Seeking Stories of the Wicker Man
By the Route Which Has Become Sacred to Our Rite: A new publication is looking for your tales of visits to the Wicker Man locations.
Next week will see the return of the podcast (after a few false starts!) with an episode featuring the highly influential Scottish hauntological musician and artist Drew Mulholland. The 1973 film The Wicker Man has been a lingering obsession of Drew’s; his album The Wicker Tapes even came with slivers of the original burnt stumps of the Man itself, which he collected decades ago on a visit to the filming locations.
Which made it all the more prescient to receive this information from the artist Eleanor Haswell of collective Son Oural, who are seeking your tales of ‘legend tripping’ to the Wicker Man filming locations for a new book project - read on…
By the route which has become sacred to our rite
A publication by Son Oural
There is a good reason that 50 years later we are still hooked on the chilling story of the fool that becomes King for a day. With Ancient British traditions resurfacing, new generations of folk-fanatics are retracing the steps once walked by Hardy to create the cult classic we all know and appreciate to this day: The Wicker Man.
The new publication ‘By the route which has become sacred to our rite’, a title taken from a line by Lord Summerisle himself, delves into the unsettling beliefs and rituals across Ancient Britain that influenced this narrative. It will explore the lore and mythologies along a reminiscent journey through Dumfries and Galloway; an accessible guide to share a route that many can follow and embrace with ease.
But now, they want to hear from you. Do you have any stories of your journey exploring the sites of Summerisle? Do you have photographs marking the victory of the rugged stumps of Burrowhead, or sneaking through the alleyways in Kirkcudbright to seek the May Day procession?
Join Son Oural to explore spring ceremonies, sacrificial rituals, film fandom and gaining access to the beauty of Scottish landscapes via the wonderful world of The Wicker Man.
Son Oural, meaning ‘for sacrifice’ in the Manx language, is associated with burnt offerings to combat a murrain - a blight or curse on the land - in the nineteenth century.
Deadline: 1st July 2024. To share your stories or find out more information, please contact info@sonoural.com | Instagram: @son.oural
Random Bits of (Counter) Culture Got Me Looking Forward
Because I’m psyched about ‘em, I’ll add in here a few little tidbits - not recommendations, but things to look forward to, as they’re proper-new.
San Francisco label Other Minds Records releases somewhat out-there recordings and compositions and one I’ll be checking out is …we return to ground… by the Irish composer Karen Power, which pairs compositions performed by the Quiet Music Ensemble with field recordings all gestated over an eight-year period. Quiet is good. Quiet is the new fcked up.
Triarchy Press has just released / is just releasing (point of view) the new book The Ancient Device by Simon O’Sullivan, a fable of a novel about the English landscape, both real and imagined, and how we use storytelling to create / mediate / exist within it.
In the Field 2 is next week: a three-day event in London exploring themes, issues and practices in contemporary field recording. Online tickets are available for those who can’t make it to London (like, most likely, me, despite relative proximity) and the schedule is a mighty warrior of a thing, taking on some hearty topics with a who’s-who type offer from the 21st century world of audio field recording.