A Green Man Review

She who invented words, and yet does not speak; she who brings dreams and visions, yet does not sleep; she who swallows the storm, yet knows nothing of rain or wind. I speak for her; I am her own. ― Catherynne M. Valente‘s The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden

It’s nasty enough out that I passed on my morning ramble around the Estate, as once again there’s a stiff wind along with a freezing drizzle — not quite what I would want to walk or ski in. So I settled in for a quiet day of reading and answering correspondence (my fellow librarians and book lovers still like letters), as Ingrid, our new Steward, took my apprentices for the day for them to learn what an Estate Steward does.

First, breakfast. I always drink tea as I never developed a taste for coffee no matter how good it was. So it was lapsong soochong, a loose leaf first blush smoked black tea from Ceylon. With a splash of cream of course. And a rare surprise too — apple fritters served with thick cut twice smoked bacon, using apple wood only, and yet more apples in the form of cinnamon and nutmeg infused apple sauce. There was even mulled cider for those wanting even more apples in their breakfast fare! Thus fortified, I turned to writing the What’s New for this week…

In a trip through the archives, I started down the Yellow Brick Road and somehow ended up in the land of gargoyles and medieval architecture! Along the way I found a lot of interesting books, as you’ll see. So let’s start where I began, with the books of L. Frank Baum.

Cat did an omni review of two volumes, The Annotated Wizard of Oz, and The Annotated Alice, the two great works of English language fantasy of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Of the Oz book, annotated by Michael Patrick Hearn, he says, ‘Hearn is the foremost authority on everything of importance about this novel, having spent his entire adult life studying the novel and its impact on culture. Everything you need to know about this book is here: the contemporary references, (e.g., was Baum commenting on the silver vs. gold standard); the critical interpretations; an insightful look at the author; and even an in-depth look at W. W. Denslow, the man who illustrated the first edition. There’s also a definitive bibliography of Baum’s copious published and unpublished work.’

Chuck took on the daunting task of reviewing all 13 of Baum’s sequels to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in a superb omnibus review that you should definitely read. ‘Baum also produced 13 sequels, as well as several other books taking place in Oz’s universe). I have, over the last several years, read all 14 of Baum’s Oz books to my son as bedtime stories and enjoyed every one of them. Indeed, I dare say the original, The Wizard of Oz is middle-of-the pack when it comes to my favorites.’

Faith succinctly reviewed Evan I. Schwartz’s Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story: ‘Finding Oz is a biography of L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books. Rather than being one of those ghastly concoctions that look at their subjects’ public lives in total isolation from the private influences on them, Finding Oz painstakingly catalogues Baum’s private and public worlds from infancy on up.’

Lahri was ambivalent about The Kansas Centennial Edition of Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but not the iconic story itself. ‘For those whose only trip to the wonderful land of Oz has been by the annual Thanksgiving weekend TV showing of the 1939 Warner Studios/MGM movie, you owe it to yourself (and your kids) to read the original book that started it all. The characters are considerably more alive, and Baum’s thinly veiled metaphors about the decline of American farms and the industrialization of the country at the turn of the 20th century are as powerful reading for adults as the story’s fantasy elements are for kids.’

As I said, somehow my path then took a meander through medieval architecture and specifically gargoyles, and the occasional green man. Why don’t you come along?

Despite not being much of a reader of short fiction, Cat enjoyed Nancy Kilpatrick and Thomas Roche’s anthology In The Shadow of the Gargoyle. ‘It’s important to stress that the definition of gargoyle gets really stretched in this anthology, beyond “decorative rain-spouts guarding old churches” to include things out of nightmares, angels, things that might be hoaxes, sheela-na-gigs, and much more.’

Cat realized he should have included a couple of other gargoyle books when he reviewed the above anthology, so he did an omni review of them: Stephen King and f-stop Fitzgerald’s Nightmares in the Sky, and Janetta Rebold Benton’s Holy Terrors: Gargoyles on Medieval Buildings. Of the former, he says, ‘King’s essay very neatly complements the photographs of Fitzgerald. This is a visually magnificent book, excellent to use as a reference for understanding what a gargoyle is. … This is a book any lover of gargoyles should have in their library.’ And of the latter: ‘Janetta Rebold Benton is a professor in Art History, so her viewpoint is that of a scholar — quite knowledgeable and just the right level of passion. Her area’s Medieval Art, so gargoyles, which are quintessentially medieval in nature, are right up her mew!’

Speaking of things medieval, Cat also reviewed another anthology, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling’s The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest. ‘Amazingly, everything is better than good, and most are simply fantastic. There’s hours and hours of great reading here.’

He went on to review a delightful chapbook, Anthony Hayward’s The Green Men of Birmingham, many of which were from the 19th century. ‘Victorians were fascinated by the Gothic architecture of their ancestors, and that naturally included the green men that are found in many a Gothic church. Architects used many of the same symbols and decorations as the medieval trades did, so the foliate heads were a natural for their artist endeavors!’

Finally, Laurie gives us a review of Ronald C. Finucane’s Miracles and Pilgrims: Popular Beliefs in Medieval England, which, she says, ‘…examines the connection between faith-healing and medicine. Because the medieval period had less scientific knowledge than our own, the pilgrimage was as standard a form of medication as aspirin is in our own day and age.’

As cold temps are the rule of the day, Denise takes a look at Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Cocoa Mix. She found it a lovely way to start the day, and perhaps even enjoy the evening; “…if you’ve a mind, a splash of Kahlua and/or Bailey’s wouldn’t be amiss.” Now go see what she thinks cocoa lovers should give this one a try.

Gary liked just about everything about James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown, which tells the tale of the first few years of Bob Dylan’s musical career. ‘Timothée Chalamet totally nails Dylan and does an incredible job singing the songs — as does Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez. Ed Norton is a joy as Seeger, at once sagacious and sweetly naive. Boyd Holbrook kicks ass as Johnny Cash, and the screenplay rightly spotlights the role Cash played in Dylan’s career as one of his most ardent and vocal fans and boosters.’

Gary’s been thinking a lot about Johnny Cash since he saw A Complete Unknown. From the archives, here’s his review of a DVD called The Best of The Johnny Cash TV Show, 1969-1971. ‘In addition to Cash himself singing some of his biggest hits (“I Walk The Line,” “Hey Porter,” “Daddy Sang Bass,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” and “A Boy Named Sue”), here are some of the biggest names in country, folk and rock – not just from then, but from the entire era.’

Warren Ellis is a very prolific writer and he’s done quite a number of graphic novels down the decades.  So let’s take a look at some that we’ve reviewed.

Cat has a look at Global Frequency, a comic series that starts to seem frighteningly real: ‘Global Frequency is a organisation devoted to combating those incidents that are too extreme, too weird, or just too dangerous for the usual first responders to handle. Funded by the mysterious Amanda Zero, it consists of exactly one thousand and one agents, all of whom are specialists in something, say, for example, bioweapons or taking out snipers.’

Desolation Jones has, says Richard, ‘The long shadow of John Constantine lingers over the figure of Desolation Jones. But whereas Constantine is a spiky-haired Brit occult operative who abuses his odd network of friends while intimidating people into giving him answers by sheer force of personality, Jones is a spiky-haired Brit ex-spook who abuses his odd network of friends while intimidating people into giving him answers by sheer force of personality.’

And it just so happens that Robert got his hands on another of his comics, Ignition City: ‘I promised myself, when I read Warren Ellis’ Planetary, that I was going to become more familiar with his work. Well, up popped the first volume of the collected Ignition City, and it’s just as good.’ Is that serendipity, or what?

Robert has a comics series that — well, let him explain: ‘Planetary is a comics series that ran from 1999 through 2009, with gaps. Created by writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday, it’s what I can only call an archaeological thriller. Planetary is an organization that investigates “incidents” that don’t seem to have ready explanations. There is a field team composed of three members. The story opens as Jakita Wagner is recruiting Elijah Snow to become the new Third Man. The other member of the team is the Drummer — as he says, “First name ‘The,’ second name ‘Drummer.’’’

In new music, Gary reviews Opening, the third full-length release from the New York ambient music trio numün. He finds the ensemble and its collaborators ‘ …continuing to expand its sonic palette with woodwinds, violin, and vocals, while remaining true to the original concept of finding the place where eastern and western sounds can mingle in lightly psychedelic, acoustic and electronic ambience.’

He also reviews the debut album from The Baltic Sisters, which he says is ” …a mesmerizing collection of polyphonic folk songs from the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. The Baltic Sisters are Marion Selgall (Estonia), Laurita Peleniūtė (Lithuania), and Vineta Romāne and Liene Skrebinska (Latvia). The album, whose title is The Gateway or The Portal in the three languages, blends the folk songs of the three countries, sometimes individually and sometimes interwoven as seamlessly as their vocals twine around each other.

Some Norwegian alternative music, Stein Urheim’s Speilstillevariasjoner, caught Gary’s fancy. ‘Field recordings and spacey, often playful electronics mingle with the traditional sound of Norwegian fiddle and Urheim’s decidedly untraditional picking and plucking of the guitars and other stringed instruments in unusual open tunings. Lest I scare you off, fans of John Fahey will find many familiar sounds and motifs in Speilstillevariasjoner with those open tunings, the creative picking patterns, and incorporation of slides on several tracks …’

From the archives, Chuck reviews a couple of obscure albums centered on the English North Sea port of Whitby, Charles O’Connor’s Angel on the Mantlepiece: The Resolution Suite, and Ray Randall’s Polly Swallow. ‘Of these two recordings, the instrumental Angel on the Mantlepiece is the better.’

David, who edited The Rylander, a newsletter and blog dedicated to the music of Ry Cooder, for many years, turned in an omnibus review of Ry’s solo albums from 1972 to 1987, plus some compilations and best-of collections. It’s definitely worth a read!

David also reviewed John Stewart’s Havana, which he noted was something like the singer’s 40th solo album. ‘John Stewart, songsmith to such diverse artists as the Monkees and Pat Boone; ex-folkie; guitar stylist; and his own man. Havana is a fine addition to his catalogue, and a great place to start for the newcomer.’

‘It began its life in 1958 as a hit London musical comedy that lampooned the new musical fad known as rock ‘n’ roll,’ says Liz of Expresso Bongo, in her review of the original stage cast album. ‘Let’s see … musical fusion, ethnic diversity, black comedy, casual sex, cocaine and a rampaging “cougar” … is it any wonder that Expresso Bongo went way over the heads of its 1958 audience?’

Tim was enthusiastic about Barn Owls Live, an album of contradance music. ‘Energetic and creative, The Barn Owl Band makes me wish for a caller, a wooden floor, and a line of dancers. Lacking those, I don’t mind just sitting and listening to this live recording.’

Our What Not is on the matter of Complaint Choirs. So you might well be asking ‘What is a complaint choir?’ No, it’s not the musicians in the Neverending Session expressing their annoyance at having to wait too long for a fresh pint of Winter Ale, so go thisaway for the charming tale of them. Yes, charming.

Hedningarna is our music this time  with ‘Veli’ recorded at the Old Town School of Folk Music a quarter of a century ago. This is the more Faster Harder Louder end of the new Nordic sort of trad music with noticeable percussion. You also get to hear their lovely vocals as well!

Knit one, purl two. Knit one, purl two.

Oh, it’s you. Yes, of course, come on in. It’s good to see you again.

What am I knitting? A sock. I haven’t tried knitting socks for nearly 40 years, so it’s quite an adventure. Setting the heels is the bit that makes stronger women than I blench, but our Librarian, Iain Nicholas Mackenzie, is teaching me.

And why wouldn’t a man know how to knit? There was a time in Europe when most professional knitters and needleworkers were men, they tell me. Many the soldier learned to knit in hospital, too, in one or another of the long wars that have plagued humanity, especially since medical care got good enough for there to be hospitals for soldiers to mend in. Besides, it’s an Argyle sock, and Iain Nicholas is Scots, after all! (Though he assures me he’s from Skye, and I already knew how to do the Argyle bits…but that’s another story, and we won’t let on to him.)

To my mind, there’s something fitting about a librarian who knits, anyway. One of the few things I learned from my grandmother was how to read and knit at the same time. ‘There were long years when the children were small when the only chance I got to read was when I was knitting,’ she told me. ‘It’s all in the way you prop the book up.’ Many’s the hour I’ve spent doing both since then, I can tell you.

Mackenzie isn’t the only inhabitant of the Green Man Library who knits, of course. Several of the Several Annies had been after me to join them on Wednesday nights for their regular ‘Chix with Stix’ gatherings. I finally managed to get away last week, and it was a real eye-opener, I assure you.

I don’t dare name any names, but one staffer had a huge bag stuffed with eyelash yarn. You’ve seen it, even if you didn’t know the name – wonderfully plush stuff. She was knitting up a storm in the corner (and yes, it was raining at the time, come to think of it), making a scarf. She told me she has an arrangement with the foreman of the gnomes who work with Gus in the garden to supply them with a new hat and scarf each every year, and there are so many of them that she’s at it all year round to be able to present the new batch in the fall, just before the first frost.

A couple of other members of the staff were arguing over Aran patterns. They had several books out on the hearthrug. I’d always heard myself that each family in the Western Isles had its own patterns, to make identifying the corpses easier, you know, but I don’t know if it’s true or not. My own people have been on this side of the Water too long for that knowledge to have been passed down. Anyway, they were trying to decide what would make a suitable sweater for Jamie the Cavalier King Charles spaniel who lives on the island in the stream out back. He’s getting a little rheumatic, and another winter like last year’s might be the death of him. None of us want to see Jamie go — for pure mercy’s sake, and because Jamie as a ghost would surely be even more fearsome than Jamie in life. I have my doubts about how he’d like a sweater with an Irish pattern, myself. He’s pure Scots is our Jamie.

Liath ó Laighin, our distinguished Archivist, was perched on a stool, her slender fingers flashing in the firelight. Though actually, it was more the beads strung on her yarn that were flashing. When I asked her what she was making, she told me it was a beaded amulet bag. The silk yarn was so fine that she was using needles not much bigger around than ill-fed toothpicks, and the beads were gloriously rainbow-coloured crystals.

It was a while before I noticed the oddest sight of all. Two brownies sat cross-legged on the floor across from each other. They were industriously balling yarn, but the skeins they were working from were suspended in mid-air. Curiosity got the better of me, dangerous though that sometimes is in the Building, and I went to find out what was going on. After a few fits of the giggles, they finally explained that Hamish, our invisible hedgehog, was asleep between them, and that the skeins were draped over his spine. He doesn’t seem to mind, so long as they promise him a saucer of sweet cream when they’re done.

So while I doubt I’ll get there every Wednesday night, I certainly intend to be back with the other knitters as often as I can. You’re welcome, too, anytime, you know.

So it was a long year. Looking forward to this one, though. All sorts of things I can stand seeing the back of, you can always hope, can’t you? You want another one of those, or do you want to try Bjorn’s new batch of Midwinter Ale? Right.

There you go, darlin’. I think you’ll like it. They certainly do, we’ll be lucky to see the back of them by dawn!

Ah, it was the annual New Year dinner for their local — they’d be the Ancients and Venerables of our local Guild of St. Nicholas. They always come in here from the Guild Hall after the dinner bit and keep the party going. They say they start with a toast to the Guildmaster, Lord Winter, and His Lady at the beginning of the dinner and pretty much plan to not stop ’til the next morning — the excuse, see, is that they pretty much don’t get to drink during practically all of December. Hey, you think drinking and driving is bad, you try it in a sledge with eight reindeer to control!

Well, no, not everyone, of course, just the Santas — the store elves and tree trimmers, candle lighters, gift wrappers, roast chestnut sellers, bell ringers, and professional carolers can usually get away with a tiddle here or there, but even so, it’s professional pride and custom that keeps most of them pretty much sober and working hard.

That entire guild doesn’t even bother with meetings or events from the end of November to after the New Year. I think they run around rescuing members from exhaustion and over-exertion, mainly.

Yeah, they spend most of the dinner laughing about things that happened, like the time Dan there on the end had two handfuls of his beard torn out by a kid who was sure it was fake, or the time Marta, the dark haired girl on the right, she’s a Christmas pudding maker, she discovered that her daughter had decided to store the salt in the sugar bin after she’d made three hundred puddings. Good thing winter puddings are made well before Christmas.

Nah, we don’t mind. They start off noisy and laughing, but sooner or later, they’ll go pretty quiet, once the toasts start, and once most of the other customers have left. Reynard usually sends us off-shift and stays at the bar himself. Oh, people sometimes stick around and try to listen, but weirdly, they don’t seem to remember much, other than getting this sort of, I don’t know, confused, solemn but peaceful look on their faces and saying that everyone just talked, but they can’t really remember any of it.

Even Spike, who’s usually impervious to just about anything. I once came in the morning after the dinner, and Spike was sleeping in the armchair there by the window. When I woke him up and gave him some ale for his breakfast, I asked him if he’d heard any good stories last night. He sort of screwed his face up in this confused kind of way, then smiled just like a little kid, and said, ‘bah, well maybe, I guess. . . only, jus’, you know, there’s still a real meaning behind Christmas, innit?’ Then afterwards, he didn’t remember saying it, looked at me like I was crazy when I said something about it ten minutes later.

What? No! Of course we don’t try to find out. They start keeping those naughty and nice lists as soon as Christmas is over, you know!

Keep a little fire burning; however small, however hidden. — Cormac McCarthy’s The Road

We’re really in the harshest part of Winter on this Scottish Estate, so the residents of Kinrowan Hall, save the staff of Gus, our Head Gardener, who have livestock and buildings to tend, are quite content to stay inside. There’s always something to stave off boredom, be it reading or needed Estate chores, at which everyone on this communitarian Estate lends a hand.

So it comes to pass that we’ve been cleaning out the under the eaves spaces and no, unlike at Evenmere Hall, we didn’t precisely find a dragon there – though we did find the plans for a rearly big stone one. There was a lot of stuff to be moved or discarded as The Steward has an intent to create more staff housing in part of it. The spaces are heated already to keep ice from building up on the slate roof, so extending plumbing and power will be no big deal.

What kind of stuff? A crate of botantical books that Gus claimed for his workshop; a model of Kinrowan Hall wonderfully detailed with real glass windows and tiny roof slates, that will be displayed in the Library for everyone to see; maps of the Estate dating back centuries, which went to our Steward; dark green glass pickling jars more than big enough for whole cabbages and which had something odd in them; hand written copies of The Sleeping Hedgehog from the mid-eighteenth century; a crate of whisky laid down centuries ago for later consumption and didn’t I as  Pub Manager claim that fast; and some seelie impression balls of Elven performances of Elizabethan music which the Winter Court left here very long ago; and so forth.

Now let’s see what I found for you this time …

Gary here. I finished reading Sue Burke’s latest SF novel a few weeks ago, but it didn’t fit with the themes of the past couple of Green Man issues, so I’m presenting it now, along with a roundup of other books I reviewed in 2024. Burke’s ‘Dual Memory is a tale of late stage capitalism continuing to run amok as the planet continues to drown and boil, and refugees and raiders wash up on all shores, stressing humans and systems both built and natural. Burke has crafted a fast-paced, entertaining tale with likeable characters and a twisty, action filled plot.’

I didn’t review a lot of books in 2024, although I probably read just as many as ever. Mostly I came home from the library with a big stack of science fiction and worked my way through it. But as with many of us, I found that books now have to compete with lots of other things for our attention, from streaming entertainment to podcasts to just the online world itself. And of course I also re-read some old favorites. For the past 10 years since I first encountered them, Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead books have become my most re-read books. In 2024 the only one I re-read was Lila, which is in keen competition with Jack for my favorite of the lot.

But I began my reviewing year by wrapping up Neal Stephenson’s nearly 1,000-page Baroque Trilogy with the third, The System of the World. It was a satisfying end to the trilogy, which grew out of Stephenson’s very popular Cryptonomicon. It’s a series of historical novels (beginning with Quicksilver and continuing in The Confusion) with some minor SFF elements, notably one particular character who somehow travels through time and acts as a bit of cement holding together the entire series. In my review I noted that the trilogy “…follows three disparate characters through the tumultuous period at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century, when changes in politics, economics, and what we now call the sciences sent Europe careening toward the Enlightenment. It’s the final piece of the story of how the era’s “natural philosophers” slowly began to reject the accepted beliefs about how the universe was ordered, many of them based on classical Roman and Greek writings and others on the Bible. And of how the best thinkers of the day debated and fought – sometimes literally – over how to describe the new reality they were seeing through their telescopes and microscopes.”

I continued with the latest installment of what may be my favorite SF series of all time, Martha Wells’s The Murderbot Diaries. This one, System Collapse picks up right where the previous book Network Effect left off, with our friendly neighborhood rogue SecUnit, his human companions and his best frenemy the research transport ART trying to rescue a bunch of stranded colonists from their planet that’s trying to kill them. As I concluded, “Fast paced, darkly hilarious, and deeply humane as usual, Wells’s latest Murderbot story is just what the Med Unit prescribed to relieve your own boredom, trauma, or existential crises.” (I just discovered that I haven’t yet reviewed Network Effect, which I hope to remedy soon.

Even better news is that The Murderbot Diaries is coming to Apple TV+, and Martha Wells has been doing some interviews and social media postings around it including an interview in Locus, excerpted here. She’s posting frequently on Bluesky.

My only other review was a non genre book, Per Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses. ‘A bildungsroman set in rural Norway just three years after that country’s Nazi occupation ended with the War, the story is told in first person by Trond Sander,’ I explained in my review. ‘The narrative is split between late 1940s Trond and present-day (1999) Trond; he’s now in his 60s, retired, and setting up bachelor quarters in a remote cabin by a lake with only a dog for companionship. The surroundings and an encounter with a neighbor send his thoughts to things that happened in his youth that he apparently has not revisited in a half-century.’ This was a re-read for me, having first read and loved it shortly after its English publication in 2003. It’s an intimate psychological portrait of self-discovery, as young Trond loses the innocence of childhood and adult Trond deals with repressed memories and traumas.

Sue Burke’s Semiosis is currently on my pile of books awaiting my attention, so expect a review of that in the new year. Other than that, who knows? Perhaps even a cookbook or two …

Happy reading in the New Year!

Dark chocolate bread pudding… Cocoa in huge mugs with homemade marshmallows… Chocolate chip cookies… We here at the Kinrowan Estate love chocolate in all its guises, so it’s not surprising that we review chocolate bars here with this review being by Robert of three Ritter bars: ‘The bars in this case are all square and all weigh in at 100g (3.5 oz.), and all seem somehow weightier than an equivalent size of American chocolate — I suspect because of the shape and size: they’re all about 3 inches on a side and are actually very nice to hold in the hand (if you can restrain yourself from ripping off the wrapper and stuffing your face).’

Me again, Gary, back with some music reviews to start the New Year. But first, the Russian World Music Chart for 2024 is out, and one of my favorites, Vedan Kolod’s Birds, is perched atop the Top 20 for 2024.

In new music, I review a couple of related releases from Giant Step, The Fury’s Live In Brooklyn, and Jason Palmer’s The Cross Over: Live in Brooklyn. The common thread on both (besides great live modern jazz) is saxophonist Mark Turner, who I said ‘…stands out for me because of his generally restrained and lyrical approach. This is true whether on Brewer’s lovely ballad “Of Our Time,” Lund’s anthemic “Couch” or his own skittering “Ender’s Game.” ‘

I also review Scroggins & Rose’s Speranza: ‘Scroggins & Rose is an acoustic duo project of mandolinist Tristan Scroggins and fiddler Alisa Rose. Both are multiple award nominees including Grammys and IBMA, and Rose is a U.S. State Department Musical Ambassador. Their music slots right in with a lot of contemprary acoustic stringband music like Hawkwind, Tatiana Hargreaves, Alison DeGroot, Billy Strings, Oliver the Crow, Watchhouse, Bruce Molsky, Goat Rodeo, etc.’

There’s something about the Winter Solstice and the turn of the year that makes us want to sit by the fire and listen to some good Nordic music. Our reviewers have written about a lot of this music over the years; here are some of our favorites.

Cat reviewed a disc from Sweden’s Triakel. ‘Sånger från 63º N is probably one of the finest Nordic CDs I’ve had to pleasure to hear in quite some time. Triakel consists of Emma Härdelin (vocals), Kjell-Erik Eriksson, (fiddle), and Janne Strömstedt (harmonium) which makes them akin to what Våsen was like when I heard them play at Bowdoin College sans percussionist a few years ago.’

Donna offered up a retrospective of three discs involving one of the founders of the Swedish band Hedningarna: Anders Norudde’s Kan Själv!, Anders Norudde, Leo Svensson, and Goran ‘Freddy’
Fredericksson’s Med Hull Och Hår, and Lennart Gybrant and Anders Norudde’s Böndernas Underverk. ‘Anders Norudde, once known as Anders Stake, was a founding member of this band and is still a mainstay in their eclectic neo-traditional sound. We have had a copy of Kan Sjalv! (I can do it myself), his solo CD, since it was released. A few years later, we tracked down a copy of Med hull och hår (Line and Sinker).’

Jack looks at some of the early releases of the pan-Nordic trio Frifot, and Sweden’s dark folk rockers Garmarna. ‘Frifot bring together three superb musicians that create a truly unique sound: Per Gudmundson (fiddle and bagpipe), Ale Möller (mandola, hummared dulcimer, and flutes), and Lena Willemark (vocals and fiddle),’ he says. And of Garmarna: ‘This is serious, winterside music with Emma Härdelin’s deep, soaring vocals and violin forming the base sound of the group. Think dark when you try to picture what Garmarna sounds like.’

Relatedly, he also did an omni review of Lena Willemark’s När som gräset det vajar, Ale Möller Band’s Bodjal, and Maria Kalaniemi Trio’s Tokyo Concert. Of Willemark’s release, he says: ‘I’ve heard more Nordic neo-traditional CDs than I care to think of, and I can say that this is one of the very best I’ve heard!’

Jasmine turned in an in-depth review of three albums that blend Nordic jazz and folk elements: Morild’s Dromte Mig En Drom, BNB’s Ein Song Fra Dei Utsungne Stunder, and Poul Lendal’s Ønskebarn. Her favorite was the latter, of which she said, ‘All the tunes are quite short and mostly instrumental, which makes it easier to enjoy the entertaining, wildly diverse mecum of sound as individual gems. The liner notes at the end contain a blessedly useful and interesting English blurb for each track. The album is accomplished and diverse, and I have no caveats whatsoever: in fact, go ye and buy this frolic of an education.’

Judith had thoughts about Arctic Paradise, a promotional CD of Finnish music. ‘The CD has culled the best of “contemporary” Finnish folk music. Some artists, like Värttinä and Wimme, are fairly well known, but others will be familiar only to Nordophiles. Interestingly, only five of the tracks are traditional music, the rest for the most part are composed in a traditional style and many are transposed and fused freely.’

Kim liked the interpretation of the music of everyone’s favorite 12th century Abbess by Swedish folk rockers Garmarna, the aptly titled Hildegard von Bingen. ‘Hildegard’s music has been preserved with notations on melody, the lyrics, and some good (depending on the piece) guesses as to what she imagined for her compositions. I’ve heard other groups attempt to communicate her music, both in “medieval” form and adapted for modern instruments, but Garmarna’s effort is the only one that really works for me, so far. Garmarna bring something of the medieval into the now, seeming to tap into the nuances within the lyrics and melodies.’

She also heartily approved of a series of compilations from NorthSide called Nordic Roots, of which she reviewed the first three volumes. ‘Not only are the artists working here a great representation of some of the most creative artists in any traditional folk genre today, but the production values are extremely high, with sophisticated arrangements and judicious use of what the studio has to offer. As someone who listens to part or all of thousands of folk music CDs each year (no kidding!), these collections are more than a breath of fresh air, they are a comfort and a balm, and they create hope in even the most jaded listener.’

Lars took on the daunting task of reviewing all 28 CDs of the Folk Music In Sweden series, many of them taken from field recordings from the 1950s and ’60s. ‘In the middle of the 1990s the Swedish National Radio together with Caprice, a record company owned by Rikskonserter, a government agency aimed at supporting live music, started a project with the aims to present a broad selection of these recordings, arranged thematically, on CD. Up to date 28 CDs have been released, sometimes in boxes with two or three CDs in each.’

Our Summer Queen, ironically, reviewed Triakel’s Vintervisor, originally intended as a Christmas album. ‘… Triakel’s second release developed a broader theme while the trio was in the studio — winter. And not just any winter, a Swedish winter. This beautiful follow-up to 1998’s eponymous Triakel celebrates not just Yuletide, but Advent, St. Stephen’s Day, New Years and Epiphany with a glorious blend of tunes and words old and new, both joyous and somber.’

Our What Not comes courtesy of  the American Songwriter where Geoffrey Himes has an essay titled ‘Saying Something Human: A Look Back At The Child Ballads’ which has a lovely lead-in: ‘What do Bob Dylan’s “Barbara Allen,” Doc Watson’s “Matty Groves,” Fairport Convention’s “Tam Lin,” the Fleet Foxes’ “The False Knight On The Road,” Tom Waits’ “Two Sisters,” Sam Cooke’s “The Riddle Song,” Dr. John’s “Cabbage Head,” the Carter Family’s “Sinking In The Lonesome Sea,” Jerry Garcia’s “Dreadful Wind And Rain,” Joan Baez’s “The Greenwood Side,” John Wesley Harding’s “Little Musgrave,” Anais Mitchell’s “Sir Patrick Spens,” Sam Amidon’s “How Come That Blood” and Steeleye Span’s “Lord Randall” have in common?’

‘Nghtfaeries’, our coda music this time, comes courtesy of Paul Brandon,  author of one of my favorite novels, Swim The Moon. It’s by Sunas which is one of his bands which he founded in Brisbane, his home city. I do believe it’s a splendid note to end this edition on.

John: A knife! He’s got a knife!

Eleanor of Aquitaine: Of course he has a knife, he always has a knife, we all have knives! It’s 1183 and we’re barbarians! How clear we make it. Oh, my piglets, we are the origins of war: not history’s forces, nor the times, nor justice, nor the lack of it, nor causes, nor religions, nor ideas, nor kinds of government, nor any other thing. We are the killers. We breed wars. We carry it like syphilis inside. Dead bodies rot in field and stream because the living ones are rotten. For the love of God, can’t we love one another just a little – that’s how peace begins. We have so much to love each other for. We have such possibilities, my children. We could change the world.

James Goldman’s Lion in Winter

One of our centuries old Estate traditions among the inhabitants here is to leave presents anonymously for each other in places where the intended will be likely to find them. I was the recipient a few years ago of a leather case with silver workings for my button concertina. I suspected Ingrid, my wife, was the gifter but she said no and gave me a lovely goat shearling lined leather duster. Some of the gifts are clearly intended for everyone here, such as the new stove in the sauna that appeared overnight.

Mrs. Ware and her oh so talented Kitchen staff spend much of  the period from late November right through to lambing season providing lots of edible treats that are placed around Kinrowan Hall and the grounds as well, such as peanut butter sea salt dark chocolate fudge behind the bar in the Pub; s’mores ready for roasting in the warming hut out by the Mill Pond; and carefully wrapped clay pots of smoked sausage and veggie soup in the Barn for those doing outdoor chores in this cold weather, to name but a few of them.

But I keep myself busy here in the Pub and elsewhere in this Hall as my aging bones no longer tolerate the cold all that well as they used to. We old foxes need our warmth in the winter.  Iain’s off with his wife Catherine  on a concert tour in Sweden which means that I’m doing this Edition, so let’s get started…

Cat delved into Paul Davis’s The Lives & Times of Ebenezer Scrooge, a semi-scholarly book that investigates the cultural significance of Ebenezer Scrooge. ‘A Christmas Carol and Scrooge remain meaningful, as Paul Davis points out again and again in The Lives and Times of Ebenezer Scrooge, because they have been revised, adapted, condensed, expanded, turned into an opera, and modernized more than any other work in the English language (A Muppet Christmas Carol, anyone?).’

What’s a murder mystery doing in a lineup of Christmas books?! Well, Eric came around to liking Karen Harper’s The Queene’s Christmas, set in Elizabeth I’s court. ‘Murders and attempted murders threaten to disrupt the court’s Christmas festivities, and only Queen Elizabeth and her trusted group of friends (nobles and commoners) can root out the murderer.’

Jack had slightly mixed feelings about a book called Celebrate the Winter: Winter Solstice Celebrations for Schools and Communities, put out by The Revels and authored by John Langstaff, George Emlen & Patrick Swanson. ‘Celebrate the Winter is Revels’ second volume of seasonal music, dance and participatory drama focused on helping schools and communities in presenting participatory winter solstice celebrations,’ he notes. ‘It’s quite good for what it does, but bloody ‘ell, Revels needs to be a bit more innovative than they apparently are!’

Is it even Christmas without a little Dylan Thomas? Mia was thrilled with the audiobook of A Child’s Christmas in Wales and Five Poems. ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales has always been one of my favorite pieces, but reading it on the page, even reading it aloud, is nothing — nothing — like hearing it read by Dylan Thomas himself. Though this recording was made in 1952, I had never heard the reading until the 50th anniversary CD release this past year.’

Rebecca reviewed Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, an audio book of playwright Tom Mula’s alternate take on A Christmas Carol, narrated by Mula himself. She explains: ‘A few years ago, Mula says, a friend’s daughter pointed out that Jacob Marley got a raw deal in Dickens’s Christmas Carol. Thanks to him, Scrooge was redeemed, but Marley stayed in chains. Mula agreed that this was grossly unfair, and wrote his version of the story, told from Marley’s point of view.’

Richard waxed elequently about James Goldman’s Lion in Winter which has of course been turned into two successful movies. ‘Lion In Winter details one rather dysfunctional family’s Christmas gathering in France. Of course, the family is that of Henry II of England (including Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard the Lionhearted and the future King John, among others); the invited guest is Philip Capet of France, and the holiday gathering takes place at Henry’s castle of Chinon. No one’s mind is on presents; rather, everyone is thinking of provinces — who controls them, who gives up which in exchange for which concession, and so on. A merrier holiday gathering could hardly be imagined.’

I’ve been looking for an article I remember being in The Sleeping Hedgehog on eggnog on how it came to be a tradition here maybe forty years back but I can’t find it. What  I do have is Jennifer Stevenson’s recipe for eggnog for Stay Home Egg Nog Fluff as she calls it so you can try it out in your drink making.

I’m know it won’t surprise you that everyone has food traditions. Our Editor asked a number of folks about what Winter Holiday food and drink traditions they had. By the way Ellen Kushner,  a Winter Queen for us a few years back, answered concisely with ‘latkes and candle-lighting’.

Aurora compared and contrasted the two film versions of James Goldman’s Lion in Winter: Anthony Harvey’s 1968 version, and Andrei Konchalovsky’s from 2003. ‘Goldman’s story is a fictional account of the Christmas court held to determine the future king. A complicated story this is, and the wit in the script combined with the actors’ stellar timing make it worth watching again and again,’ she says of the earlier version. ‘I can fully recommend both versions to anyone who might be interested in this little bit of fictionalized history. In fact, watch them both, one after the other in either order; you won’t be sorry.’

For something a little lighter, Craig reviewed It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie and he had some misgivings. ‘In fact, the main thing I noticed about It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie was the amount of sexual innuendo. Not only is the “Voulez vous coucher avec moi, c’est soir” line from Moulin Rouge featured (and given a funny twist) in the “Moulin Scrooge” centerpiece (the highlight of the feature), but lines about topless bars, ogling of cleavage, and a stereotypically “dramatic” gay character (who admires Kermit as he walks away) round out the mix.’

It’s not actually a graphic novel or comic, but The Polar Express is lavishly illustrated and Christopher just raved about the 20th anniversary edition. ‘A child on the cusp of losing their belief in Santa and the magic of Christmas is the protagonist of (and perfect target audience for) The Polar Express. This book brings that struggle into the light as it makes the case for believing and magic. Its potent magic lies in the utter simplicity and clarity of the story line combined with the phenomenal illustrations.’

In new music, Gary says “Put this one on your holiday party playlist,’ speaking of Tree Jazz: The Shape of Christmas to Come, a jazzy holiday album from Matt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O. ‘ mean, who else would mash up the syrupy modern Christmas classic “Do You Hear What I Hear?” with the Queen/Bowie megahit “Under Pressure.”?’

‘It’s quite wonderful actually,’ Donna said of The Jethro Tull Christmas Album. ‘The songs are interspersed with instrumentals, again based on traditional seasonal songs. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “Pavanne,” and “Greensleeved” (Anderson’s interpretation of “Greensleeves”). The music is classic Tull, solid rock, with Celtic and classical flourishes.’

Gary found the music on Nils Økland & Sigbjørn Apeland’s Glimmer perfect for the Winter Solstice. ‘Smack in the middle of the tracklist are two traditional pieces that lighten the mood considerably. The transcription “O, venner” (Oh, Friends) is warm and uplifting, with both of the musicians providing lots of twinkly improvised grace notes. And even warmer is the lovely, hymnlike “Se solens skjønne lys og prakt” (See the beautiful light and splendor of the sun), which was a perfect listen on the evening of the solstice, I assure you.’

Jayme pulled out all the stops in his review of Smithfield Fair’s The Winter Kirk. ‘Don’t expect non-stop jingle bells and a happy brass section blowing away. What Smithfield Fair instead offers up are tracks built around vocals. Particularly striking are “The Lord’s My Shepherd” and “The Lord’s Prayer/What Child is This?” along with Dudley-Brian Smith’s recitation of the respective biblical passages in a gruff Scottish brogue prior to the beginning of the song. It simply feels like medieval Scotland.’

Kim had high praise for Christine Lavin and the Mistletones’ The Runaway Christmas Tree: ‘This is a refreshing change from those horrid holiday songs that blare out at folks in every public place here in North America, and a great choice for a family holiday soundtrack. The music is lovely choral arrangements that will not grate on adult ears, and will please those with chamber music leanings.’

A full 20 years ago now, Steeleye Span put out its first winter holiday album, appropriately titled Winter. Lars in his close review said it was ‘…not only the Christmas album of the year, but also proof that Steeleye Span is once again to be considered a major force in music.’

Our What Not this time starts off with a look at Charles de Lint’s Newford Stories: The Crow Girls. Of all the immortal shapeshifting being that inhabit the Newford stories, the most charming at least for me are Maida and Zia, the two crow girls, who look like pinkish teenagers all in black naturally. After you read Cat’s review, you can experience them first hand in A Crow Girls Christmas written by (obviously) Charles de Lint and charmingly illustrated by his late wife, MaryAnn Harris.

We all tell stories and Jennifer Stevenson tells a great one in ‘Solstice’ which Grey reviews for us here: ‘The reader somehow senses that everything Dawn sees, each action she takes, even her name, has a deeper significance. She’s not just playing for a great party, she’s playing to keep a shrinking, fading man alive on the longest night. And if it’s an over-the-top, splendid bash that keeps the sun alive for another year, well, human beings believed that for a very long time. Maybe this story will help us remember some of what we’ve forgotten.’

You can hear the author splendidly reading  ‘Solstice’ here. You can read the story thisaway.

Let’s discuss fireplaces. Or more precisely why there’re only scattered open fireplaces left in all of Kinrowan Hall these days: one in the Library, one in the Pub and in the senior staff residences (RHIP).  Why this is so is what led to us getting rid of open fireplaces save these ones.

Centuries ago, there were more fireplaces here than I’d care to detail. Suffice it to say that it was a major undertaking to cut the firewood, chop it into the proper sizes and dry it properly, haul it in to be used, remove and dispose of the ashes properly, and keep fireplaces and chimneys cleaned right.

Now understand I like an open, roaring fireplace crackling and warming the room with both its light and heat. Well forget the last part — fireplaces lose at least ninety percent of their heat up the chimney! That’s why Kinrowan Hall, like similar buildings of its age and size, was cold in the winter even with all the fireplaces roaring away. Even the sleeping rooms that had fireplaces in them, and not all of them did so, would have their inhabitants wake in the morning to really cold rooms and a thick coating of ice on their wash basins. Only the landed gentry (which we are most decidedly not) who could afford servants could expect to have hot water delivered to their rooms. And even their bedrooms were fucking cold most of the year. So in the Sixties, we started to install a central hot water heating system here that ran off a boiler in the basement.  Yes, it was costly to purchase and extremely difficult to install but it made an amazing change for the better in the comfort of everyone here. We use the latest wall mounted flat heating units and, at the same time, installed triple glazed windows. We’ve since updated the system, again with noticeable improvements.

There’s still the really big fireplace in the Pub, though there’s an ingenious flue system there that recovers eighty percent of the heat that usually goes up the flue; and there’s the one in the Robert Graves Memorial Reading Room in the Library that also uses the same technology.

There’s a few other places we use wood such as in the Kitchen for fueling one of the ranges, for heating the saunas, and even in smoking salmon and pork, and drying fruit for winter use though the latter’s now done using solar driers more and more.

Fortunately the new electrical heating system runs on a combination of low-head hydro, Mill Pond turbo wheels, and, on sunny days, solar power, and on windy days, wind power using low-impact turbines up in the High Meadow where the wind I swear is always really strong.

So if you want the ambiance of a fireplace roaring strong, have a drink in our Pub while you enjoy listening to the Neverending Session, or go read a book in one of the comfy chairs in our Reading Room. Otherwise just enjoy that this centuries old building is actually warm this time of year!