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'I Halflins'n Hecklers'n Weevers'n Weemin.', Hamish Henderson, Hamish Matters, John Quinn, Play, Sheena Wellington, Shoestring Theatre Company
Hamish Henderson
Born. 1919 Blairgowrie, Angus, Scotland to a single mother.
Lived in an orphanage in London after her death, having won a scholarship to Dulwich School in London.
Studied Modern Languages at Downing College, Cambridge.
WW2 -ran messages for a Quaker organization aiding the German resistance and helped rescue Jews. Received a commission in the Intelligence Corps. Took part in the Desert War.
His 1948 poetry book about his experiences in the war, Elegies for the Dead in Cyrenaica, received the Somerset Maugham Award.
Instrumental in bringing about the Edinburgh People’s Festival Ceilidh in 1951, which placed traditionally performed Scottish folk music on the public stage for the first time. However, the People’s Festival, of which it was part, was planned as a left-wing competitor to the Edinburgh Festival and was was deeply controversial which led to the Labour Party declaring it a “Proscribed Organisation and it being permanently cancelled.
1955-1987 he was on the staff of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Scottish Studies which he co-founded
Henderson was a socialist a campaigner for Sctottish Home Rule, openly bisexual, and vocal about gay rights and acceptance.
Died 8 March 2002 aged 82.
Survived by his wife Kätzel and their daughters, Janet and Christine Henderson.
Hamish seems a jolly good chap. A wonderful read, Ms S.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx Mike. A very interesting man I think given what he came from. Quite a story. And the Festival week certainly did him proud.
Ahhh and not a penny for hamster charities…A lovely read 🙂 x
I am quite sure the dudes would have eaten those pennies anyway. As they would have eaten our chipper teas. Glad you enjoyed the post Carol. Truly xxxx
Haha… I am sure they would… Shey… Have a great weekend xx
YOu too. Weather is vile here. Sure you have some good weather aso enjoy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As always, Shey, the play springs surprises! It sounds like a wonderful evening and I congratulate you all. xxx Can’t wait to get together with those dudes!
BB is tapping his feet. He has been muted of late. in deep sorrow. Largely cos he likes rubbing the other dudes’ noses in his interviews so it will do him no harm. It was a wonderful evening, hats off to the teamwork given all the constraints of the rehearsals. xxx
I think the best thing about the play is that we just play it for laughs and involve the audience the whole way so when it goes wrong they don’t aye notice. At least I don’t think they do…. xx
Another Robert Burns? We are looking forward to the next Burns Supper, 1/25/2020
Indeed, I suppose in some ways this gentleman was. And he wrote https://youtu.be/89YOvmcRdf0
Glad to hear you enjoy a Burns Supper xxxxxxxxx
Great post, Shey. Had me laughing all the way through! The hammies are incredibly refrained of late. I reckon they’re up to something.. Meanwhile, Hamish Henderson sounds like an amazing man. Brave too, considering the attitudes of the times he lived through
Indeed he was both brave and amazing and it was wonderful to be part of the week’s celebrations. Yes I do think the dudes are being very refrained these days. Of course they have world domination to think of… x
That was very interesting and educational, Shey! Love the song.
Tell the Hamsters to lighten up! There are no Hamster Charities.
xx
if cirse there ir. They ir fir us to buy GOWNS….Lick Splendor Himstir
live…
the gownliss dids
Resa, ignore them. You are so right AND frankly if they lick Splendor Hamster I will kill them.
Ps The song was our bow every night. x
Alrighty Dudes… keep your tongues off Splendor!
There ir ni cheeritis fir dude gowns. Yi cannae fiil me!
Bit wi wint to fool your… It is so not fair..
Live
The duds x
Missing petticoats and bad words? Have you been causing madness and mayhem yet again? Lol, the dudes are ratting you out! ❤ xxxx
Sistah.. it was quite a nite..quite a day actually.. but of the best kind and the best thing was the amazing cast gave their all and got there and yeah, yet again, it was not what was written, the petticoat being the best case in point but hey…
I just am refraining from telling tales re that petticoat BUT will say, as a writer the diff perspectives on it …well….. ENDLESS
Lol, well now, I for one am veryyyyyyyyyyy curious! 🙂 🙂 xxx
Lol…. okay… It went like this.. Act I scene 2 , William Wallace no less. And we are actually getting along here without a hitch. And it’s the bit where as Wallace I leap sideways into this petticoat that lies on the floor. Except it wasn’t lying on the floor because after the rehearsal the Mr who never does such a thing, lifts it from under one of the prop/actor’s tables where I have chucked it and TIDIES it into his basket of washing that does not appear until Act 2 scene 2. So I never reset that prop. BTW this is observed by our older girl who is in the Wallace scene and does not think to say. So as I am standing there trying to ‘blend in,’ with this dead ringer for a Donald Trump wig on my head, I asks myself first of all ‘Do I need that petticoat?’ and the answer is yes cos the Mr is about to start poking round the audience with a sword and ask 3 times, ‘ have you seen a man come this way, wench?’ before poking with a sword three times beneath that petticoat (In this play everything is done in 3s except the screw ups which are done in dozens.) BUT it is all right cos I will just take off my trench coat and wrap it round my waist. Except I am not wearing it cos for the first performance ever, given the amount of extra biz we all had this show, I especially REMEMBERED to remove it at the end of scene 1. So now the Mr is wandering about and he will take no prisoners in terms of barging on so I says to the horrified daughter, who is sitting there doing this hands rolling bit and going OOOH OOH OOOOH OOOOOOH, ‘I need a disguise.’ So I hotfoots it to the centre props table where I know it has to be where I am met by cast member Mike who tells me it is not there and he is a sort of unofficial stage manager. So when he tells me it is not there, it is not there. So I mouths a certain word four times. Then my gaze falls on the 9 foot net curtain that is worn by Mary Queen of Scot’s ghost and I grabs it. And despite me being the big boss lady of this show, this other cast member grabs it back cos she and I also hold that curtain up in the McGonagall fight scene as a backdrop. So there’s a sort of ‘gimme it,’ moment you will get it back and I hotfoots it back with the curtain . Ever tried wrapping a 9 foot curtain round your waist? Anyway Diane, our usual props and stage manager had come to see the play this time. She thought this was a new way we were doing that scene . Indeed she thought everything that went wrong was a new way of doing various scenes…
Most fitting celebrations. Looking him up on the internet he’s listed as Poet. Surely it’s Poet and Top Bloke.
I couldn’t agree more!!!
You are truly a Renaissance woman, M’lady Shey. Congrats to you, the Mr. and the entire cast for pulling it off in the face of such adversity. I’m sure Hamish would be proud! xoxox
AWww Pam xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx They are good cast xxxxxx
🥰❤️😘
Great post …very nice informative and great motivating story behind the post…loved it…keep up great work…and keep sharing sunshine shines your way
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx you. That is very kind. I think he was obviously inspirational and his life was quite a story. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx to you my friend
You’re most welcome…keep shining 💐
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Thanks for sharing about this wonderful man and dudes, you are great, I love you. ❤
At last…sob sob…somone lives is
the sobbing dudes
xx
❤
He certainly seemed to be that Adele.
Oh, this makes me miss the delicious chaos of the boards! I’ve no doubt the audiences loved every moment xxxxx
Oh God Jean they witnessed a lot. I just dunno how many they know they witnessed.. xxxxxx
hamsters happily
carrying on
the Hamish 🙂
YAY!!!!!!!! Love it x
A wonderful and joyful read. Brought a smile to my face. 🙂
Now you have brought a smile to mine x
I miss reading your work. My apologies for my absence. I’ve been working on new writing material and feeling inspired by noise music. 🙂
All smiles bring joy to the heart and soul. 🙂
It is wonderful to see you and you have to put your own work first and get your head down on that. That is the truth xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Love the commentary, gives a real taste of the rehearsal shenanigans. The potted biography is fascinating. What a character he must have been. I shall have to look up his poetry, now. Good luck with the production.
Cath my darling that was not the rehearsal. That was the show,….. Our tagline is ‘Every night a different show’ and while this was a once off invited performance for the festival, th e two runs this has had have..er… not been any different that way. xxxx Indeed he must have been a very interesting man and I know the centenary of his birth was well celebrated for a week there with a ton of events.
Wow, definitely intriguing. I love ‘every night… different…’ seems like the heart of ‘live’ entertainment to me. What a buzz.
Well… we sort of had to adopt that tag line cos every night was. We set out…yes…to stick to the script –maybe we should start placing bets on how long for–and it’s now gone past the nerve wracking stage into the realms of this is just how it is and you know sometimes the audience are none the wiser that the off the cuff banter is not scripted. This time round we had our usual stage manager/props lady, in the audience–she couldn’t stage manage for us this time but she came to see it–and she just thought the utter mayhem over the missing petticoat was the new way I was doing that scene and it was hysterical. And actually now I step back from it it is a consideration that we do that scene like that from now on, except it would be well nigh impossible to time. What is good is it is like travelling players, We are out there the whole time and we involve the audience at every turn so there is a buzz and the rough edges are part of that.
What a tale!
I dunno why we spend ages rehearsing frankly. What goes out out there never bears any resemblance. At first that was nerve wracking but see now…..?
My bucket list now includes a trip to see one of your troupe’s performances. Someday….
Well Leslie we will create an extra one for you. It won’t be one where we get it right. That is never going to happen. But one for you. x
Just what the doctor ordered!!! I”m laughing!
Wow, fantastic tale
He was pretty amazing xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
What an extraordinary character Hamish was starting with being born to a single mother in 1919. Wonder what that was like then. Going on to win a scholarship and help rescue the Jews during WW2. And a poet as well. Bravo, Shey, to you and your team for celebrating such an honorable man. ❤
He was amazing. Having done all my family hist and all i know that will have been damned hard for his mother and yet look how he got to that school in London and then she died. Because he had lived in Berlin he was fluent in German which was why the Intelligence Corps wanted him onboard. Then there was everything else. An amazing man.
Shey this is a great post- the photographs of the play were amazing I was chuckling right through. Thank for the brilliant intro to Hamish Henderson. I read a couple of his poems on the Scottish poetry library page.
The 51st Highland Division’s Farewell to Sicily is stunning- a naw keek a’ the wurds because a’m naw Scots (what d’ya mean you guessed!!! I’m insulted).
That poem is beautiful, irrepressible lines sing with life. I love the structure where the end word of the previous stanza is used to rhyme the end line of the next stanza. His sylphlike way with words, at once gutsy crude majestic and common place vividly bring to life the hardship inarticulate soldiers experience but are unable to express, quite literally transforming their world into poetry.
While it is hard to define what qualities make someone talented, it is quite easy to recognise talent when you see it.
Thanks for introducing me to him.
WOT A GUY.
PaulX
Mah Mr is only ashamed that at the time he wis in Edinboro uni and Hamish wis there he nivir held the language in the regard he does the noo but see we were telt tae speak the Enerlish. Coorse I nivir did nor have. That poem is one of these suddnely moves you to tears for capturing what these young men went through without thinking in a way. Blinking either.In aline. Nothing grand but oh god, you are right there. He also was sure some guy who never lost sight of his roots.
I am sorry Shey could you translate that… only kidding. DON’T thump me! PXX
no much eh winnae… x
Being from down south, I’ve not heard of Hamish Hendersen but, nevertheless, my roughly third-percentage of Scottish blood often calls to me. I like the sound of Hamish and that he was an amazing man with vision who was ahead of his time. I will check out his poems. …Those dudes and their charity (they never fail to make me laugh!) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Well of course they are hamsters of great taste and distinction. Seriously, I to my shame had never heard of Hamish either until the writer who was pretty instrumental in setting up this fest, this centenary year in particular, came to see the play last year and invited us to bring it to the festival. BUT like you, I just thought what a man and worth discovering. x
Bonjour Mon Amie SHEHANNE
Plusieurs personnes entrent dans nos vies
Certaines pour y rester et d’autres ne font que passer
Quoi qu’il en soit, elles resteront gravées dans nos mémoires
Laissant une marque ou une cicatrice dans notre cœur ou une trace de leur passage
Des portes se ferment, des cœurs se referment au fil des jours
On ne sait jamais si c’est le hasard, le destin, la chance ou le malheur
qui mettent ces personnes sur nos chemins
On sait toujours ce qu’on perd, mais jamais ce qu’on gagne
Mais le destin suit saroute
Je te souhaite une excellente et une très bonne journée ou soirée
Bisous.Bernard
Awww……………………………………xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx You have made my cold dreich day here in Scotland x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lovely x
As you my dear.
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Cool! Take care and thank you for the follow.
Kelly, thank YOU for the follow. Best of the season to you.
And to you.