Music, facts, and a story for Lughnasadh 2008 It's always great to hear from you! Email garyandruth@celticmythpodshow.com, or call us using Speakpipe Show Summary: We've got some great stuff for this Holiday Special. For the first time, we've got three pieces of fantastic music, a section from an unpublished book about the Celtic traditions for Lughnasadh and a great section of an Arthurian Fantasy by Kelley Heckart: White Rose of Avalon. More resources over at our main Website at http://celticmythpodshow.com Running Order: Intro 0:41 News & Views 1:39 Kesh Jig by The Connemara Stone Company 4:46 Lughnasadh: The Land Gives Birth by Shae Clancy and Francine Nicholson 6:26 Lughnasadh by Damh the Bard 21:30 White Rose of Avalon by Kelley Heckart 26:45 Warrior Queen by Kellianna 40:10 Promo - Billibub Baddings 44:54 Promo - Digital Magic 46:20 Outtakes 49:52 We hope you enjoy it! Gary & Ruthie x x x     News & Views We discuss news that listener Jason tells us about - new stone circle in Australia and a similar one being constructed near us, at Knockhatch. The Australian Standing Stones began as an ambitious project by a small, dedicated group of citizens who wanted to mark Glen Innes's Celtic heritage. It was in Australia's 1988 Bicentenary Year that the Celtic Council of Australia developed the idea of erecting a national monument to honour all Celtic peoples who helped pioneer Australia. Glen Innes responded with a 46-page submission for Australian Standing Stones, inspired by the Ring of Brodgar in Scotland's Orkneys. Australian Standing Stones Alignment Details Sussex Peace Circle Peace Stones the Out of the Ordinary Festival   Kesh Jig by The Connemara Stone Company The Connemara Stone Company have been together since 1995, and all played previously in various Folk-Rock Groups, which is soon obvious when you see them live on stage. Right from the start they decided to rearrange Traditional Celtic music into modern Folk-Rock songs and tunes. Apart from that, it was very important to them to bring Folk music to the younger generation. To their surprise not only did the younger generation like their music. This was more as apparent as they played a concert with “Wishbone Ash”, the audience being (putting it mildly) a little bit older. They have kindly given us permission to play a wonderful piece of foot-tapping music, called the Kesh Jig from their album, Birds & Beasts. See the Myspace page and hear more music or visit their homepage, Connemara Stone.   Lughnasadh: The Land Gives Birth by Shae Clancy and Francine Nicholson Shae Clancy and Francine Nicholson have collected essays from Celtic scholars to form a fascinating book that helps to explain the difference between Celtic fact (what we actually know) from Celtic fiction (what we speculate). Sadly, the book has never been published and Francine passed away in 2003. Shae has enabled the book to be published on the web. Francine Nicholson, M.A., was a librarian in New England and scholar of all things Celtic. The loss of her passing, perhaps appropriately on 1 February 2003 (Imbolc), is poignantly crystallised by fellow Celtic scholar, David Stifter: 'It is very sad news to hear that Francine Nicholson has left us. She had a vast and astounding erudition and knowledge of Celtic mythology and folklore, and her contributions . . . were a great source of enrichment and information. I feel it as a heavy loss that she will no longer contribute to our discussions.'   Lughnasadh by Damh the Bard Damh is a modern-day Bard whose spirituality, and love of folk tradition, is expressed through his music, storytelling and poetry. Drawing on the Bardic traditions his performances are both entertaining and educational, weaving a tapestry of myth, peace, and anthems that speak directly to the heart, but never without a good splash of humour. Damh is a musical storyteller who works within the world of myth that cannot be proved; where the Faerie really do dance on Midsummer's E