The Stories: Scottish Urban Myths and Ancient Legends (Grace Banks & Sheena Blackhall)

Scottish Urban Myths and Ancient Legends (Urban Legends) Paperback – January 1, 2015 by Sheena Blackhall (Author), Grace Banks (Author); Pub. The History Press.Monsters, lunatics, vampires, werewolves, evil dolls, and suicide dogs, stones entombing bodies, faces appearing in walls, curses, and meetings with the devil—all this and more are contained within this book of Scottish urban legends. Now, for the first time, folklorists and storytellers Grace Banks and Sheena Blackhall explore these intriguing tales. Folklore embeds itself into a local community, often to the extent that some people believe all manner of mysteries and take them as fact. Whether they’re stories passed around the school playground, through the internet, or 'round a flickering campfire, urban legends are everywhere. Scottish Urban Legends is a quirky and downright spooky ride into the heart of Celtic folklore.

The Poems: The Gargoyle Man

The Gargoyle Man. Poems in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall.Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire.Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. Cover: The Green Man from Le Mans Cathedral in France, c. 1240 Cost: £3.00. Copyright: S. Blackhall July 2014. For more information on other publications by Sheena Blackhall, visit http://sheenablackhall.blogspot.com or the on-line catalogue of the National Library of Scotland www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/index/html. All of Blackhall’s poems in Scots and English, are now uploaded on www.poemhunter.com. Many of these poems were written on retreat during a creative writing week run by Ratnadevi, Linda France and Larry Butler at Dhanakosa, Balquidder. Others were the result of a week’s research in the Cotswolds, visiting Stratford on Avon, Bath, and surrounding areas.

The Poems: The Housewife's Dream

Title: The Housewife’s Dream. Poems & Tales in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall. Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire. Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. Cover: I and the Village, Marc Chagall, painted in 1911 Cost: £3.00.Copyright: S. Blackhall 2014 Two of these poems were inspired by a writing session led by Dr Adam Hanna in Aberdeen City Council’s Townhouse. Others were written in response to paintings in the 80th Aberdeen Artists' Exhibition. In May 2014 Blackhall became Patron of Reading at Kaimhill Primary School in Aberdeen.The children’s tales at the end of the book were written as challenges set by the pupils providing 4 words, to be incorporated eg Hungary, tiger, cold, girl, with the exception of one tale written by her son, Ross Blackhall.Thanks are due to Les Wheeler for his continued encouragement and support in agreeing to publish this little pamphlet (the 103rd poetry volume). For more information on other publications by Sheena Blackhall, visit http://sheenablackhall.blogspot.com or the on-line catalogue of the National Library of Scotland www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/index/html. All of Blackhall’s poems in Scots and English, are now uploaded on www.poemhunter.com.  

The Poems: The Space Between: New and Selected Poems

The Space Between: New and Selected Poems, by Sheena Blackhall, 2014 ISBN 978-1-85752-005-7 www.abdn.ac.uk/riiss/publications/authored-publications-110.php (The website of the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies, University of Aberdeen.) Published by Aberdeen University Press, Cover Image, Emily Carr (1871-1945) ‘Shoreline’1936, oil on canvas, c McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Dedicated to Sir C.Duncan Rice for his support and encouragement of poetry in the North East. This book was launched at Aberdeen University’s May Festival. It was edited and selected by Alan Spence, Professor in Creative Writing, University of Aberdeen, with the assistance of Professor Cairns Craig, Dr Helen Lynch, and Dr Adam Hanna. Detailed Description Blackhall, Sheena (2014) The Space Between: New and Selected Poems, Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, pp.153 + xiv. ISBN: 978-1-85752-005-7 ‘Sheena Blackhall is probably the most prolific poet in Scotland, and one of the most rarely talented. She is the true voice of the North East, a sophisticated, engaged, technically gifted writer who moves with ease through different modes and registers. She’s at home with traditional ballad forms and Buddhist meditations, with collage and cut-up and the found poem – lyrical and bawdy and profoundly funny.’ – Alan Spence ‘Sheena Blackhall has the lyric voice of the early MacDiarmid and prime of William Soutar, and knows unerringly how to send that couthy, earthy tongue to the furthest of stars. She combines tradition and modern wit, ancient knowledge with feminine intuition, personal defiance and spirit, a grasp of language topped up with thorough scholarship.’ – Joy Hendry

The Poems: Biting Dust

Biting Dust: Poems & Tales in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall. Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire.Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. Cover: Image from The Droll Dreams of Pantagruel by François Desprez - (1565)Cost: £3.00.Copyright: S. Blackhall 2014. Thanks are due to Les Wheeler for his continued encouragement and support in agreeing to publish this little pamphlet. For more information on other publications by Sheena Blackhall, visit http://sheenablackhall.blogspot.com or the on-line catalogue of the National Library of Scotland www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/index/html. All of Blackhall’s poems in Scots and English, are now uploaded on www.poemhunter.com. Summer of Love is due to be published in the following: Forward Poetry anthology, Essence of Love, July 2014. May 2014 (Pamphlet no 101)

The Bairn Books

Jessie the Jumbo is available now online, free to download on Smashwords.Jessie the Jumbo is a selection of tales written originally in English for the hugely popular ‘Nickety Nackety’ children’s programme which was broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland and produced by Frieda Morrison. It drew fan mail letters from children all over the UK, and quite a few adults too, lorry drivers and tractor men amongst them. The format was trialled in Edinburgh nursery settings by Frieda Morrison to assess the reaction from the intended audience. A cast of the finest actors and actresses in Scotland dramatized the stories and brought the scripts to life. The selection of tales in Jessie the Jumbo, drawn from the Nickety Nackety Collection are those written by Sheena Blackhall, and here reset in Scots. The book will be featured on www.ScotsLanguageRadio.com. Frieda Morrison was the first mentor of this much loved North East children’s writer, and commissioned her earliest children’s tales

The Poems: The Mongolian Spot

Title: The Mongolian Spot.Poems & in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall.Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire.Printed by Thistle Reprographics,55 Holburn Street Aberdeen.Cost: £3.00.Copyright: S. Blackhall 2014 Cover: Mongolian Musician This is a file from the Wikipedia Commons. Information from its description page is shown here:Sambuugiin Pürevjav of Altai Khairkhan (an overtone singing ensemble from Mongolia) playing a morin khuur near Centre Georges Pompidou in 2005.Author : Eric PouhierDate : Octob. 2005 This book is dedicated to Philip & Vicki Watt,Fadlydyke Farm, New Deer. Some of these poems have previously been published on www.poemhunter.com. Other pieces will be published by Forward Poetry in May, 2014, in the following publications: Light up the Dark, Darkest before the Dawn, and Candlelit Thoughts. The extract ‘Fyvie’ was taken from a Doric play written by Les Wheeler and Sheena Blackhall. The poems Smack Heid Debbie and The Warld Accordin tae the Rev Angus Macstrewn were taken from a prizewinning play ‘Nichtshades’ also written by Blackhall & Wheeler. The Commonwealth was written as part of a project on the Aberdeen Reading Bus funded by Fairer Scotland. The Great Tapestry of Scotland was written to perform at an event in Aberdeen’s Tunnels, organized by the National Collective, (artists and creative for Scottish Independence). Several poems were inspired by works in the Scottish National Galleries of Scotland, one of which was short listed in the Inspired? Get Writing! 2014 competition. The House of the Russian Dolls was Blackhall’s response to the Scottish Book Trust’s general invitation for people to write a story about the meaning of home.

The Poems: Hare's Foot: A Poet's Notebook

The Poems: Hare’s Foot: A Poet’s Notebook : Pamphlet no 99 Poems & Tales in Scots & English, printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen, Cost: £3.00 pub 2014. Some of the stories are Blackhall’s own versions of travellers’ tales learned from the late Stanley Robertson. Many of the ‘snippits’ of folk lore and UFO sightings were encountered by the poet whilst researching an upcoming book on urban myths and legends. Some inspired poems, others did not. Some of these poems are to be found on www.poemhunter.com.

The Poems: Pirrins and Magnus

The Poems: Pirrins and Magnus: Pamphlet no 98: Poems & Tales in Scots & English, Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen, Cost: £3.00 pub 2014. All of Blackhall’s poems in Scots and English, are now uploaded on www.poemhunter.com. The first section of these poems was inspired by material from the Terezin (Theresienstadt), concentration camp. About 5,000 drawings survived, created by the 15,000 children who passed through there to the death camps, most dying in Auschwitz in the Summer-Autumn of 1944. The drawings feature in the book of Jewish Art Treasures from Prague:The State Jewish Museum in Prague and its collections, Lund Humphries, (London) in Association with the Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester. Edited, with a foreword by Professor C.R. Dodwell, LittD FBA. Some of these poems have been, or are about to be, published in the following: Ever Watchful: Forward Poetry, Vice Verses ( Jan 2014). There is Another Xmas, Malfranteaux Concepts, Christmas (1913). Highland Cow was broadcast on Mooney Goes Wild, Raidió Teilifís Éireann,. The tale Hide an Seek was published in the Autumn issue of Northwords

The Stories: Aberdeenshire Folk Tales

Aberdeenshire Folk Tales By Grace Banks & Sheena Blackhall, Pub by The History Press, 2013 ISBN: 9780752497587. The folklore of the North East provides a rich tapestry for the tales within; from Celtic and Pictish origins meet witches, selkies, smugglers, fairies, monsters, despicable rogues, riddles and heroes. Tragic events, spellbinding characters, humour, romance and clever minds are bound together by two well-established storytellers living and working in the city and shire of Aberdeen. Some of the tales in this collection are based on historical fact while others are embedded in myth and legend. All the stories are set against the backdrop of this lovely and varied landscape. Sheena and Grace have both been inspired in their storytelling and singing by the traveller, raconteur and balladeer, Stanley Robertson. - See more at: http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/index.php/aberdeenshire-folk-tales.html#sthash.hKbnWtDU.dpuf

The Poems: Shards

Title: Shards. Poems & Tales in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall. Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire.Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. Cover: Based on The Door to Freedom by Rene Magritte, 1936. Cost: £3.00.Copyright: S. Blackhall 2013. For more information on other publications by Sheena Blackhall, visit http://sheenablackhall.blogspot.com or the on-line catalogue of the National Library of Scotland www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/index/html. Some of these poems have previously been published on www.poemhunter.com. ‘They Feared’ will appear in November published by Rain Poetry Books (Keith Murray). ‘A Royal Baby’ will feature in New Beginnings by Forward Poetry, 2014. ‘A Young Iguana’ will be published in Animal Antics by Forward Poetry 2014. ‘The Inconstant Lover’ will appear in Poetry Obsessions by Forward Poetry, also in 2014. ‘Screivin in Scots’ will be published in Lallans 83. ‘The Wall’ was the winning entry announced at the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival in Glasgow on 19th October2013. (Bipolar Scotland ran a short story competition on the theme of ‘First Love.’) ‘Chardonnay’ and ‘The Rowie Song’ were specially written as performance pieces to celebrate Aberdeen Arts Centre 50th anniversary in October 2013, at a civic reception in Aberdeen’s Town House. ‘The Yowes an the Tortoises’ is a Scots owersett of a traditional Nigerian tale told by a parent on an Aberdeen Reading Bus Project. The current project, Global Blethers, is funded by the Fairer Scotland Fund.

The Poems: The Aye-Aye

Title: The Aye-Aye, Poems in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall.Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire. Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen.Cover:Aye-Aye (from the www).Cost: £3.00.Copyright: S. Blackhall 2013.The first poems in this pamphlet were written in response to mysterious paper sculptures appearing in Scotland: Catriona Low, publisher of Severin Books, is constantly on their trail. This pamphlet is dedicated to her for alerting me to each new discovery. http://severinbooks.blogspot.co.uk/ Most of the poems were written during the summer of 2013, during stays on Jersey and St Malo. The Dream o the Restless Bairnickie is published in ‘Pushing Out the Boat, Issue 12’. Thank You Spring will feature in ‘Spirit of Spring’, a Forward Press Anthology due out in October. Memorial Day & Birthday are due to appear in ‘Shadows’, a Malfranteaux Concepts publication compiled by Keith Murray. A Puckle Doric Wirds I like and Fitbaa were written for inclusion in a forthcoming anthology compiled by Mark Pithie for a 2013 Doric Festival event. The Japanese tanka owersetts appeared in Southlight magazine. Thanks are due to Les Wheeler for his continued encouragement and support in agreeing to publish this little pamphlet. Re. The Cro-Magnon Poem My half brother, Charles Middleton Ritchie, died in Canada within a year or so of our first meeting. My younger brother, Ian Middleton, predeceased him. A woman can only access paternal DNA via a close male relative and I was delighted that my nephew Scott Ritchie, in Whitby, Ontario, Canada, agreed to submit a sample for analysis. The result was as follows:

The male line of our family DNA carries the mutation M343. The paternal haplotype is R1b. Haplogroup R is thought to have appeared some 30,000 years ago in Central Asia and is widely spread all over the world. The mutation M343 is linked to one of the subclades of Haplogroup R called R1b which is thought to have been part of the recolonisation of Europe following the Last Glacial Maximum. The R1b expansion was closely linked to the spreading of the Indo-European languages. This makes us direct descendants of the Cro Magnon people, the modern humans who painted the "Lascaux Cave" in Dordogne in the South of France. These paintings can be regarded both as a testimony of the artistic skills of our ancestors but also as a sketch book of their life during the last glacial age. R1b can be found in more than 80% of the population in England, France and Spain. In western Ireland, R1b is found in nearly 100% of the population.

The Poems: Goosebumps for Beginners

Goosebumps for Beginners:Poems & tales in Scots & English.by Sheena Blackhall Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen Cost: £3.00Cover: Image of Geese ( in the Public Domain) by Tom Kelly, US Fish and Wildlife Service Copyright: S. Blackhall 201 3For more information on other publications by Sheena Blackhall, visit http://sheenablackhall.blogspot.com or the on-line catalogue of the National Library of Scotland www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/index/html). The Trouble with War has been selected for publication in The World at War- Poems from the Battlefield in September 2013 (Forward Poetry). Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Mother has been selected for publication by Forward Poetry in the anthology A Mother to Me, due for publication in September 2013 Valentine Card has been accepted for publication by Forward Poetry in the Anthology Endless Love- Heart’s Desire, due out Sept 2013. A Day to Remember has been accepted for publication in ‘A Day in Time’, Forward Poetry, due out in September 2013.

Most of these poems were written in June (22nd-28th) 2013 on retreat at Dhanakosa, Balquhidder. The English poems will eventually be published on http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall. Thanks are due to Les Wheeler for his continued encouragement and support in agreeing to publish this little pamphlet.

The Poems: Grey Matter

Grey Matter:Poems & tales in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen Cost: £3.00 This book is dedicated to Les & Sheila Wheeler.Some of the poems are included in Volume 4 of Canvases, published by Rain Poetry Books. The story Destiny Stone appeared on the Scottish Book Trust feature ‘Treasures’. Several poems were inspired by the annual Aberdeen Artists’ Exhibition, and the St Andrew’s Song was written for ‘Families First’, an event organised for disadvantaged families in St Andrews. Various poems have already been published on http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall. The cover photograph of Blackhall was taken at the Psychology Department of Aberdeen University, during a research project session conducted there.

The Poems: Walking in Blake's Garden

Walking in Blake’s Garden: Poems in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall. Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire.Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. Cover: Samuel Palmer: Early Morning. Cost: £3.00.Copyright: S. Blackhall 2013 For more information on other publications by Sheena Blackhall, visit the on-line catalogue of the National Library of Scotland www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/index/html. Some of these poems have previously been published on www.poemhunter.com. Most of them were written during the spring of 2013, on a visit to Derbyshire. Queen Mary, jyled was prompted by a visit to Chatsworth, one of her many places of imprisonment. The Village of Eyam was the result of an exploration of a scene of death from the bubonic plague in 1665-1666. In the book ‘Eyam Plague 1665-1666’ by John Clifford ISBN O-9544666-0-8 pub 2003, the author refers to a suggested ‘cure’ at the time for the disease, by attaching a live chicken with its anus over the patient’s bubo, the warmth being thought useful in drawing out the poison. He goes on to observe that traces of aureomycin, a drug now used as part of a cure for the plague, were found in the soil of Vietnam where poultry continually ingest the earth as grits, to aid defecation. Meltwater, Jock Thamson’s Bairns in the Ship of Charon, Shellyman and Fear-Bhata were all inspired by Waterlines, an artistic partnership of Will Maclean and Marian Leven. The exhibition featured items from the Special Collections and Museums at the University of Aberdeen. In the production of Waterlines, they created a new sculptured marker in the landscape that is dominated by the ambitious Sir Duncan Rice Library. The Short Story Help! was written for the event Inventions and Experiments from Scotland, 9/5/2013, part of the Children’s programme in Aberdeen University’s May Festival. Stone Age Orcadians was written during a trip to the Heart of Neolithic Orkney, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the Scots poems will be published in the anthology Dialect Poetry ISBN 978-1-906845-47-6 due out in Autumn 2013.

The Poems: In Faldy's Wood

In Faldy’s Wood:Poems & Tales in Scots & English, Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire, Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen.Cost: £3.00 Copyright: S. Blackhall 2013. This book is dedicated to Philip & Vicki Watt and family, Fadlydyke Farm, New Deer. The poem Pine will appear in the anthology Into the Forest - A Celtic Alphabet of Tree Poems to be published by Saraband Books in autumn 2013, edited by Mandy Haggith. The 3 Flash Fiction tales were published in Northwords Now in 2012. Poems on the Scottish inventions and inventors were written as part of a school Science project for the Reading Bus. The poem for Dr George Philp appeared in The Scotsman. Thanks are due to Les Wheeler for his continued encouragement and support in agreeing to publish this little pamphlet.

The Poems: A Nest of Tongues

The Poems: A Nest of Tongues: Poems & Story in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall.Pub by Malfranteaux Concepts Aberdeen ISBN : 978 1 870978 91 0. Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. Cover: Pandemonium, August 1914: by George Grosz (archival sources)Cost: £4.00. The cover image is a drawing by the German artist George Grosz (1893-1959) who considered himself a propagandist of the social revolution. He not only depicted victims of the catastrophe of the First World War - the disabled, crippled, and mutilated - he also portrayed the collapse of capitalist society and its values. His wartime line drawings show him to be a master of caricature. What the Dickens is due to be published in ‘Down Memory Lane’, an anthology by Forward Poetry, Peterborough in Winter 2012. Some of these poems have already been published on http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall. Many were written during an Autumn trip to Holland and the Rhine. Auld Yowe has been accepted by Lallans mag for issue 81.'Willie' will be published in the Cromar Echo, Tarland.

The Stories: Peach Blossom Petals: Folk Tales & Poems from Vietnam

The Stories: Peach Blossom Petals: Folk Tales & Poems from Vietnam. Owersetts in Scots by Sheena Blackhall. Published by Malfranteaux Concepts. ISBN : 978 1 870978 90 3 (2012)Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen Front Cover: Jessica Le Blackhall. Back Cover: Jessica Le Blackhall & her great grandmother, Lac Le Thi, in Dien Ban Quang Nam, Da Nang. Cost: £4.00. Copyright: S. Blackhall. This is the writer's 15th collection of short stories. I am indebted to Nga Le Blackhall, my daughter in law, for providing the photos throughout this publication, with the exception of those of the monkey, the turtle photos and the gecko. The front cover photograph, taken in the farming village of Dien Ban Quang Nam in the province of Da Nang, is of Jessica Le Blackhall, my grand-daughter. The back cover photograph is of Jessica Le Blackhall (aged 1) with her great grandmother, Lac Le Thi (aged 92) also in Dien Ban Quang Nam. Most of the poems are Scots owersets of Ca dao by Sheena Blackhall from English translations on Wikivietlit by Linh Dinh. Linh Dinh was born in 1963, in Saigon, Vietnam and is a Vietnamese-American poet, fiction writer, translator, and photographer. ‘The term ca dao (derived from a line in the Wei Wind section of the classic Chinese folk poetry anthology, Shi Jing, or Books of Odes) can be loosely translated as “unaccompanied songs.” Ca: to sing; dao: to sing without music. The ca dao poems, transmitted orally, sustained and nourished the Vietnamese language through its centuries of domination and influence by China…Outside of the official purview, the ca dao poems flourished, telling of the everyday life and concerns of ordinary Vietnamese. The poems tend to be short--with many comprised of a single couplet of fourteen syllables (three less than a standard haiku)--but there are also many longer ones with 20 lines or more. Ca dao can be of four-syllable lines, with end rhymes.’ Linh Dinh

The Poems: Cleaning the Apostle Spoons

Cleaning the Apostle Spoons: Poems in Scots & English, Published by Malfranteaux Concepts Aberdeen, ISBN 978 1 870978 59 0. Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. Cover:An adaptation of a Wikipedia jpg by Sìne NicTheàrlaich Cost: £4.00 Copyright: S. Blackhall 2012. ‘The history of humanity is one of migration, settling, then more migration. Whether the migration is defensive or aggressive is almost secondary in the long run. The fact is people move and ever faster, ever further now than they have ever done. The process of identifying with a place, a state, a language, a history, or a group of some sort whether religious or ethnic or kin, involves a complex and troubled negotiation between conflicting forces. The places we cling to are in the imagination as much as in time and space though we welcome the confirmations of time and place when we can get them.’ Extract from http://georgeszirtes.blogspot.co.uk. Apostle spoons were particularly popular in Pre-Reformation times when belief in the services of a patron saint was still strong. They were found in large numbers in Germany. Originating in the early fifteenth century in Europe as spoons used at table, by the sixteenth century they had become popular as baptismal presents for godchildren. In some communities they were used until at least the mid-twentieth century. In the Spirit of the Kaki Tree and Dandy Disraeli are due to be published in ‘Inspired: A Collection of Poetry’, by Forward Poetry, Peterborough in Autumn 2012. Some of these poems have already been published on http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall. Many were written during a Summer break in Glasgow; the war poems are due to appear in The Field Marischal’s Brandy, an upcoming Malfranteaux Concepts pamphlet. A Question of Science was written to mark the The British Science Festival (4 – 9 September 2012, hosted by the University of Aberdeen.

The Poems: Impossible Gifties

New collection of ten poems
by Sheena Blackhall
celebrating Edinburgh's Book Sculptures
exhibited as part of the GIFTED Tour
at Aberdeen's Central Library until September 6th 2012

(Gifted Tour organised by the Scottish Poetry Library in partnership with
Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature).

Impossible Gifties will be available from Severin Books early in September.

The Poems: The Merry Dancers

The Poems The Merry Dancers: ISBN 1 870 978 22 4. A collaboration between Tom Hubbard and Sheena Blackhall. Poems, ballads and tales from the North Sea and the Baltic, in Scots and English, published by Malfranteaux Concepts, Aberdeen 2012, printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street, Aberdeen. Cover designed by Claire Hubbard. Kirkhill Primary School in Aberdeen was working on a project for children, ‘Stories from the North Sea Shore’, which aims to link the east coast of Scotland with its neighbouring coasts in mainland Europe. The idea inspired this joint pamphlet of poems by Blackhall and Hubbard exploring the folklore and translations from points along these coasts and some way inland, for general readership. The pamphlet is their response to the cultures of Aberdeenshire, Fife, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgian Flanders, Baltic Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway and the Faeroes. A Writer’s Residency at the Château de Lavigny in Switzerland gave Dr Hubbard the time and conditions to work on his part of the closing stages of the project. Both Blackhall and Hubbard are graduates of Aberdeen University. Claire Hubbard graduated BA in Design and Creativity from Dundee College.

The Poems:Steens

STEENS:Poems & Tales in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall. Pub. Malfranteaux Concepts Aberdeen July 2012 ISBN 978 1 870978 22 4. Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. Cover: Amoghavira c/o Dhanakosa Buddhist Retreat Centre, Balquhidder.Some of these poems were written on a writing retreat at the Triratna Buddhist Centre, Dhanakosa, in June 2012. Others were written on research at the Orkney Islands in July 2012. Various poems have already been published on http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall.

The Poems: Matzevot:A Walk on the Face of Gravestones

The Poems: Matzevot: A Walk on the Face of Gravestones. ISBN 9778 1 870978 19 4. Published by Malfranteaux Concepts, May 2012 Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. Some of these poems were inspired by works in the Aberdeen Artists’ 2012 Exhibition. The Animal Refugees is to be published in a forthcoming schools’ anthology published by Madhubun Education Books for classes 1-8 in Uttar Pradesh, India. Another poem submitted to Inspired? Get Writing, (the National Galleries of Scotland) won a certificate of Special Merit. Buddha at the Bodhi Tree, Sri Lanka, is published on the Dong Hung Temple Buddhist Education Centre website, Sri Lanka. The Korean owersetts are published in the magazine Cabhsair/Causeway Volume 3 issue 1. In Praise o Lallans is published in Lallans magazine. Several poems were written during an on- site visit to Cambridge. The stories were written as a result of historical research carried out for the children’s book, Apardion,published by the Aberdeen Reading Bus. The English poems will be published on http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall. My Favourite Place in Scotland: Balquhidder Eden, appears on the website hosted by the Scottish Book Trust and BBC Radio Scotland. See http://sheenablackhall.blogspot.com for a comprehensive list of the poet’s work. May 2012 Copyright, Sheena Blackhall

The Poems:Three Cats Flying

The Poems: Three Cats Flying.Three Cats Flying. Pub: Malfranteaux Concepts, Aberdeen 2012 ISBN 978 1 870978 32 3. March 2012. The Cover: ‘In 1941, Jewish-American photographer Philippe Halsman met the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí in New York City and they began to collaborate in the late 1940s. The 1948 work Dali Atomicus explores the idea of suspension, depicting three cats flying, water thrown from a bucket, an easel, a footstool and Salvador Dalí all seemingly suspended in mid-air. The title of the photograph is a reference to Dalí's work Leda Atomica (which can be seen in the right of the photograph behind the two cats.) This is the unretouched version of the photograph that was published in LIFE magazine. In this version the wires suspending the easel and the painting, the hand of the assistant holding the chair and the prop holding up the footstool can still be seen. The frame on the easel is still empty. The copyright for this photo was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office but according to the U.S. Library of Congress was not renewed, putting it in the public domain in the United States and elsewhere...The photograph is Halsman’s homage both to the new atomic age (prompted by physicists’ then-recent announcement that all matter hangs in a constant state of suspension) and to Dalí’s surrealist masterpiece "Leda Atomica" (seen on the right, behind the cats, and unfinished at the time). It took six hours, 28 jumps, and a roomful of assistants throwing angry cats and buckets of water into the air to get the perfect exposure.’ (Extracts from Wikipedia).Some of these poems were inspired by the exhibition From Van Gogh to Vettriano, Hidden Gems from Private Collections (2012), Aberdeen Art Gallery. The stories emerged from historical research funded by the Aberdeen Reading Bus, into some of the city’s heritage sites. The English poems are published online at http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall. I am indebted to Sir Duncan Rice for bringing to my intention The Death of Kjartan and Audun’s Bear, which are here rendered in Scots. The cover is a copy of Dali Atomicus by the Jewish-American photographer Philippe Halsman.

The Honey That Came From The Sea

The Honey That Came From The Sea

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The Chimaera Institute

The Chimaera Institute

Now available as a free eBook, download it free at Smashwords.com choose from all of the popular formats.

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The Poems:Thorgunna's Curse

Thorgunna’s Curse(ISBN : 978 1 870978 26 2), Poems & Tales in Scots & English was
published by Malfranteaux Concepts, Aberdeen in Jan. 2012 & printed by Thistle Reprographics, (thistle_repro@btconnect.com).Cost: £3.00,copyright: S. Blackhall.The cover is a copy of La mort: mon ironie dépasse toutes les autres! (1889), from a collection of Odilon Redon lithographs at Gallica. Some of these poems have already been published in the Aberdeen Evening Express, in Northword Now Autumn/Winter 2011 and in Remembrance: Poems for Armistice Sunday 2011 (Malfranteaux Concepts) . Others appear in A Celebration of Marischal College, Lys Wyness (Aberdeen Town & County History Society 2012)and on http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall. Various stories were written as a result of historical research carried out by the poet for the children’s history book Apardion, published by the Reading Bus Press (2011). Buddha- Frost appears in Tales from Satan’s Grotto (Malfranteaux Concepts)other work appears in Poetic Justice: A Collection of Poems on the Theme of Human Rights, published by Amnesty International Aberdeen Group. Causeway / Cabhsair Issue 4 features the poem Hemingway and the short story The Dream of a Fisherman’s Wife.

The Bairn Books: Apardion

The Bairn-Books:Apardion, a Leopard’s Quest 2011 (pub.The Reading Bus ISBN 987-0-9564837-8-2 is written by Sheena Blackhall with Illustrations by Julie Lacome and edited by Bill Burnett. It is the 5th commercial book produced by The Reading Bus, launched on 27.10.11 at Marischal College Aberdeen. The book tells the tale of a spirit from the Northern Lights who visits Aberdeen to discover if this might be his birth place. Apardion visits 14 heritage landmarks on his travels and at each discovers secrets from the past. With a foreword by HRH Duchess of Rothesay, the book will be a springboard to engage schools across Aberdeen to research the heritage of their Granite City. The 12 Associated School Groups in Aberdeen are being encouraged to adopt one of the heritage landmarks in the book, sponsored by different businesses and will research its rich history and culture. Their findings will be translated in a variety of mediums including film, podcasts and literature. These resources will be shared through a dedicated web site and an App, which will allow both visitors and citizens of Aberdeen to enjoy an interactive virtual or actual tour of the heritage landmarks. The finished website and App will be published in June 2012.

The Poems: Hen Utopia

The Poems: Hen Utopia (ISBN 978 1 870978 10 1 ) is a volume of poems written by Sheena Blackhall, published by Malfranteaux Concepts, Aberdeen, in October 2011, and printed by Thistle Reprographics. The Wickerman Moment appeared in 9/11-TEN (Malfranteaux Concepts, Aberdeen) & was performed at New Words 2011. The Haddo Mothers was written prior to appearing at the Doric Festival’s Chapel Service at Haddo (2011). The Gossiping Sacra Scriptura was written over the Poetry Scotland Weekend at King’s Bookshop, Callander. The Sacrist appears in storyform (spoken) on www.readingbus.co.uk under the Apardion section. Incomin won first prize for best Scots poem in the Wigtown Poetry Festival, 2011. Estranged, Not Home Now & On Death Row were written around the event Turning Point: Any Questions Panel chaired by Sir Kenneth Calman during the Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival, Glasgow, October15th. The Singin Sycamore was published in the P&J by Robbie Shepherd. Others have already been published on http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall.

The Poems: Bluid-Kin

Bluid-Kin: Poems in Scots and English by Sheena Blackhall. Published by Malfranteaux Concepts, Aberdeen. Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen
Cover: Sìne NicTheàrlaich.(2011) ISBN 978 1 870978 19 4. Bryan Sykes, professor of human genetics at Oxford University claims that everyone in Europe is descended from seven women, who arrived at different times during the last 45,000 years, to form clans that eventually became today's population. He concluded this by studying mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down from mothers to children.Haplogroup K appeared 16,000 years ago, as populations followed the retreating ice northward. Tests show that Oetzi, the 5,200-year-old remains of a Copper Age man frozen in an Alpine glacier, belongs to haplogroup K, the DNA grouping shared with the poet Sheena Blackhall. It is found in Britain, the Western European Alps, and 32% of Ashkenazi Jews. In Europe its frequency is 5.6%. By 1931, Ashkenazi Jews comprised nearly 92% of world Jewry. The eminent Jewish-Scottish scholar David Daiches stated that Scotland was the only European country which has no history of state persecution of Jews. Aberdeen and Dundee had links to Baltic port which had large Jewish populations; it’s probable that Jews came to Scotland to trade with their Scottish counterparts. Some of these poems have appeared in Enormities (Malfranteaux Concepts, Aberdeen, ISBN 978 1 870978 70 5). Others have already been published on http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall. Two will feature in a forthcoming issue of Poetry Scotland (Callander). Half of this collection was written at Balquidder, Callander, the remainder at Oban and Mull.
 

The Short Stories:

The Chimaera Institute is a collection of seven tales by Sheena Blackhall, published as a limited edition in 2011 by Lochlands, Aberdeenshire, and printed by Thistle Reprographics. The cover is a copy of The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli (1741-1825).
The Nightmare contains significant elements of sleep paralysis and has become almost an icon for the phenomenon.
Most of the seven tales are loosely based on urban myths. Anecdote, rumour, gossip...urban myths can straddle all those categories. Often they are short, like fables and can be told quickly in a paragraph or two. The tales in this book draw from various sources. The Book of Nasty Legends by Paul Smith (Fontana Paperbacks 1984: ISBN 0-00-636856-5) is one source. Another is the late Stanley Robertson, who liked to tell a version of ‘The Bridge’ in the form of a joke. (Of course it has much darker possibilities.) Ghost tales collected from the Aberdeen area mention a servant sacked for the loss of a fiver, wrongly accused of theft who subsequently committed suicide, and this is woven into ‘The Keeper of the Kennels’.

The Poems:Crannog Woman

Crannog Woman,Poems in Scots & English is a limited edition and the 80th poetry pamphlet by Sheena Blackhall.It was published in June 2011 by Malfranteaux Concepts, Aberdeen (ISBN 978 1 870978 972) & printed by Thistle Reprographics. The cover is designed by Sìne NicTheàrlaich. Some of these poems were inspired by works in the Aberdeen Artists’ 2011 Exhibition, or in response to articles displayed in the Exhibition ‘100 Curiosities in King’s Museum’ which opened on 17th April 2011. Some of these poems have already been published on http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall. A selection was performed at the Aberdeen University Word Festival in May 2011. Two or three were written as a result of historical research carried out by the poet for a forthcoming children’s book, Apardion, to be published by the Aberdeen Reading Bus in the autumn of 2011.The songs Versailles and The Neptune were written and performed during the Portsoy May Festival, 2011. Soroptimists was specially composed for the Soroptimist Society. The Liggers’ Stane was written to perform at the Aberdeen Town House at a conference concert to celebrate the Battle of Harlaw.The concluding poems are Scots owersets of various international poets.

The Bairn Books: Mr. Pavlova's Comb-Over

The Bairn Books: Mr Pavlova's Comb-Over (ISBN 978-O-9564837-7-5)is published by the Reading Bus. A Limited Edition has been printed by Thistle Reprographics, Aberdeen, however you can download your own free version of the book from the Reading Bus website, www.readingbus.co.uk. Look in the Books section. Download your own e-Pub for your mobile device by clicking here. Or copy and paste this link in the browser of your i-Pod, i-Phone or i-Pad https://files.me.com/readingbus/1lrxlx The book will open in i-books for you to enjoy.Or you can download the file as a PDF by clicking here Or copy and paste this link into the browser of your computer https://files.me.com/readingbus/3l4neb
Re. the theme of turtles,a poem for adults by Blackhall, The Flight of the Turtles will be published in New Writing Scotland 29.
Mr Pavlova's Comb-Over is illustrated by the poet under the name of Sine NicThearlaich.It was previewed at the University of Aberdeen's Word Festival in 2011To hear Blackhall discuss Doric with Jessie Kesson and Billie Kay, google-search Kay's Originals on You Tube.

The Poems: Census Matters

Census Matters ISBN 978 1 87098 83 5 Poems & Tales in Scots & English Published by Malfranteaux Concepts, Aberdeen Cover: Sìne NicTheàrlaich Cost: £3.00 Copyright: S. Blackhall 2011 Friday Tsunami is published in Poems in the Wind ISBN 978 1 870978 80 4 Published by Malfranteaux Concepts. Lumphanan’s Witches was written in response to a request by Duncan Lockerbie of Lumphanan Press, Roddenbrae, Lumphanan, for a poem to add to an anthology raising funds for the Lumphanan Heritage Society. http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall. Four Doric poems, The Duchess o Richmond an Gordon, Roseile, Scolty, and Denlethen, were written to feature on panels erected by the Forestry Commission. The Fruit of Paradise and The Aipple were published in The Core 1SBN 978 1 870978 78 1 (Malfranteaux Concepts, 2011). Ballad is an owersett in Scots of a poem by John Clare. (An owersett in Scots of Clare’s poem November, appears in the 2010 Best Scottish Poems online, chosen by the editor Jen Hadfield. http://www.spl.org.uk/best-poems/index.htm The Lovers of Union Square appeared on Union Square’s Facebook and Twitter entries. It was specially written for their Valentine’s Event, 12/2/11. In the Room Next Door was published in Love Poems for Valentines, ISBN 978 1 870978 60 6, Malfranteaux Concepts 2011. Three poems were inspired by Under the Covers: Nursing the Soldiers of the Great War as part of ‘The Caring Profession’ project. Nurse Jeannie L. Daniel’s autograph book contains poems, epithets and sketches contributed by soldiers convalescing in Oldmill Hospital, Aberdeen (now Woodend) between 1917 and 1918. Blackhall was invited to participate in this project by Dr Colin MacDuff of RGU. Wame Mates & Le Temps Menaçant are published in Issue 10 Pushing Out the Boat, May 2011. Some of the poems were produced by Blackhall in her capacity as Makar of Aberdeen & North East Scotland. For a comprehensive list of Sheena Blackhall’s work, see http://sheenablackhall.blogspot.com. Finally, thanks are due to Thistle Reprographics for their expertise and speed in producing the book itself and to Malfranteaux Concepts for publishing it.

Poetry Pamphlet no 78 May 2011

The Poems

The Berserker:Poems in Scots & English Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire
Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen Cover:Lewis Chessman ‘The Berserker’ drawn by Sìne NicTheàrlaich Cost: £3.99 Copyright: S.Blackhall 2011. An English version of ‘The Pirate’ appears in ‘Happily Ever After: A Creative Collection, Forword Press ISBN-10: 184418563X, 2011, (a children’s anthology). ‘The Wids o Clune’ was written for the Pitcowdens Project. ‘The Devil’s Right Hand Man’ is published online: (http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/family-legends/stories/author). ‘Bus Jaunt from Ho Chi Minh’ was written after a trip to Cambodia.

The Bairn Books

The Bairn Books:Millie (ISBN 978-0-9564837-4-4) is a bairn-book written in Doric by Sheena Blackhall and illustrated by Bob Dewar. The book is edited by Bill Burnett and was published by the Reading Bus (Aberdeen) in 2010, as part of a team project managed by Jenny Watson . Ian Hudghton MEP contributed the foreword. The book has its own website, http://web.me.com/readingbus/Millie, which will eventually have sound translations in 30 different languages from around the world. Blackhall contributed to previous Reading Bus publications, the anthologies ‘Fit Like Yer Majesty’ and ‘Nae Bad Ava’.
Working as Storyteller & poet on the Reading Bus, she has also assisted pupils, storytellers and artists in the following team projects:
Titanic:ISBN. 9780951137377 (Cornhill Primary 2007)
The Chief o Mounthooley’s Kilt: ISBN 978-0-9558904-3-7 (Causewayend Primary 2008)
Crocorattie: ISBN 978-0-9558904-4-4 9 (Donbank Primary 2008)
Rockraptor: ISBN -978-0-9558904-6-8 (Kittybrewster Primary 2009)
Loch Ness Monster ISBN-978-0-9558904-5-1 (Cornhill Primary 2008)
Aul Aiberdeen ISBN 978-0-9564837-1-3 (Cornhill Primary 2009)
The Woodcarvers of King’s College Chapel ISBN 978-0-9564837-2-0 (Woodside Primary 2009)
Wishes and Legends: Stories & Springboards (2010)

The Poems: The Caledonian Anaconda

The Caledonian Anaconda (ISBN 978 1 870978 83 5) was published by Malfranteaux Concepts (46 Portal Crescent Aberdeen AB24 2SP)in 2010, and printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. Some of the English poems appear online at http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall. Other poems will appear in The World is your Oyster: published by the Forward Press ISBN 9781844185566. The Flicht o the Fite Moch won the Hugh MacDiarmid Trophy in the Sangshaw 2010 competition. The Tree o Life was awarded third prize in the Sangshaw short story competition. Hector the Hoolet & Anely an Act o God were both highly commended in the prose section. Fulfilling part of Blackhall's commitments as Makar of Aberdeen & the North East, two of the songs were specially written for the Gallowgate Doric Celebration, in the 2010 Doric Festival. Another two songs were composed and performed at Gadiefest 2010The wartime poems were written for the Malfranteaux publication, Enough (Nov. 2010) featuring poems by a number of poets. Other pieces will appear in the spring of 2011 in Poems in the Wind,(Malfranteaux publication) featuring a selection of poets. The Twa Faces Bride is published in Causeway Issue No 2, 2010. Some of the material in this pamphlet will feature in Lallans 77.

The Songs: Volume III

Sangs &Poems for Bairns: Volume III was compiled in part as a result of Blackhall’s outreach role as Creative Writer in Scots at the Elphinstone Institute (www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/kist )led by Dr Ian Russell.During this time she visited over 200 schools. Her work promoting Scots with children continues, working for Jenny Watson on www.readingbus.co.uk. The photograph of the poet was taken by her daughter, Kenna Blackhall in 2009 when she was created Makar of the North East of Scotland.

The Songs: Volume II

Sangs & Poems Volume II contains material Blackhall has performed in Washington, Sidmouth, Gadiefest etc. She has twice won the Press & Journal trophy for best traditional singer, and twice won the Joe Leonard trophy for best song written in the traditional style. (Her grandfather, Alexander Middleton wrote Cornkisters in the Deeside area). In 2001 she won best overall newcomer in the TMSA competition. For some years she competed at the Mod with the Aberdeen Gaelic Choir.Cuthbert Graham described her as 'The Singing Poet'. He also described the North East as 'The Singing Land.'

The Songs: Volume I

The Songs : Volume I
Sangs & Poems Volumes I,II and III were recorded at Captain Tom’s studio, Ann Steet, Aberdeen. They are live, unedited recordings, made after many requests from the public to have such an archive available.
Copies are lodged with the Elphinstone Institute Aberdeen, and the Scots Resource Centre Perth. Sheena Blackhall learned many songs from her grandmother, Lizzie Philip, and her father, Charles Middleton. The photo was taken the year that Blackhall went up to Gray’s School of Art. Soon after she met John Watt Stewart and Blin Robin Hutcheson, North East travellers, who taught her more ballads from their traveller heritage.

The Poems: Wittins

Wittins; A Selection of poems by Sheena Blackhall published by diehard publishers, 91-93 Main Street Callander Scotland FK17 8BQ ISBN 978-0946230-82-2 , September 201 compiled with an introduction by Sally Evans, editor of Poetry Scotland, and a foreword by Joy Hendry, editor of Chapman Magazine. diehard poetry is a series of books published at Kings Bookshop Callander (formerly Old Grindles Bookshop, Edinburgh). Their list, comprising some fifty titles, goes back to before the founding of Poetry Scotland, and has continued through the recession with seven new poetry chapbooks. Wittins was launched at the Callander Poetry Weekend, one of the revolutionary diehard metallic bindings series. These are designed as beautiful gifts, sewn opening flat, Trip-to-Jerusalem style bookbinding and a nod to the e-reader in the metallic finish of the decorated boards.

The Bairn Books: The Mink

The Mink: Bairn Poems in Scots by Sheena Blackhall Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire, September 2010 . Cover: Sìne NicTheàrlaich. Some of these poems were written to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe, in the Urban Garden in the Cowgate.

The Poems: Moon Cakes and Hinney

Moon Cakes & Hinney: Poems in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall. Published by Malfranteaux Concepts, Aberdeen, Agust 2010. Cover: Sìne NicTheàrlaich
ISBN 978 1 870978 81 1. Some of enclosed poems have already been published on http://www.poemhunter.com/sheena-blackhall. The Turkish poems were written during a stay at Marmaris in July 2010. The Vietnamese & Cambodian poems were written in August, during the period around the marriage of the poet’s son Ross to his Vietnamese bride, Nga, in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Poems: The Storm Nursery

The Storm Nursery:Poems in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall was written from April-June 2010 (Malfranteaux Concepts, Aberdeen ISBN 978 1 870978 77 4). The Cover is a copy of a Painting by Caspar David Friedrich:The Wanderer above the Mists 1817-18. Some of these poems were written during 11-18th July on Wolf at the Door,a week’s creative writing retreat at Dhanokosa,Balquidder, led by Ananda & Manjusvara of the Triratna Buddhist Order (formerly known as the Western Buddhist order).Various poems were inspired by the Aberdeen Artists 76th Exhibition.

The Poems:Tick Tock

Tick-Tock: Poems in Scots and English by Sheena Blackhall
Published by Lochlands,Maud,Aberdeenshire)written Jan-May 2010. Some of the poems appear in Pushing Out the Boat (2010) launched at the Word Festival. Others feature in Canvases 29, a small anthology produced by Malfranteaux Concepts. The poet's English poems can be seen on www.poemhunter.com

The Short Stories: Isle o the Deid

Isle o the Deid : Short Stories in Scots by Sheena Blackhall (Malfranteaux Concepts, Aberdeen,ISBN 978 1 870978 63 7, 2010) is dedicated to the Watts of Fadlydyke Farm, Maud, New Deer. The cover is a copy of Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Bocklin. It contains an interview with the writer, entitled 'Walking with Peewits Crying' conducted by Ruth O'Callaghan, a Hawthornden Fellow, published in Markings, issue 29 in 2009. The preliminary accounts of 'Isle o the Deid' are owersets in Scots based on eye witness accounts of the sinking of the MS Estonia in 1994, in which 852 people died. The legend of the Flying Dutchman is very old. Legend is based on a traditional Scots ballad. 'The Rockin Cheer' is Blackhall's version of a traditional tale told to her by the late Stanley Robertson. 

The Poems:The Skreich

The Poems: The Skreich
The Skreich, Poems in Scots & English was written by Sheena Blackhall in the Winter of 2009-2010 during a stay in Norway. It was published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire. The cover is a copy of 'The Scream' by Edvard Munch. Some of these poems had been published in Chapman magazine and Poems in the Wind, a small collection of poetry by Malfranteaux Concepts.

The Bairn Books: Victor Vratch the Craa

Victor Vratch the Craa: Bairn Tales in Scots , was written by Sheena Blackhall in 2009, and was published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire and printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. The cover is by Sìne NicTheàrlaich. All tales in their English form, were broadcast originally on Nickety Nackety, a programme for children on Radio Scotland. Frieda Morrison was the producer.

The Poems: The Ship of Fools

The Ship of Fools : Poems and Prose in Scots & English, was written by Sheena Blackhall in 2009. Published by Malfranteaux Concepts, 46 Portal Cresent, Aberdeen, and printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen , the cover by Sìne NicTheàrlaich is copied from a Mediaeval print. Most of these poems were written during a visit to Belgium; one of the poet's ancestors, Johan Crab came from that region. see:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/learning/secondary/nonfiction/users/leerie.shtml

As part of her duties as Makar for Aberdeen and the North East, poems or songs are occasionally written, either by commission, request, or because the Makar appears at an event. Guernica, The Dust of Life & Victims, was written for ‘Peace & Prejudice’ an event organised by the group http://www.deadgoodpoets.co.uk/ and also appear in ‘One’ an anthology pub. by Malfranteaux Concepts, 2009. The Bishop is published in a regional Anthology pub. by Forward Press, to commemorate 21 years of the series. The Watchie was written at the Grassic Gibbon Centre as part of their festival. The Wickerman was written at Archeolink, during Gadifest. A Traivellin Man was written on August 7th at the funeral of Stanley Robertson. It was broadcast by Robbie Shepherd on Radio Scotland, and published by Leopard Magazine. For Rab, was written for the Stonehaven Burns Fatherland Group. The Scots Enlightenment was written for Helena Anderson Wright’s education project on Burns. Aberdeen Rap was written for the Aberdeen Convention Bureau’s Annual Ambassador’s Awards. Troubled Water was written for ‘Putting it Right’, an event at the Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival 2009. Deveronvale Perfection was requested by a Bennachie Baillie. The Rescue was written on reading an Aberdeen uni. media release. The Ship of Fools was inspired by a voyage on The Lady of the Lake, organised by Sally Evans as part of Poetry Scotland’s annual Poetry Weekend. The Social Workers’ Rant (& Lament) was commissioned by Maureen Ross for the 4th Annual Practice Learning event at RGU. Lucky was amongst the prizewinning stories in Lallans mag. 2009 competition. During 2009 the poet's son Ross Blackhall was working at St. Petersburg.

The Bairn Books: Cats in a Gale

Cats in a Gale: Bairn Poems in Scots & English
Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire
Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen
Cover: Sìne NicTheàrlaich
Cost: £5.00. Copyright: S. Blackhall 2009