We're delighted to announce a special performance of music and photography by Scottish Borders-based Riddell Fiddles. This free 30 minute show has been inspired by the Little Egret, a graceful white heron with dainty yellow feet which look like they have been dipped in a pot of paint! Native to southern Europe, the bird has made an incredible journey to northern Europe - albeit with climate change playing a part. Factor in the over-eating of this unfortunate bird in centuries past - in 1451, a thousand of the birds were consumed at a banquet in Northumberland - and over-hunting in the quest for feathers to adorn hats in the nineteenth century, it's nothing short of a miracle that it is here and spreading along the River Tweed, as well as other areas of Scotland and the UK.
Funded originally by Destination Tweed and the Lottery Heritage Fund, the show uses local photographs and music written especially for the performance to lament and celebrate the meteoric rise of such an eccentric bird. Riddell Fiddles would like to extend a huge thank you to the Borders branch of the SOC, and especially to members Richard Jackson and Alistair Cutter, for generously sharing their photographs, videos and help. Their photographic talent and enthusiasm have helped bring the story to life.
This is the sixth performance of the show and the second outside the Scottish Borders. The show has come full circle now - to Waterston House - as it would not have happened without the support of the SOC Borders branch.
Image: Little Egret © Bob Hamilton
