strathspey Archive: Scottish Bears

Please excuse the non-dancing topic, but I hope that some of you might be
able to help me.

When I'm not dancing, I'm a piper, and at the ceilidhs held at the piping
school I attend each summer, I've been telling Scottish folktales. I've
been requested to find one about a bear for next year's ceilidh, and I can't
really find any in my folktale collection. (actually, I found one that
begins with the son of the king of Eire, and very briefly has a bear in the
story; and another Norse story that briefly mentions a bear, but they don't
feature a bear, or have the bear as a major part of the story.) Lots of
other animals, but not bears.

Do (did) bears live in Scotland? I've found fascinating web sites about
bears, but very little information about bears in Europe. And with the web
sites I found about the attempts at re-foresting Scotland, I'm wondering if
bears left Scotland a very long time ago.

Thanks very much for any help.

Beverly Laughlin
Eunice, Louisiana USA

Beverly,

All I remember is that there is a pipe tune known as "The Bear".

BTW when and where does the Acadiana Dance group meet? I have a friend who
is interested.

Tom

Thomas G. Mungall, III
875 Seyburn Court
Baton Rouge, La. 70808-5543

http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/tommungall/

----------
> From: Maclachlan@aol.com
> To: strathspey@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de
> Subject: Scottish Bears
> Date: Thursday, July 22, 1999 3:34 PM
>
> Please excuse the non-dancing topic, but I hope that some of you might be

> able to help me.
>
> When I'm not dancing, I'm a piper, and at the ceilidhs held at the
piping
> school I attend each summer, I've been telling Scottish folktales. I've

> been requested to find one about a bear for next year's ceilidh, and I
can't
> really find any in my folktale collection. (actually, I found one that
> begins with the son of the king of Eire, and very briefly has a bear in
the
> story; and another Norse story that briefly mentions a bear, but they
don't
> feature a bear, or have the bear as a major part of the story.) Lots of

> other animals, but not bears.
>
> Do (did) bears live in Scotland? I've found fascinating web sites about
> bears, but very little information about bears in Europe. And with the
web
> sites I found about the attempts at re-foresting Scotland, I'm wondering
if
> bears left Scotland a very long time ago.
>
> Thanks very much for any help.
>
> Beverly Laughlin
> Eunice, Louisiana USA
>
> --
> Maclachlan@aol.com
>

The tune is "The Black Bear" one of the all time great pipe marches and
often played as the second tune for Bratach Bana. By the way-I had always=

understood the White Banner (Bratach Bana) to be the banner raised at the=

gathering of the Jacobites at the biginning of Charlies rebelion, at
Glenfinnan. Am I Wrong?

Ben Stein
Burlington, Vt. USA
dancers@compuserve.com

The only bears I know in Scotland, is the Scottish Football (Soccer)
supporter, who travel round the world with their team - they are
affectionately called the bears.

I suppose there are a few "folk tales" about them. As for real live bears
(other than ones husband) I have never heard of any - I will however
consult my little book of Scottis folktales and see what it says.

To keep it dancing - I have just come home from Younger Hall - Saw a lot of
kent faces - wonderful atmosphere - for you old, but not frequent St.
Andrewsers - the dances were "called" and a good time was had by all.

bye for now

Pia

----------
> From: Maclachlan@aol.com
> To: strathspey@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de
> Subject: Scottish Bears
> Date: 22 July 1999 21:34
>
> Please excuse the non-dancing topic, but I hope that some of you might be

> able to help me.
>
> When I'm not dancing, I'm a piper, and at the ceilidhs held at the
piping
> school I attend each summer, I've been telling Scottish folktales. I've

> been requested to find one about a bear for next year's ceilidh, and I
can't
> really find any in my folktale collection. (actually, I found one that
> begins with the son of the king of Eire, and very briefly has a bear in
the
> story; and another Norse story that briefly mentions a bear, but they
don't
> feature a bear, or have the bear as a major part of the story.) Lots of

> other animals, but not bears.
>
> Do (did) bears live in Scotland? I've found fascinating web sites about
> bears, but very little information about bears in Europe. And with the
web
> sites I found about the attempts at re-foresting Scotland, I'm wondering
if
> bears left Scotland a very long time ago.
>
> Thanks very much for any help.
>
> Beverly Laughlin
> Eunice, Louisiana USA
>
> --
> Maclachlan@aol.com
>

Does "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" count?

Richard L Walker
Pensacola, FL 32504-7726 USA
rlwalker@granis.net

Does "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" count?

That's actually a great dance tune. I've used it in jig medleys, for
both SCD and contras, and people really like it. It is a march-style
jig, so it works best with other such bouncy jigs.

Does anyone know who wrote it and when?

At 22:54 22/07/99 +0100, you wrote:
>
>To keep it dancing - I have just come home from Younger Hall - Saw a lot of
>kent faces - wonderful atmosphere - for you old, but not frequent St.
>Andrewsers - the dances were "called" and a good time was had by all.
>
>bye for now
>
>Pia

Thanks Pia,
Thats just what I needed. ;-))

Murray Wilson
Auckland NZ

pia

what do you mean, the dances were "called"????

cece lubitz

same question. what do you mean that the dances were called????

there was an emotional exchange on this topic a while back, so i am interested
in clarifying the terminology.

cece lubitz

According to the Shell Natural History of Britain, brown bears probably
became extinct in Great Britain before the Norman Conquest. There were
plenty in Europe, however, and still are small populations in the Alps
and elsewhere.

Ellie Briscoe
(the librarian rises to the challenge again...)

jc@eddie.mit.edu writes:

> Does anyone know who wrote [The Teddy Bear's Picnic] and when?

John W. Bratton, some time around the turn of the century. I think Peter
Barnes's couple dance music book gives the year, but I don't keep that
in the office :^)

Anselm
--
Anselm Lingnau ......................... lingnau@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de
The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his
clients to plant vines. -- Frank Lloyd Wright

1907

Richard L Walker
Pensacola, FL 32504-7726 USA
rlwalker@granis.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Anselm Lingnau [mailto:lingnau@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de]
Sent: Friday, July 23, 1999 1:30 AM
To: strathspey@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de
Subject: Re: Scottish Bears

jc@eddie.mit.edu writes:

> Does anyone know who wrote [The Teddy Bear's Picnic] and when?

John W. Bratton, some time around the turn of the century. I think Peter
Barnes's couple dance music book gives the year, but I don't keep that
in the office :^)

Anselm
--
Anselm Lingnau .........................
lingnau@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de
The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his
clients to plant vines. -- Frank Lloyd
Wright