Elisabeth Flett
The audience for A’ Chiad Litir walked into Traverse Theatre 1 to discover the space was full of very Beltane-appropriate decorations for this early May performance: the onstage amps were covered in paper flowers and leaves, there were dried flowers tied to mic stands and nestled inside little vases across the stage area, and even the large red carpet spread across the floor was covered in flower-themed decorations.
The reason behind the theming was about to become clear, but before we all dove into the world of Marie Maitland we were treated to a highly enjoyable support set by two young folk musicians, Rae MacIver (piano) and Kisna Panesar (concertina). MacIver and Panesar’s arrangements move between jazz-infused rhythms and deliciously crunchy chord progressions to delicately lyrical melodies, and I particularly enjoyed the playful chromaticism and funky syncopations featured in their final set. I look forward to hearing more music from the duo in the future.
Queerness is older than language – even Gaelic!
After MacIver and Panesar’s performance came the main act of the evening: A’ CHIAD LITIR – THE FIRST LETTER, Josie Duncan’s new commissioned work celebrating the life and writings of sixteenth-century Scottish poet Marie Maitland. Joined onstage by Charlotte Printer (bass and vocals), Eilidh Rodgers (percussion), Chloe Bryce (fiddle and vocals) and Jenny Clifford (guitar and vocals), Josie (vocals, harp, tenor guitar and effects) introduced us to the theme of the evening’s gig first with a joyfully tongue-in-cheek projected short film about the etymology behind the term Lesbian and then with a song addressed to Maitland herself: “Dear Marie.”
The church walls are thinner now, they do not silence love. Marie, the world has widened. Marie, the world has brightened.
Duncan herself immediately brightened up the stage, beaming at an already enraptured audience as she introduced us to our new reality for the following hour: we are in 1550 Scotland, the world of Marie Maitland, where “writing was power, and power belonged to men”, and where women who loved other women had to hide that love for fear of what might happen to them if they were found out. The videography on the projection screen transported us from the Traverse Theatre 1 to a world of grassy meadows, leafy trees, glittering water and flickering candlelight, inviting us to step back into historic Scotland and imagine the world known by Maitland five centuries ago. We did not stay there, however: Duncan soon whisked us away to visit the historical sapphic figures known to Maitland as she wrote her poems, and celebrated still by queer writers today.
After a stop off in Ancient Mesopotamia, we headed to Ancient Greece and a song for Lesbos’s Sappho. Duncan’s Gaelic stomp-beat looping incantation was full of hypnotic chants worthy of Sappho’s own ritualistically spiritual offerings, the song creating the dizzying feeling of being back there in time with Sappho’s school of dancing, defiant girls, the rich vocals with shimmering, intricate harmonies. Other songs included a sweet love ballad – “my heart, my body, all yours, all yours” – and an ode to the goddess Diana, Òran Diana, which was a catchy, driving folk-pop number which gave Eilidh Rodgers’s excellent percussive skills an opportunity to truly shine.
Then we were back to the world of Marie, and the words of Marie herself. Historian and writer Ashley Douglas – author of the upcoming book about the life of Maitland, With My Own Hand – came onstage to read one of Maitland’s poems, her powerful performance underscored by a beautifully haunting musical accompaniment by the band.
“There is more constancy in our sex than ever there was amongst men,” wrote Maitland. “[…] such constancy shall us maintain in […] amity forever.” It was deeply moving to hear her work read so many hundreds of years after she penned her poems, the words spoken out loud into a room full of people with freedoms she could barely have imagined. Duncan described the evening as a celebration of her legacy, and in that moment the real person behind that grand legacy felt very real indeed.
The quality of musicianship displayed onstage throughout the performance was truly outstanding. Duncan’s songs – a mix of Gaelic and English – are imaginatively written and showcase her abilities within her craft, and her easy charm with the audience kept us engaged throughout. Special mention should also be given to the band’s impressive ability to pull off intricate multi-part harmony backing vocals in two different languages, and to Chloe Bryce’s hauntingly lovely fiddle playing.
By the time the performance ended and we re-emerged into twenty-first century Edinburgh, it was with the feeling that we really had collectively just gone through a journey through queer time. In the words of Ashley Douglas, “women who love women have always existed”. A’ CHIAD LITIR is a beautiful ode to one of those women – one who should be better known, and better celebrated. Hopefully this is the first performance of this show, but not the last.
Performances of A’ CHIAD LITIR have now concluded at Edinburgh TradFest.
Recommended Drink: Something decidedly fruity.
Shay Mace
