Traditional Scottish and Irish music fans. The series Port on TG4

[Ducatista47]

New thread because this is not you tube type streaming. The third season of the Scot-Irish series Port is being replayed on Irish TV channel TG4. It originated and ran on BBC ALBA, the Scots Gallic channel. It is traditional acoustic music from Scotland and Ireland, hosted by Julie Fowlis and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh. You might know these ladies from my previous rants. Watch it soon, because it does not stay up on some apps after (35?) days. So start with the earliest episodes. There is much Celtic language in both speech and song, but some English too. It doesn't matter to me, music being the universal language and all that. Someone please tell Heather is she doesn't see this. By the way, if the written language is too exotic for you, there is an "English" button on the website. Subtitles are also available, but I admit that spoils it for me so I don't use them.

There is quite the variety of music on each episode, so if you don't like something be patient. If you don't like the last song before the credits on episode one (there is an episode 0), someone might check to see if you have a heart.

I found it on the internet (Not TV) through the apps offerings on my Sony television, but TG4 has a player on the web. I did the homework for you and the direct link to the episodes is http://www.tg4.ie/ga/clair/port-season-3/

[BMWCCA]

Thanks for another great recommendation. I needed Chrome's "translate" function, I will admit!
Went straight to the last tune in Episode 1. Lots of talented people in that one.

I'll look for it on my Sony BluRay machine next time I boot it up.

[Ducatista47]

I'll look for it on my Sony BluRay machine next time I boot it up.

Indeed, the Blu-ray Sony player should allow easy access to the TG4 app. The reward is high def picture and sound on your TV. I'm watching it that way.

I should have provided the English web link. I personally enjoy the challenge and the additional cultural rush of the languages I do not understand, but I am probably in the minority there. My favorite new music scene is Norway's, and I don't speak a word of that.

There is currently a workaround for a problem with the available subtitles. Just because I don't want them is no reason to deny them to anyone.
Optional Subtitles
We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our subtitles on some browsers. We are working to resolve this as soon as possible. Meanwhile, you can access the subtitles via our IOS App (free to download).
To choose subtitles, press cc in the player controls.
If we have Irish language subtitles available, these can also be selected as an option.
If you are viewing on Explore 8, Windows ’95 or older platforms, these changes will not function. You need to upgrade your browser to avail of the subtitles.
Please let us know if you have any difficulty.


The only difference in the URL, for future use and reference, is the /ga/ has been changed to /en/. What is called the Irish language is known elsewhere as Gaelic. If you are from a predominantly Irish speaking district, like Muireann is, you are from the/a Gaeltacht. Thus "ga". Mind you, the Scottish flavor of Gaelic is named "Gallic" in English.

http://www.tg4.ie/en/programmes/port-season-3/

[Ducatista47]

There are six surviving or revived Celtic languages. They are found on the Northwest edges of Europe, the last places to go before you drown. The Celts (properly pronounced "Kelts") were dominant but never coalesced into a Nation-state, so the Romans easily pushed them and their culture steadily West and Northwest.

The six are Breton (in Brittany, a NW district in France), Welsh, Cornish (Cornwall is that finger of land at the SW corner of Britain), Manx (Isle of Man), Scots Gallic (the Outer Hebrides NW of the Scottish mainland), and Irish (districts on the West edge of Ireland). The fascinating culture of Galicia survives at the edge of the Iberian Peninsula, North of Portugal in what is now Spain, but the language is lost. They still use the bagpipes. They have a newer language, not Celtic but Galician, but it was suppressed by Franco's Spain just like Celtic and Native American languages were. Not allowed to be taught in schools, students punished if they spoke it. Galicians are NOT Spaniards, and their music is not Spanish.

The reason I am attempting to impart this knowledge on a music forum is because Celtic music is as vibrant, unique and as celebrated as Celtic culture in general. It is also beloved by most who hear it, whether they know it is Celtic or not. A similar survival is Icelandic, brought back from the dead by the Icelanders after centuries of Danish occupation destroyed the language as surely as England attempted to destroy Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Cornish culture and language. The difference is, Icelandic is Norse, not Celtic; it is the language of the Vikings. Not surprisingly, I am very fond of current music from Norway and Iceland.

Links follow for the curious.

In one episode of Port, you will hear a song about "Silkies", the Selkies of Scotland. Highly recommended, the John Sayles film The Secret Of Roan Inish. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selkie

Galician music with bagpipes, drum and tambourine. A wedding celebration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2lD0PH971g

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_languages

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_language

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaeltacht

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic

[hjames]

Thank you, thank you (just found your thread) ...
looks like a busy weekend tracking all this down -
and yes, there is charm in hearing the native speakers in their language ...

[Ducatista47]

http://www.tg4.ie/en/programmes/port-season-3/

[hjames]

Thanks for another great recommendation. I needed Chrome's "translate" function, I will admit!
Went straight to the last tune in Episode 1. Lots of talented people in that one.

I'll look for it on my Sony BluRay machine next time I boot it up.

Your sony Bluray has a web browser function??

[Ducatista47]

Your sony Bluray has a web browser function??

Mine sure does. And coax and RCA out as well as the standard HDMI. (Sony currently still includes coax out when last I checked.) It also talks to my Sony Bravia TV and I can use either remote. Clark is a big fan of Sony audio and visual gear. If I were to start over again today knowing what I now know, I would see if Sony has any Class D gear and skip the audiophile equipment trip all together. As it is, I also have an even older Sony BRP that reads SACD. Keeping that!

The Bravia is a newer vintage and has more advanced interfaces, but I use the BRP for YouTube because a recent update of YouTube freezes Bravia TVs but not my (newer) old Blu-ray player. The TV would still be stuck if a visiting friend had not cast his android phone to it. That unintentionally but happily broke the spell, a fix I have not found on the help sites.