Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Passing the time... In Quarantine?

Thanks for sharing Caledonia Archie. I’ve loved that song for a couple of decades and it’s been a while since I last heard it.

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Hi Jim, I used to attend an acoustic group session many years ago and Dougie was a regular. I didn’t know he was famous and a pro back then and I would play banjo backup quietly in the corner when he sang Caledonia so you could say (tongue in cheek) I played with a legend :grinning::grinning::grinning::grinning:

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That’s awesome. I mainly know of Dougie through an old Celtic compilation CD. Just pulled it out and saw that he did “Feels so Near” too, another great song. Our local radio station has a weekly Celtic program and thanks to that I think I can even pronounce Dougie correctly. :grinning:

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A bit like Doggy but change the o for uh Duggy some Scots would pronounce it Doogie. as in who or ooh!

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Maybe I was blowing it too. Dew-ge (ge rhymes with me), was the way I’ve been pronouncing it and no one has corrected me yet. But then I’m mostly talking to other Bostonians if it comes up at all.

Sorry I’m veering off again. Here’s that other awesome song for the people

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Pronunciation is often down to regional accents, Slight variations will occur in neighbouring town. Believe it or not the City of Edinburgh has regional accents streets apart.

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Sorry for the delay, just saw this. You can watch it at https://www.stationinntv.com/

Sadly they’ve discontinued live streamed shows after the lockdown was extended.

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Archie, does Edinburgh have a different name like Edinboro (or Edinborough)?

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Hi John. That’s a great question and I’d like to take this opportunity to try if I may to correct the spelling and pronunciation that many Americans struggle with when visiting Scotland.

First off there are towns in the US that are called Edinboro and Glascow they take on that spelling and it’s fine that folk pronounce it that way in the US. But here in Scotland it does rattle a few people when they hear our city’s being pronounced Edinboro and Glascow.

A wise word of caution when visiting a Scottish pub and you happen to use any of those pronunciations your appin to get an earful and a sprinkling of profanities thrown in just to add a splash of colour (note the spelling) from the local drunk sitting at the bar. You have been duly warned.

Let’s first take a look at Edinburgh. Americans will typically pronounce the second half of the name as boro or borro if they are trying to impress by Rolling their R’s. That’s a BIG NO NO over here,

You will note from the spelling that Edinburgh doesn’t have an O vowel but has a U as in UP and there in lies the secret. Burgh is pronounced Burr Ah or Burr Uh. Try it Ed - in - burr - Ah - or - Ed - in -burr Uh there’s a lifting of the note at the end not a dropping of the sound as in boro

To answer the question - Does Edinburgh have a different name - the answer is yes but it’s not what you might think.

To quote Wiki

“Dunedin (/dʌˈniːdɪn/ ( listen) duh-NEE-din; Māori: Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.”

Pronouncing the City of Glasgow as Glas :cow2: will have any Glaswegien turn on you like a red raging bull.

So gow is pronounced go as in stop and go. Not cow as in moo :cow2:

There are many videos on YouTube where some folk from Scotland have tried to cover this topic but sadly none seem to be able to contain themselves and get overwhelmed with the overuse of profanities. A sad reflection on Real Scots who know when and where to use those words more effectively.

So I found this tourist board video where the pronunciation of Edinburgh & Glasgow are correct but you’ll need to keep a sharp ear out because she doesn’t repeat the names. Enjoy.

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Archie, thanks for the explanation! I do not know how Americans pronounce the name but I have seen my father from India pronounce it like that, which was why I was curios if there was another spelling. Good to know what your folks think about the different pronunciation. So it’s not also pronounced like Ed - in - burr - gg, like the last part as in igloo, locally. I’m not planing on visiting Scotland but I had thoughts and chances about visiting your lake district once so you never know. I’ll keep that in mind. :slight_smile:

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Just in case there’s another panic run at the supermarket

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Thanks Archie. Being a Scot by heritage, I was very touched by this song; the words, the melody. (Of course, Caledonia is the ancient word for Scotland) I would like to work on a fingerstyle guitar arrangement of this song. Since my ancestors from Sutherlandshire were evidently involved and displaced by the infamous Scottish Highland Clearances of the 1800’s, this song seems to take on a personal meaning for me. Thanks for sharing.

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For your quarantine entertainment. Bluegrass Juggling even if you can barely hear a Béla Fleck

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Nice!

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:grin:Cool!

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Ouch !!! I recall a time when mine used to bleed. thankfully no more and no more pain to boot.

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My tips are always callused now… No pain or blood anymore.

I noted the @mharrison43, that your pinky is somewhat unscathed.

Perhaps more pinky exercises are on the schedule? :wink:

Seriously, I recently had some peeling further down on the pad of my pinky left hand… down from the tip. I think it was a complication of excessive hand-washing… as (thankfully) it didn’t affect my pinky - which is only slightly callused in a small area. :pensive:

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Yep…more pinky practice is in order for sure. :banjo::call_me_hand:

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I notice your Banjo Emoji! Cool!

Did you buy that Bluegrass emoji pack?

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