Eight New Scriptures
uncovered in Inverness!
For eight days in 2007, I immersed myself in the metaphysical
miscellanies of this Highland Capital. And Lo! during this time, I
uncovered new documents and cultural artifacts within the districts
of the town from Merkinch to Madras forming a pilgrimage all around
the city. It's like The DaVinci Code on Highland steroids, only
better! It's not the Chronicles of Narnia but it sounds a little
like it... It is Invernessiana.
Invernessiana is actually a body of research looking for a home,
but I am keen to bring it to fruition. It leads on where Polyfaith
left off and could be improved and is another city wide tour. Only
this time, I aim to improve the digital side of things, have more
audience participation and generally create a genuine 'world' for
people to experience on headphones, in situ or remotely...
1. Joanna MacPhee has no feeling in her left arm.
2. Simon Scott scored the winning goal at school.
3. The PC wrestled a deer to the ground.
4.The local peacemaker tried to split up a fight outside a pub only
landing himself in court.
5. Jeff Thomson is extremely tall.
6. Nina Robertson is the best Gaelic speaker in town.
7. Pam Johnstone couldn't afford to keep her flat warm over
winter.
So just from those seven facts I discovered in Inverness, we have a
person with a dead left arm, but who loves football, speaks Gaelic,
goes to pubs, was tall enough to wrestle a deer but whose kind
deeds are their only reward as they reap no financial security and
therefore they currently live in a poor part of town. In this way,
from interviews with Invernessians and using material from
archives, I am hoping to create an everyfolk(man/woman/child) based
entirely from what I glean from my interviews. This will form a
true "spirit" of Inverness, to roam the city and impart stories,
religious practices and narrate the world of Invernessiana.
Like Polyfaith, I want there to be "stations" of the tour that the
tourist (who I will call a pilgrim) will encounter in the geography
of the street names in the city. Here's some research about one
part of town. Madras Street.
Under the floorboards of the Madras Street Mission, a pilgrim came
upon an ancient text. On one side it was written in Gaelic. On the
reverse it was written in Hindi. It is impossible to date. I could
only afford to get the first paragraph translated...
"One day, ye shall notice that we are all more similar than
different and ye shall discover this bothe in the Highland toun
(sic) with it's Spirited Water (Inverness) and the toun of thine
spicy Indian concentration (Madras). Lo, at the point where bothe
(sic) cities merge, at that point (Madras Street, Inverness), bothe
tongues shall fuse. Bothe cities shall take your utternaces
tuneful, utterances praise worthy and utterences repetitive when a
36 year old man from the North of England gets involved, ye shall
write a new tune, a third way... and ye can blame it all on
him..."
Train of thought 01 :
Elements of Gaelic and elements of the Scots tongue are phonetic
brothers to some Indian dialects. Is there, therefore a
racist-busting opportunity by bringing together or swapping or
fusing a Gaelic psalm-singing congregation or choir, with a group
of Hindus chanting the Vedas? Are we brave enough to perhaps even
forge a piece of chanting of the two together?
Your humble narrator was struck at the similarities between Vedic
Chanting and Gaelic Psalmady or psalm-singing - both of which
evolved without much influence of each other. These were sonic
similarities but they stirred the soul with strikingly similar
musical stealth. As someone who chants quite a lot, I am also
struck by the health benefits vibrating a repetitive tune over the
heart, with words that are meaningful to the individual. I was
listening to Ness FM's internet archive and was stunned to hear an
Indian pronunciation of Stornoway become indecipherable from the
Gaelic. I realised a Free Church did good work on Madras Street and
wondered if somehow I could bring Madras to the Church, and forge a
musical composition informed by both cultures.
Train of thought 02 :
I have been able to use a sample of Inverness Cathedral Organ, and
I have re-edited the recording to form a drone - the drone being
something that Scots & Indians / Indian Scots share in common,
in fact, going beyond ethnicities.
Train of thought 03 :
I would also like to design a workshop using some residents of
Madras Street (ideally) who like me, cannot sing, but do so anyway.
I would like residents to work with me in creating this station of
the tour with new mantras, in their own language, which will help
them relax or focus or calm down, or use as a power tool to
maintain mindfulness. I have quite a lot of experience with
Buddhist mantras. Results of the workshop will make it onto the
official tour soundtrack when visitors walk down Madras Street
listening to the scripture and related mantras.
Above: Maggot Area of Merkinch, Inverness - Maggot is thought to be
a corruption of Margaret as in "Saint Margaret."
Above: Strange chalk marks on a church wall on the banks of the
River Ness