Gie’s Peace – Scottish Storytelling Centre
Morna Burdon’s journey through the world of women who have stood against war and made a peaceful difference is not shouting for space in a busy Edinburgh festival. Yet, on this, her first day, she has a full house. The George Mackay Brown Library in the Scottish Storytelling Centre is an apt venue.
Burdon has done her research. And she has chosen a tender and funny collection of songs to illustrate the power of peaceful protest. She began with Nancy Nicolson’s Last Carol which alternates between a melancholy chorus of mushroom clouds and heavy water and jaunty verses with the words, merrily, merrily. I instantly warmed to her and to the subject matter. At the end, the audience spontaneously joined her for We Will Overcome. It was very moving.
Early on she included a teenager fro...