"LIKE MEMORIES OF ANOTHER WORLD"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 48, 24 May 1940, Page 24

"LIKE MEMORIES OF ANOTHER WORLD"

Celtic Songs And Their Singer 6¢ O matter in what distant land N he may be, there is a yearning which every Celt knows, deep down in his heart’s core, for his native land; there is a wee Island locked in his soul’s most secret thoughts, into which he creeps, and hears once more the ‘Ceol Mara,’ and sniffs the salt breezes of his Island shores." This extract from a preface by the Marchioness of Londonderry to a volume of Celtic songs gives the keynote to the Scots’ love of music and song, especially for their own melodies which they have taken with them to every corner of the earth. How did the Celts reach Scotland? Behind their culture lay ‘what traditions? Were they the inhabitants of the lost Atlantis? Were they the mighty race, "The Tuatha-Da-Danaan"? Did they retain in their subconscious minds dim recollection of themselves as a semi-mythical, beautiful people, half heroes, half gods? :

Well known as a concert singer and broadcaster, Nettie Mackay, of Wellington, has in full measure that love of her country’s song, and she has made her specialty the singing of these simple melodies. Coming from Scotland nearly twelve years ago, she and her husband, who can speak Gaelic, have lived in the capital city and have been prominent in many Irjsh and Scottish .national concerts there from time to time. Nettie Mackay received much encouragement from Sydney McEwen, and he gave her much music also. By dint of specialising she has now a wide knowledge of Celtic songs, can speak Gaelic-and perhaps most important of all, thoroughly enjoys her self-imposed mission of making these songs more widely known. She will be heard at 8.10 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29, from 2YA Wellington.