Anniversary of the fall of the Alamo March 6th

Well done, Carl! Your video is now on YouTube.

"Deguello/Rember the Alamo" Fan Video

The Alamo 1836

The anniversary of the fall of the Alamo is coming up on March 6th. Very few people know just how the events in Texas in 1836 were heavily influenced by the Scots. Of those who died at the Alamo there were 13 from England, 9 from Ireland, 4 from Scotland, and 1 from Wales. 80% of the others were of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and mostly from the Southern U.S. states.

The works of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott were favorites that were widely read by the early Americans, including Sam Houston and William Barrett Travis. Houston often quoted Burns in letters he wrote to his son in the years following the Alamo. Music heard in the Alamo during the siege was played by John MacGregor, a bagpiper from Scotland, and Micajah Autry, a fiddle player from North Carolina.

From the Library of Congress I collected English, Irish and Scottish poems, songs and tunes that were found to be in Texas at that time. I recorded the original versions on one CD and then recorded the Texas versions of the songs on a second CD. The double CD also includes fiddle and bagpipe tunes that could have been heard at the Alamo in 1836.

Buy the Scotland Remembers the Alamo CD

Most people didn't make the connection between Scotland and the Alamo so I followed up with a book explaining all. The book is titled "Now's the Day and Now's the Hour", which is a quote from Robert Burn's song "Scot's Wha Hae". Sam Houston used this quote to encourage volunteers to come to Texas to help in the fight. Houston's message start's with "Freemen of Texas, To Arms, To Arms, Now's the Day and Now's the Hour".

The book is currently available on Amazon.

St David's Day, March 1

St David is the patron saint of Wales. Don't forget!
March 1st is a national day of celebration in Wales since the 18th century.

St David's Flag

Visit our Cafepress Shop for apparel and gifts with the St David's Flag.

Or get Welsh flags, stickers, lanyards, bandanas and more!

Moving ahead into 2015

Well Christmas is over for another year and we are now into 2015. I have no Burns Suppers to perform at this year, one concert in February and still working on the Pirate/Sea Songs CDs volumes 3-4 and my book "A Touch Of The Fae". My first Scottish Festival will not be until May and this may be my last year doing the festivals. I am probably going to get back into doing just concerts across parts of the country, about 20 to 30 a year starting in 2016/17 but we'll see.  I will be stepping up the use of social media sights including more videos on YouTube. That's it the noo so to speak. I will try to be more diligent with my Blogs to keep you all up to date.
Cheers, Carl

Merry Christmas!

 

Back to Work

We had some problems with the computer we use for recording, as a result it's been several weeks since we've been able to work on the Pirate CD.
But we've replaced the computer and will be getting back to work this weekend.

Anyone have any ideas for cover for the new CD: Pirate Songs, Sea Songs and Shanties, Volume III?

p.s. "it's" is the valid contraction of "it has" ;-)

In Progress: New Pirate CDs

This summer, besides attending several Scottish festivals, Carl Peterson has been working on volumes 3 and 4 of his popular Pirate, Sea Songs, & Shanties CDs. Some of the great songs for the CDs include:

• All for Me Grog
• Bound Down for Newfoundland
• Henry Martin
• Kishmul's Galley
• Roll Alabama Roll
• Santy Anna O
• The Ship the Never Returned
• Sixteen Fathoms Down
• Yo ho ho
• Blow the Man Down
• Shoals o' Herring

and more! Let Carl know if you have a favorite pirate or sea song you'd like to see on the new CDs!