2020
First Place
The Music of Scotland’s Coasts and Waters
2020 is the year of coasts and waters in Scotland. These important geographical features create 6,160 miles of stunning mainland coastline and 4,000 more miles of breath-taking individual islands with over 31,000 beautiful lochs. These amazing natural features have been an inspiration for music for hundreds of years. Most famously perhaps is the orchestral work by Mendelssohn. In 1829 when he was twenty years old, Mendelssohn came to Scotland to visit a childhood friend. The two of them wandered around the natural lochs and forests of the Scottish Highlands. Mendelssohn was struck by the beauty and wildness of Scotland compared to his home in Berlin. He was entranced by all the sounds and views of Scotland. Whilst on a boat ride in western Scotland, Mendelssohn was so overwhelmed by the mist and the roar of the waves that a melody came upon him. The phrase was as powerful and strong as the waves that he experienced, and he used this theme as the beginning of his overture. It became known as the Hebrides Overture or ‘Fingal’s Cave’. After listening to Mendelssohn’s Hebrides overture, you can almost imagine the waves crashing onto your boat as the piece becomes louder and stronger. Even as the music calms down, you still feel as if you are gently drifting on the water. Listening to the beginning motif develop helps bring strength and meaning to the piece and depicts the swell and ebb and flow of the sea. Many traditional Scottish songs refer to the beauty of the waters of Scotland, from the sea to rivers and lochs. Often, traditional pieces of music were written to ease the loss of having to leave Scotland through emigration or war. For example:
• John Tait composed a piece in 1775 called ‘The Banks of the Dee’ when a friend left Scotland to join the British forces in America: ‘Flow on, lovely Dee, flow on, thou sweet river, Thy banks’ purest stream shall be dear to me ever…’
• A song written by Ranald Alasdair Macdonald brought back fond memories of a childhood in Glasgow and the bridges which span the Clyde: ‘Silver Bridge across the Clyde Spread your wide arms over me. Dancing light upon the water Brings my boyhood back to me…’
• Robert Burns wrote a song while visiting the falls of Aberfeldy in Perthshire in 1787: ‘Now simmer blinks on flowery braes, And o’er the crystal streamlet plays; Come, let us spend the lightsome days, In the birks of Aberfeldie!’
Many of these traditional songs have become an inherent part of our culture and are passed down from generation to generation. ‘The Skye Boat Song’, about the escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie over the sea to the Isle of Skye, has been forever sung as a lullaby. Similarly, the industries around the waters of Scotland have also been a source of music, the fishing industry. The folk songs often described the hardships and the decline of industries. Perhaps most famous is the ‘Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond’, whose original composer was unknown but continues to this day to be rearranged and recorded in many genres of music.
It is appropriate then that in the year of coasts and waters, Scottish Natural Heritage commissioned the traditional musician Ingrid Henderson to create a piece of music inspired by the seas around Scotland. Entitled ‘Message in a Bottle’, this composition uses the true story of a young boy from Armagh who in 2008 put a message in a bottle which was washed up on Canna ten years later. Cleverly, the multi-media composition combines the amazing journeys of marine wildlife and seabirds, our relationship with the seas, and the cultures related to the coastline of Scotland alongside the issue of climate change. ‘Message in a Bottle’ is a true, peaceful Scottish piece of music. It makes you feel as if you are watching the tide come onto the beach. It is gentle, joyful, and at times sad, but the mood lifts at the end of the piece of music. It is played predominantly on the harp with other string instruments in support. Scotland’s waters are a consistent element to our survival and a constant feature of its landscape, heritage, and industries. Just like the longevity of the music it has inspired; it is essential that we protect this rich resource for future generations.
By Freya Robins Form 1 Dollar Academy
DOLLAR ACADEMY – SENIOR SCHOOL – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Kelpies As black as a loophole of darkness, gliding through the water, Dragging people in with them, in through the surface, Stronger than any human that’d ever lived before, Their beautiful eyes hypnotising you, to jump on their backs To ride with them through the woods, Never to return. The deep water is their home Who knows how many of them roam, waiting for their prey Beautiful creatures, but monsters inside, Where do they come from? What do they hide? Kelpies, mystical creatures, but monsters inside Where do they come from? What do they hide? Gliding through water, where you can’t see, Waiting, Waiting, for you and me, Their jet-black hair, as soft as a teddy bear, They whisper for you to come near, each strand of hair has its own voice, Hoping, hoping, that you will hear… By Maddie McIlwraith
DOLLAR ACADEMY – SENIOR SCHOOL – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Water Boy
This is my story about sailing. Me and my brother are sailors. I sail because of my brother. My brother has always been lured to the water. At the start I didn’t like sailing. It was hard and cold especially when it was the winter. I wish I did not have to sail in Scotland. I felt like I got forced to sail. Racing was the worst; I always came last. I got better but I still did not feel I belonged. My hands were frozen – they became wrinkled and painful.
My first boat was a Tera, which I sailed at Dalgety Bay. They were slow and heavy, especially when we had to pull them up the slip way full of water. My teacher was so annoying. He did not let us have any fun. I would come home and say to my mum, “I don’t want to go”. But she kept me going. I was not enjoying my Tuesdays because I was afraid of the people who were all a year older than me. They knew each other from school so I felt left out. And then my mum said, “Ok, you can stop going to Tuesday sailing”, and I was so happy. I felt like I could do more things that I enjoyed doing. For a while I had no sailing, but I was missing the silence. But then……
My Mum asked me, “Do you want to do Topper sailing with your brother?” The first few times sailing a Topper was amazing. But then it started to be as bad as sailing a Tera. Sometimes I would make up excuses not to go sailing. All I wanted was to stay with my parents on dry land. I might have liked to sail if it was warm, but it is Scotland! Sometimes I sailed in lochs and it was much different because the wind kept shifting.
When I was Topper sailing it was hard and tough. I would say to my friends I love sailing. But I said that just because I wanted to be good at something. Everybody else had a sport but me.
But then I realised, it wasn’t sailing, it was being alone. After a while my Mum saw I did not like it. So, on our way down from Nationals I was talking to my parents about going into a double handed boat. So, my mum found a Feva club at Port Eger. It was awesome. After a while Feva sailing went downhill as I got pushed to the side. everybody thought that I could not handle it, but I could. And like the Tera sailing, everybody was older than me and by at least three years.
For a year, I did not sail. I was happy but I was missing sailing. My mum found a residential sailing school at Tighnabruaich. It was fun. On the last day, I got to go out on a Dart, a double hull boat which goes very fast. When I was on the wire, I felt I was flying. But the taste of the salt was disgusting. So, when I got home, I said to my parent “I know what I want to sail – a Dart”. They didn’t know what it was, so I explained. My mum and dad sail yachts as they don’t capsize, they are much bigger and have a toilet (the toilet can get quite stinky). My family has a yacht called Jambel. We normally sail it around the three bridges on the Forth – it’s magnificent.
My mum said, “Are you sure you want to sail this?”
I said, “Yes, of course.”
“You have tried three boats already!”
“Yes, but I know this is the one.” So, I joined a club in Dundee with lots of Darts and it is amazing.
Now I know that I want a fast and a double handed boat, and that is what I have. I wouldn’t have got here if I didn’t have a brother. My brother sails a 29er, but he started off like me, but he never sailed a Dart. He enjoyed it. I wouldn’t even have written this if I didn’t have a brother. But I am glad that I have one. I can’t believe how many boats I have sailed Tera, Topper, five – now a Dart.
What an adventure that has been.
Jamie Farmer
DOLLAR ACADEMY – JUNIOR SCHOOL – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Elie Beach By Rowan Beveridge Sea water splashes as children play, The beach is stowed on a bright summer’s day, Men sell ice creams, And watery streams, Bubble down to the bright blue sea. The beach seems happy light and bright, Even during the starry night, But that’s in summer, In winter it’s different. Dark seaweed covers the silent sand, No people walking hand in hand, The only sound to be heard, Is the screech of a bird, Or the noisy rustle of the dunes, No cheery happy summer tunes, Then the storm comes. Battering winds sweep right over, Clattering boats against one another, Then the rain comes hammering down, On the beach and the town. But then it is gone, Because seasons move on, And now it is beautiful spring, Then the voices of happy people ring, Perhaps a dog walker giving a shout, It isn’t quite the summer turn-out.
STRATHDEVON PS – HIGHLY COMMENDED
The Virus of Orkney
by Magnus Hennig
The year is 2027 and a remote research lab in Shetland are convinced they have found the cure for cancer. All of their failed cures have been dumped into the sea which has been flowing to the coast of Orkney; the lethal mix of deadly chemicals like Batrachotoxin, Ethylene glycol and potassium cyanide is starting to bond with the marine life’s DNA and it is starting to cause some deadly side effects…
It was a strangely hot day in the town of Kirkwall, Orkney and Jake, a typical fourteen year old with brunette hair and sea green eyes and Angus, who had just turned fourteen as well, had hazel brown eyes and black hair, had finished just school for the year. Considering the hot day, they wanted to go to the beach but it seemed as if the whole town had the exact same idea so they ran back to their houses to get their stuff for the beach.
They grabbed a few beach mats and headed to the beach to get a good spot. The grainy whitey-yellow sand was blowing ever so gently in the warm breeze and the sea moving as quietly as a mouse. They must have been there for a long time so they decided to pack their stuff up and leave. They just got off the sand they heard a noise that stopped them dead in their tracks.
It was a scream, not the kind of playful screams you would usually hear on a beach, this was a scream of terror and that one scream spread through the beach like a plague. Not knowing what it was, Jake and Angus sprinted to the shore to see what had caused that dreadful scream.
What they saw was something absolutely nobody could describe. If you can picture a half jellyfish-half conger eel then you’ve got a pretty good image of what was just lying down on the beach, in fact, that weird animal seemed to be having a better lie down then all the people who were at the beach! This amazing but disgusting discovery looks like a perfectly normal conger eel until it opens it is mouth, and inside was a real sight to see. The monstrous beast opened its big, wet, slippery maw and what came out? TENTACLES! But what was past those horrifying tentacles was even worse, it was a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth that would shred its prey after the long tentacles paralyze them, then drag them into those killer teeth.
The next day, the police arrived on the scene early in the morning to see what the big fuss was all about. They were as confused as all those people on the beach. Jake and Angus spent the whole day trying to figure out what was going to happen.
Angus said, “I think they’re going to go under cover so they can find what happened to that thing.”
Jake replied,” Well I think they’re going to bring it back to the mainland to do some tests so they can cure it.”
They stayed at the shore (obviously not too close that they would get dragged in by some weird animals) talking about what would happen over the next few days. The pair of them left the beach tired around 7 ‘o clock trudging along the sand back to the warmth of their bedrooms. What they didn’t know is that something horrible had happened overnight while they were busy dreaming up more weird animals that might come to that usually uneventful town.
The next morning, an officer was reported missing and it wasn’t a big mystery what happened to him. Well, it was told as a casualty so the police have now taken the mutated animal back to the mainland to keep it in a large fish tank so it doesn’t pose a threat to anyone.
Jake was downstairs watching TV when Angus knocked on his door, and the first thing he said was, “The police traced some weird chemicals in the sea and they think that was what caused the animal to mutate like that.” Jake was still processing this when the police zoomed by, sirens blaring, towing a boat.
Angus said hurriedly, “Get dressed quickly and we might be able to see what’s happening.”
They sneaked/sprinted down to the beach and hid in their boat under some tarp. They found it quite hard to understand what they were saying, but they could make out a few sentences. “Traced… back to … Shetland national … research lab.” That was all they could hear, but it was enough to know what was happening. This boat was going to Shetland national research lab, but by the time they noticed what was going on, it was too late.
They were speeding along the calm seas around 40mph and they were there as quick as a flash. They thought that they would be safe under all that tarp, except all the police’s equipment was under there with them, and soon enough, they had a dozen pairs of eyes looking down on them and a gruff, heavily accented voice said to them, “Oi, what are you lads doing in our boat?”
“Umm… we … got lost?” Jake tried to say, but of it was no use. The two of them had been caught red handed.
“Yeah, right… Douglas, take these young stowaways back to Kirkwall.”
“Wait a minute, don’t send us away.”
“Oh, and why not?”
“Because we know what happened and we can tell everyone the truth.” Jake said.
Now the sergeant looked like he would explode, but all he said was, “All right, then you better come with us but stay close, this place is dangerous for kids.”
They followed them through the main entrance and past many rooms with scientists and researchers with those creepy orange hazard suits on. They reached the reception without a problem and were they were here. It took a little while explaining why two teenagers were there with them, the sergeant put on his gruff voice and said, “They’re witnesses.”
“Hmm… all right, everything seems to be in order, but why are you here exactly?”
“You’ll see, but we need some of your researchers and you might want to keep those suits on…
They grabbed some meat, got the boat started and went out about half a mile and then threw the bait. It took a while for anything to come, but when something did come, it wasn’t the animals they wanted to come. The first animals to arrive to the meat feast were the barracudas, but they didn’t stay long, soon enough the big mutated animals came. It was a total bloodbath. Weird animals like whales mixed with normal fish, orcas mixed with seals and other things you wouldn’t want to know about. All they could do was wait for the right time to chuck the nets. When they caught their first animal, it was a disaster, the scientist backed off so far that he fell right off the boat into an orca’s mouth.
They got back in at least five minutes because the boat was going at full speed. The sergeant explained the full story from the start and then said why they came there in the first place, so, to make a long story short the lab decided to help find a cure.
“I want everyone in this lab working on this!” screamed the boss. “If you are all wondering how we are going to do this without an animal, then here’s your answer.” He held up a piece of paper with some words on it.
“Hang on, how is a piece of paper going to solve this?” Angus asked
The manager replied, “Well, this is all the chemicals that we dropped into the sea.”
“Oh,” the two boys said. They got the chemicals in no time but getting them into the sea was a problem. It took an hour to get the vat poured into the sea then the boys noticed that they had been gone for half the day, so the police took them home.
Next month:
There had been no deaths since the lab incident, so it was quite clear that the mutated animals had been cured.
For now…
DOLLAR ACADEMY – SENIOR SCHOOL – HIGHLY COMMENDED
My water memories
Part 1
We went during the weekend. Just up to Loch Lomond, we were spreading my great granddad’s ashes. He lived down in England for a while but was originally from Dundee. His two favourite places were Loch Lomond and the falls of Dochart in Killin so myself, my uncle Stuart my grandad and my mum went up there. It was a lovely day for it, sunny and no wind. The water was tame and blue. We were jumping in and out of the water. It was quite warm for that time of year.
Luckily none of the ashes came back in our face or it would have been like in a film. It was a lovely day because we went for lunch, we reminisced and we listened to music.
My ‘auld’ grandad always wore a bunnet and so does my grandad. My uncle Stuart wouldn’t wear one. The fact that my grandad was wearing my ‘auld’ grandad’s was quite special for me. My grandad reminded us of him.
Beautiful blue, Winding waves, Blustering breeze, Summer sun.
Part 2
When I was younger I had a dog called Fudge and she loved Loch Lomond and St Andrews. We went down there a couple of times and the water always made her smell disgusting. She was old when we got her. She loved the water and she always had water dripping from her ears and chin. One day we went to Loch Lomond and she was in and out of the water. She got so wet she shook and sprayed us, we were soaked. We had to wipe her down, or the car would have been ruined.
Dry dog wet, blonde turned to brown, rocks in her paw.
Part 3
The splish splash of feet, the ocean breeze against your face, the golden beam from the sun bouncing off the sand. This is what I think of when I think of the sea. The teal and blues mixing together, the seashells collected by children, the sand castles being made by young children. This is what you see when you walk onto the beach. The smell of the saltwater, the seaweed crawling along the sea front, the fish swimming in the sea. This is what you smell at the beach. The taste of the fish & chips, the candy floss, the ice-cream. This is what you taste at the beach. The sound of the waves hitting off the rocks or into each other, the sea breeze against your ears, the laughter of children. This is what you hear.
Romance, love, trees, cliffs, sunset, golden sand, blue sand, multi-coloured fish.
Part 4
For my birthday when I was eight myself and my family went to Burntisland for the day. It was the best sea day. Myself and my grandma were in and out of the water all day. We could see the deep sea for miles. What a wonderful day.
Part 5
One day I went fishing with a friend and we went onto a pier. (I don’t remember where it was)
We caught a medium sized fish and I learnt all about fishing from that. I have done it in Madeira, too. You could see the waves battering the rocks and we could see crabs on the rocks. There were boats at the horizon. The water splashed us, we were soaked head to toe. It was fun, though.
Part 6
One memory was when we went canoeing at Benmore. I was partnered with Stuart and we were great at it we went up and down the loch. Straight after it we went onto the beach and we jumped off the cliff. What great fun but frozen. It is not warm at all. We felt the cold breeze hit our cheeks and the cold water was going into our welly boots. It wasn’t a lovely summer blue sea – it was a dark, dingy looking part of the water.
Part 7
My last memory was at my friend Ella’s birthday at Foxlake in Dundee. We all had to swim to the inflatables and then we got on it. I remember vividly how cold it was because Tom and Lily pushed me in. Then I pushed my friend Emily in and she pulled me in when I was trying to help her. What are friends for?
Skye-Rose Tweedie