The Beatcroft
By Tom Morton
The BeatcroftFeb 29, 2020
Sconesong: meditation on the retirement of James Martin from the Peerie shop Café in Lerwick, Shetland
The scones he made
Just off the Esplanade
Were baked freshly every single day
Now James has left
And we are bereft
He's gone from the Peerie Shop Café
I cannot think
Without his Cullen Skink
And his shortcrust quiche lorraine
What can I say
About his mackerel paté?
We will never taste the likes again
He was occasionally grumpy, I'm not lying
He supported some Embra team, there's no denying
He put up with rude newspaper reporters
But he was even kind to animals, and Rangers supporters (sometimes)
I have cheese and fruit
And a plain scone to boot
Saved in the freezer for future generations
I have the recipé
But made by me
They just cause dental devastation
To the Olive Tree
Temporarily
Where the coffee and the food are splendid
But Old Lerwick's grief
Is beyond belief
We've lost the scones on which we all depended.
Copyright Tom Morton, 2023
Musical Discoveries from Discover Scotland Magazine, with Tom Morton - September 2021
Tom Morton's monthly hour of music from Scottish artists old, new and almost forgotten...or never heard of. Brought to you by Discover Scotland Magazine, the only online, multimedia free magazine for those interested in Scotland. discoverscotlandmagazine.com
Musical Discoveries with Tom Morton, August 2021
A selection of songs with Scottish roots, brought to you by Discover Scotland Magazine and presented by Tom Morton
Colin Clyne - Within Hindsight
Michael Marra - Hermless
Findlay Napier - Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice
Randolph's Leap - I Can't Dance to This Music Anymore
Blue Rose Code - Edina
Adam Holmes and the Embers - I Can't be Right
Sorren Maclean - Science or Fiction
Lindisfarne - Clear White Light
Rab Noakes - Your Clear White Light
Stealer's Wheel - Let Yourself Go
Karine Polwart - Dignity
Musical Discoveries July
July's Musical Discoveries, presented by Tom Morton, is a selection of Scottish music ranging from the new to the old, the raucous to the reflective, the traditional to the cutting edge. From veteran garage rockers The Primevals to folk soloist Alasdair Roberts, from brand new music by Del Amitri to Robert Bruns interpreted by The Silencers, and including Simple Minds, Calum Easter, Lola in Slacks, Blazin' Fiddles and more.
The Beatcroft (Unsociable): Garage to garage and back via car port and driveway. Warning: contains poetry
Tom takes a trip back to the 1960s and some of the crunchy, clangy best of garage rock from the USA, from The Seeds to the Standells, with detours to Holland and the UK, topping things off with some of the scurrilous verse he's been writing recently and some newer tracks from The Primevals, Kissing Bandits and Screaming Blue Messiahs. Contains no football, except in the pejorative sense.
The Passing Place with Tom Morton and Drew Ratter- Power, Corruption and Lies
Tom Morton's Musical Discoveries - June 2021
Tom's personal compilation of music by Scottish artists or with a Scottish connection, courtesy of Discover Scotland Magazine, the world's only full colour, online multimedia magazine for people who love Scotland - or would just like to get know more about the country. Tracks include: Cocteau Twins, Cherry Coloured Funk; Donovan, Wear Your Love Like Heaven; Jesus and Mary Chain, Just Like Honey; JSD Band, Cousin Caterpillar. Gerry Rafferty, Mary Skeffington; Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells, the Coppertop; Five Hand Reel, Ae Fond Kiss; The Beta Band, Dry the Rain, Belle and Sebastian, Lazy Line painter Jane, and Idlewild, These Wooden Ideas.
Strange Tales from Thin Places: Spite. All Hallow's Eve
As published in the October 2020 edition of Discover Scotland Magazine.
A man alights from the train at Culrain on the Far North Line, in the shadow of Carbisdale Castle, known locally as Castle Spite. Where is he going? What is in his rucksack? And who is the strange figure pursuing him across the hills as he heads west?
Full text at Discover Scotland Magazine or on Tom's blog - thebeatcroft.com
Strange Tales from Thin Places: Ghost Car
As featured in the September 2020 edition of Discover Scotland Magazine (formerly Scotland Correspondent.
Listen here or read it at www.scotlandcorrespondent.com
Strange Tales From Thin Places: Sea Monsters for Lunch
As featured in the August 2020 edition of Scotland Correspondent Magazine. Thomas MacCalman Morton dives into the terrifying world of Shetlandic sea monsters. Read the story in the magazine or listen online here.
Samuel Pepys's Shetland war crime
Another strange tale from one of Scotland's thin places, by Tom Morton, as published at scotlandcorrespondent.com
Strange Tales from thin Places: The Brogans
A Strange Tale from one of Scotland's Thin Places. Written and read by Thomas MacCalman Morton. for the full text and illustrations, got to scotlandcorrespondent.com. It appears in the June 2020 edition.
Strange Tales from Thin Places, by Thomas MacCalman Morton - volume three: George Rae, the unpaid plague doctor of Edinburgh
Strange Tales from Scotland's Thin Places, Episode Two: An Up Helly Aa Souvenir
Thomas MacCalman Morton's Strange Tales from Scotland's Thin Places takes you to the parts of Scotland where the barriers between the natural and the supernatural, the earthly and the spiritual, the magically monstrous and the everyday, are thin or barely exist at all. Places where the past mingles with the present, peculiar creatures arise, ghosts and apparitions walk and festivals may represent more than at first may be evident.
In An Up Helly Aa Souvenir, Thomas takes you to the side of Shetland and the viking festival of Up Helly Aa which is never mentioned: the obscure, lost rituals of a tiny Shetland community where Up Helly Aa could have meant much more than dressing up as a viking and burning a boat. Much, much more...
Strange Tales from Scotland's thin Places. Episode One: The White Wife
Thomas MacCalman Morton retells stories from throughout Scotland, all of them centred on the 'thin places', where folklore comes to life, the barriers between the natural and the supernatural vanish, and the paranormal becomes the new normal. Hhosts, apparitions, history impinging on the present, and the magically monstrous making uncanny appearances. Each month a new tale.
Episode One takes you on a journey to Unst in Shetland, Scotland's northernmost inhabited island. And the appearances there of the White Wife. Which continue to occur.
The Sound of Scotland Correspondent - an introduction, March 2020
Scotland Correspondent is the world's only free, online monthly magazine for those interested in all things Scottish. Every month, the team behind the magazine will bring you insights into what is online right now and what you can look forward to in the future.
In this first podcast, Paul Kelbie, editor and founder, and Stewart Cunningham, photographer, talk to columnist Tom Morton about how the magazine styarted, what's available currently and what will be coming up in March and in the future.
Check out the magazine at scottishcorrespondent.com, and our other podcasts available here at Scotland correspondent Sounds