Category Archives: Scotland

A Bumpy Ride – –

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This a picture of me in my hospital bed about six weeks ago taken by Wendy. She threatens to print it and post it on the fridge as a reminder to me!

My first thought on seeing it is how well everyone at Wytheville Community Hospital looked after me. I think the folk who looked after me, like people in those kinds of occupations all over the world, only have one motivation – –

Of course I compare the US health system and the Scottish NHS and the difference is pretty stark! Not the quality of care, but how it’s paid for – –

I live in a very rural part of America where there is still something of the ‘frontier spirit’ – I look after me and my family and don’t look after anyone else unless I choose to. Scotland is different – everything is free for everyone and paid for through taxation. Maybe some memory of the clan system, maybe the longstanding left wing attitude or maybe just a small country where almost everyone has a connection with someone else.

When Margaret Thatcher was at the height of her popularity in England, but much less so in Scotland, she famously said “There is no such thing as society, only the individual and the family”. Like the vast majority of Scots I believe she was wrong and the Scottish National Health Service is a fine example.

Different cultures – different attitudes – –

Separation – – – –

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Wendy did Wednesday, so Jack does Friday – –

My friend Dirk, who engineers my radio shows often talks about the ‘two degrees of separation’ in folk music – everyone has some kind of connection to everyone else!

I experienced this graphically over the last few days – –

Another friend – Randy – owns ‘Oracle Books’ nearby and I hosted a Burns Night there last Saturday celebrating the anniversary of the birth of Scotland’s beloved National poet. I said that I saw significant parallels between the lives of Burns and Bob Dylan – both from rural areas, went to the big city, were lauded by the ‘glitterati’, then dropped when they no longer fitted in! Bob has frequently said his favorite song is ‘Red, Red Rose’ by Burns!

Paul Clayton

I had taken a few books to show, including one called ‘The Merry Muses of Caledonia’ – a very bawdy collection of songs that Burns had heard, written down and was published after his death.

Oracle Books also sells used records and to my surprise Randy messaged me a few days later to say an LP of ‘The Merry Muses’ had just come in to the shop. The performer was Paul Clayton which made another connection. Clayton was a folklorist and singer living in New York when Dylan arrived there in 1961 and they hooked up. Dylan, of course was a sponge who soaked up everything he heard and incorporated lots of that in his songs. Clayton sang a song he’d collected called ‘Who’s gonna tie your Ribbons when I’m gone’ – Dylan used the tune and some lines for ‘Don’t Think Twice. It’s all Right’.

My connection to Dylan? I was at his concert in Edinburgh in 1966 just a few days before the infamous ‘Judas concert’ in Manchester, England.

So maybe you are at the center or maybe you’re just circling around – – –

Me, Bob, Paul, Randy, Dirk, Burns – let the circle be unbroken – –