,” he adds.

As an accomplished short film maker, Árpád made a stunning videofor another Ayrshire band, Soldier On. Are there plans for Sean andÁrpád to make videos?

“I certainly hope so.,” Sean says. “I only started the Stara Zagoraproject a couple of months ago. I've been a bit of a frustratedsongwriter for a while so just decided one day I would just record abunch of songs on my own playing everything and not worry about ittoo much. I was delighted Àrpàd took an interest and I hope we canwork together for a long time to come.’

Reflecting on his inspiration for his music, Sean says: “I have lots ofinfluences. From an early age I fell in love with Radiohead and SigurRos. I have always loved ethereal sounding music and sounds thatmake you feel something you will never be able to explain in words. Iget really into one artist and do them to death so when I got intoolder folk music like Dylan and Neil Young I exhausted them. I hopethe music I love shines through.”

Sean, who lives in Dundonald and attended Marr College in Troonsays he is very keen to perform live, but has no firm plans as yet. “It'sstill very early days. I have 10 years worth of songs pestering me nightand day and I hope to get out and play them soon. I hope to hit theground running...” After a few evasive answers, he finally concedes:“I'm desperate to play live. I want to tear shit up! In a melancholicway of course. I would say I'll definitely have a gig by January.”

I’ll be having a ticket for that one, thankyouverymuch. See you there.No go and take a look/listen at: • soundcloud.com/stara-zagora

• soundcloud.com/sean • soundcloud.com/ager and both Sean’s andÁrpád’s Facebook pages.

SOUNDand vision

Two class acts collaboratein a project of great beauty

the word: arts / winter 21014/15

Documents

harbour arts centre

art collaborationspace

art collaborationnot

heritage centre

interviewthe arts parts6

music businesssound

larger exhibition

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