Due to the inclement weather, only a few diehards emerged from their hovels today, but as ever the bonhomie and that rare thing theses days – the opportunity to hear lutes and historical guitars – made the effort worthwhile. Philip Lord got us off to an interesting start with two Renaissance lute pieces played on his Paul Thomson vihuela. The first was given a fine performance, the second proved a bit more demanding on player and listener, but both were well received. Bill Samson introduced his new self-made guitar, which has some unusual sources for the main timbers. The soundboard is of “sinker” cedar – trees that were swept down a Canadian river by loggers, only to get stuck in undergrowth, and discovered decades later. One farmer used it for fence posts, with shavings from that eventually finding their way into Bill’s hands. Four panels from the fence posts were needed to form the soundboard of this relatively small...

The 32nd meeting of SLEGS will take place on Saturday 14th December, 2019. Visitors are most welcome. The venue is Chris Elmes’s place – 1F1, 25 Haddington Place, EH7 4AF (the left side of Leith Walk between Annandale St and MacDonald Rd). Parking is unrestricted off Leith Walk on weekends; MacDonald Road or Hopetoun Crescent is the best area. Time: 1pm for a 1.30pm start. Two or three hours, depending on contributions from members. There will be a charge of £1 a head for the use of the venue. If anyone wishes to make a presentation, please contact Rob MacKillop with some details: robmackillop@gmail.com. Otherwise, just turn up at the address stated above. Any questions, ask Rob.

Well, this was a very interesting meeting! Sorry you missed it 😉 Though maybe you didn’t 🙂 Bill Samson got the ball rolling with music in Renaissance tuning on his self-made 12c lute, the first to be made since the 17th century. It’s getting quite old itself now, though not yet a museum piece! And that goes for the performer too! Bill gave a short history of the 12c, and “for a warmup” played What If A Day. Although not Bill’s best-sounding lute, it sounded clear enough, warm in the treble and transparent in the bass. He played with some stylistic flair, which got proceedings off to a good start. Suitably warmed up, he launched into an Almayne by Robert Johnson – I believe this was Johnson’s premier hearing for SLEGS, and very refreshing it sounded. The imitative passages and deft ornamentation were well received. Rob MacKillop gave his debut performance playing a 7-string Viola da Gamba. Little did...

The 31st meeting of SLEGS will take place on Saturday 14th September, 2019. Visitors are most welcome. The venue is Chris Elmes’s place – 1F1, 25 Haddington Place, EH7 4AF (the left side of Leith Walk between Annandale St and MacDonald Rd). Parking is unrestricted off Leith Walk on weekends; MacDonald Road or Hopetoun Crescent is the best area. Time: 1pm for a 1.30pm start. Two or three hours, depending on contributions from members. There will be a charge of £1 a head for the use of the venue. If anyone wishes to make a presentation, please contact Rob MacKillop with some details: robmackillop@gmail.com. Otherwise, just turn up at the address stated above. Any questions, ask Rob.

Torrential rain doubtless encouraged a few absences, but there was enough of a quorum for some playing and discussion, making this a very enjoyable meeting indeed. Rob MacKillop got the ball rolling, as he often does – this time on a borrowed lute – with a couple of beautiful Scottish pieces from the Straloch manuscript: A Port and I Long For Thy Virginitie. Rob played with great feeling, making the instrument sing sweetly. Stewart Mcluckie introduced his new Busato 11c lute, and proceeded to play good renditions of three pieces for beginners from Miguel Serdoura’s Method: two minuets and Les Tricotine. The baroque lute is not an easy instrument to feel instantly at home on, but Stewart seemed unconcerned with that, bringing out a lovely tone. We look forward to the return of the instrument. Chris Jupp presented a mini recital, much to everyone’s pleasure. He started with a rarely-heard arrangement of Dowland’s famous Lachrimae, this one signed CK....

The 30th meeting of SLEGS will take place on Saturday 8th June, 2019. Visitors are most welcome. The venue is Chris Elmes’s place – 1F1, 25 Haddington Place, EH7 4AF (the left side of Leith Walk between Annandale St and MacDonald Rd). Parking is unrestricted off Leith Walk on weekends; MacDonald Road or Hopetoun Crescent is the best area. Time: 1pm for a 1.30pm start. Two or three hours, depending on contributions from members. There will be a charge of £1 a head for the use of the venue. If anyone wishes to make a presentation, please contact Rob MacKillop with some details: robmackillop@gmail.com. Otherwise, just turn up at the address stated above. Any questions, ask Rob.

  Not the lowest turnout we’ve had, but enough people managed along to make it an engaging event, with some good playing and chat, culminating in a presentation to Bill Samson – more on that later. Bill Samson and Rob Mackillop kicked off proceedings with a rarely heard ensemble of two baroque lutes, with an Allemande and Courante by Logy. The Allemande hit the spot, allowing the melodic interplay to be heard to its fullest. However, the Courante was by their own admission a little scrappy – not bad, just not what it could have been. Considering the lads live in different towns, this coming together for some baroque pluckers was not bad at all. Rob MacKillop the introduced the new love of his life: an all-original c.1880 Spanish guitar, complete with original tornavoz, a brass cone insert, purported to strengthen the bass register, giving a very sweet sound indeed. Rob related the surprising story of how he acquired...

The 29th meeting of SLEGS will take place on Saturday 9th March, 2019. Visitors are most welcome. The venue is Chris Elmes’s place – 1F1, 25 Haddington Place, EH7 4AF (the left side of Leith Walk between Annandale St and MacDonald Rd). Parking is unrestricted off Leith Walk on weekends; MacDonald Road or Hopetoun Crescent is the best area. Time: 1pm for a 1.30pm start. Two or three hours, depending on contributions from members. There will be a charge of £1 a head for the use of the venue. If anyone wishes to make a presentation, please contact Rob MacKillop with some details: robmackillop@gmail.com. Otherwise, just turn up at the address stated above. Any questions, ask Rob. Bill Samson will be talking about his memories of the early music revival in the 1960s and 70s, including the earth-shattering ( – well, it was at the time! -) rediscovery of thumb-under, nail-less technique. (Postponed from the 28th meeting).  

A well-attended meeting, save for the first ever absence of Bill Samson, who was scheduled to present a talk about his memories of the early days of the Lute Society in the UK. That talk has been postponed until the next meeting. In the meantime, we wish Bill a quick recovery from the flu bug that has him in its grip! New face to the society, Joanna Allsop performed from 58 Easy Pieces (a Lute Society publication) “The Old Man” and a Buffins, on a lute made by her old man, with the CD-Rom by David Van Edwards. It was immediately clear that, although a beginner lute player, Joanna is an experienced musician – violin and school teaching. Once she gets her lute kitted out with the correct strings, I’m sure she’ll be giving us all a run for our money before long. I look forward to her subsequent visits. Welcome aboard, Joanna! Chris Jupp followed with his Bill Samson-made...

The 28th meeting of SLEGS will take place on Saturday 8th December, 2018. Visitors are most welcome. The venue is Chris Elmes’s place – 1F1, 25 Haddington Place, EH7 4AF (the left side of Leith Walk between Annandale St and MacDonald Rd). Parking is unrestricted off Leith Walk on weekends; MacDonald Road or Hopetoun Crescent is the best area. Time: 1pm for a 1.30pm start. Two or three hours, depending on contributions from members. There will be a charge of £1 a head for the use of the venue. If anyone wishes to make a presentation, please contact Rob MacKillop with some details: robmackillop@gmail.com. Otherwise, just turn up at the address stated above. Any questions, ask Rob.