Cluaran has argued that the sea is a means to travel rather than a boundary. So, when not visiting Scottish Schools to introduce Scots to the Norwegian heritage of Scotland, our members sometimes go to Norway.
This year was a special year, as the west coast of Norway was celebrating the “Rikssamlingen” or “Forging of the Nation” by Harald Fairhair.
It is said that some of those who were not over keen on this left in their longships to find new places to settle, like Scotland, Iceland and anywhere else the sea reaches.
You can read more here in an article we were kindly sent by a Norwegian friend:
As part of the year of Scotland’s stories celebrations, Kråkå and Cathbad ‘moved in’ to the roundhouse at Whithorn. During the day they worked at textile and metal working tasks, as well as the ongoing necessities of simply living
Then in the afternoon and evening they told stories…
If you come down to Deer park in Dumfries today you are in for a special treat. Along with the Cluaran boat we have characters fished out from the Nith as it flows through time (and the imagination!) This is part of the Nithraid organised by the Stove Network
As well as talking to them you can also imagine a character for yourself – and use it to tell a story.
If you can’t be by the river Nith in person, you can still join in. Use the idea of the river to travel through time. What stories would you tell if you were standing there? What stories would you want to listen to, or do you want people to research. What would help turn the places you live in into a home, rather than somwhere you are passing through?
Here are some signposts to places and groups who might be able to help you turn these ideas into research and reality!
