Songs of Scotland
A musical portrait of 1960s Scotland
- Description
- Questions & Activities
- Clip Details
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Description
Traditional songs set against various Scottish backgrounds. Includes: Glasgow street songs over shots of Glasgow city centre, tenements old and new, a children's swing park ("Pennyworth of Pins"), Glasgow Green ("My Johnny Lad"), football in street, wasteland ("Ally Bally Bee" / "Coulter's Candy").
Questions & Activities
Questions
- Do you recognise any of the songs? Try to find out their origins.
- Why do you think these songs survived for so long?
- Most of the people in film are poor. Do they appear to feel sorry for themselves?
- What atmosphere does the music create and how (think about lyrics, instruments, tempo, key etc.)?
- What different instruments can you hear?
- Do you know any traditional songs which are still sung to babies and children?
- How many different forms of children's entertainment can you see? How many are still common today?
Activities
Media Studies / Music: Import the film into editing software and remove the sound. Create a new soundtrack and/or voiceover which changes the atmosphere of the film.
History / Music / English: Find out about the traditional ballad forms. Write a ballad about life in modern Scotland.
Music: Find out more about modern artists who use traditional Scottish elements in their music and lyrics (e.g. Proclaimers, Idlewild, Eddie Reader, Malcolm Middleton, Karine Polwart).
Clip Details
Record Id | 007-000-000-293-C |
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Resource Rights Holder | National Library of Scotland |
Project Ref | 2235 |
Date | 1963 |
Genre | Documentary, Sponsored |
School Subject | Media Studies, Music, English, Social History |
Who | Films of Scotland (sponsor), IFA (Scotland), (production company), Laurence Henson, Edward McConnell (director) |
Where | Glasgow, Glasgow Green |
Attributes | Colour, Sound |
Clip Length | 4:07 |
Film Length | 16:00 |