The Sound of My Own Voice – Scottish Storytelling Centre

Morna Burdon is a performer and poet who writes in the Scots language. Here she shares some of her own poems, and a few others that take her fancy.

Burdon creates a convivial atmosphere in the intimate George Mackay Brown Library at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. It feels as though she is welcoming us into her own home. She comments that the mention of “striking a match” on a bus shows her age, harking back to the days when passengers were “only” allowed to smoke on the top deck. A few young people in the audience gasp in horror at the degeneracy of their ancestors. At least our generation has changed some things for the better.

The Living Dead conveys the widespread disgust at Sir Keir Starmer’s attempt, last year, to withdraw the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners. The opening line is “Where will they deposit the bodies of the old?” Burdon has a strong social conscience, and takes comfort in human connection. In Radical, an elderly lady, a care worker and a passer-by are brought together by a gesture of solidarity with those in Gaza.

Burdon has a gentle, earthily Scottish speaking voice, and her unaccompanied singing voice is warm and resonant. She sings Woody Guthrie’s 1948 song, Deportees, written in protest at the news coverage of an aeroplane crash in which 28 Mexican migrant workers were killed – as timely now as ever.

Other subjects include the march of AI, ageism, and the fabulous saying “Aw fur coat an nae knickers”. Burdon’s unique voice, her passion tempered by wisdom, and her skill at capturing the essence of an experience through words, combine to create a performance that is well worth listening to.

The Sound of My Own Voice runs until 25th August at the Scottish Storytelling Centre with tickets available at https://www.scottishstorytellingcentre.com/

Reviewer: Wendy McEwan

Reviewed: 19th August 2025

North West End UK Rating: