Pipefest Pic: Click to see App

Pipefest 1 is the World’s first bagpipe sheet music app! With sheet music for one hundred pipe tunes in a searchable index all in one place – the app is a great resource for pipers. Features: A collection of one hundred traditional and popular pipe tunes. All tunes embedded within app – no further downloading. Tunes indexed within time signature categories. Search function to help quickly find tunes..

Benefits:

An app relevant to pipers
Convenient way to store and index tunes
Provides useful reference resource for pipers
Easy to use when out and about
Available via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pipefest-1

App Store: Pipefest 1

For information on piping and drumming apps please contact:
Magnus Orr – magnus@pipefest.com

Momedia – events & media production Scotland

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Pendant Pic: The Elpais Site

A pendant some 25,000-years old has been found in northern Spain’s Basque region by archaeologists.  The piece, an oblong gray smooth stone some 10 centimeters in length, is perforated at one end and apparently was hung from a cord around a person’s neck, according to the director of the excavation, Alvaro Arrizabalaga, who added that the other end of the stone was used as a tool to retouch the edges of tools made from flint, like arrows or scrapers.   The object comes from the Cromagnon epoch.   Arrizabalaga said that the pendant is older than other such items found so far in the Praileaitz cave which are estimated to be some 15,000 years old.

In addition, he said that there have been “some 20 pieces from this same epoch” found on the Iberian peninsula to date, with the peculiar unifying element that they have always been found in caves.

“The piece is very well preserved and we’ve been lucky to be able to remove it without damaging it in any way” from the dig near the town of Zestoa.”

Arrizabalaga said.

The dig leader said the pendant “is not going to need any more restoration”, and after experts study it and include it in the collection of Cromagnon discoveries found at the site, it will be placed in the hands of a public museum.

“Twenty-five thousand years ago, human beings of our species came to this place that functioned as a hunting place for wandering groups”

the archaeologist said, adding that the groups of humans

“moved eight times per year to zones where there were specific types of resources”.

The Irikaitz deposit, where archaeologists began working in 1998, is known for being the site of discoveries of pieces up to 250,000 years old, a period when the precursors of Homo sapiens were still in existence.

The Celtic Connection

Why have we included this fascinating archaeological find on our website, you may ask? It goes along with our philosophy of understanding the Ancient Celts from both before and after their heyday. The Celtic tribes came from somewhere – they evolved from other peoples  - and they went somewhere. We know much of their path into today’s world and how they are celebrated with festivals, tradition, clothes and music today but we know little of the time before the Halstatt and La Tène periods.

This pendant was found on the Iberian peninsula – a land known to be lived in by later Celts and by being dated back to 25,000 B.C.E. we begin to learn how ancient and widespread human culture was thousands of years ago. We find it fascinating.

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The site was first excavated from 1890 to 1909 Pic: BBC

The BBC reports that Archaeologists believe they have found the first pre-Roman planned town discovered in Britain.It has been unearthed beneath the Roman town of Silchester or Calleva Atrebatum near modern Reading.The Romans are often credited with bringing civilisation to Britain – including town planning.But excavations have shown evidence of an Iron Age town built on a grid and signs inhabitants had access to imported wine and olive oil.

It has been unearthed beneath the Roman town of Silchester or Calleva Atrebatum near modern Reading.

The Romans are often credited with bringing civilisation to Britain – including town planning.

But excavations have shown evidence of an Iron Age town built on a grid and signs inhabitants had access to imported wine and olive oil.

Prof Mike Fulford, an archaeologist at the University of Reading, said the people of Iron Age Silchester appear to have adopted an urbanised ‘Roman’ way of living, long before the Romans arrived.

“It is very remarkable to find this evidence of a planned Iron Age layout before the arrival of the Romans and the development of a planned, Roman town,”

he said.

“Indeed, it would be hard to see a significant difference between the lifestyles of the inhabitants of the Iron Age town and of its Roman successor in the 1st Century AD.”

He said they seem to have been drinking wine and using olive oil and a fermented fish sauce called garum in their cooking, all imported from abroad.

Silchester is famous for the most complete Roman town walls in Britain.

After the Roman invasion, the town was used by its military, and there is evidence that Roman buildings were very swiftly built on top of Iron Age structures.

Prof Fulford believes that shortly before this, the town may have been taken over by the British Iron Age chieftain Caratacus – a leader of the Catuvellauni tribe – as his stronghold.

The evidence comes from coins minted by Caratacus in the area.

“Both their tight distribution in central southern England and their style point to Calleva as being the source of Caratacus’ coins,” he said.

Caratacus was a hero of the British resistance to Roman rule. He famously took on the invading Roman army at the Battle of Medway and after his capture was taken to Rome where he appeared so fearless that the Emperor Claudius was moved to spare his life.

As for the fate of the Roman town, a scorched layer within the archaeology suggests that it was actually burnt to the ground, and seems to have been abandoned for about 20 years.

It is possible that this destruction was carried out by the Queen of the Iceni tribe, Boudicca, or at least at the time of her anti-Roman rebellion in 60 – 61 AD.

It is known from the Annals of Tacitus that Boudicca and her army laid waste to the Roman towns of Colchester (Camulodunum), London (Londinium) and St Albans (Verulamium), but could Silchester have been a fourth, previously unknown Roman settlement to fall victim to Boudicca’s rebellion?

If these theories are correct, then within a single generation Silchester went through a period of turbulent evolution from a prosperous and sophisticated Iron Age town, to being under direct Roman army control to being burned to the ground and deserted.

Prof Mike Fulford will be talking to Dr Alice Roberts in the latest series of  Digging For Britain on BBC Two in September.

Source

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Pic: Bldg Blog

The BLDG BLOG reported in 2009 that in a surprisingly under-reported story from 2007, Mark Holley, a professor of underwater archaeology at Northwestern Michigan University College, discovered a series of stones – some of them arranged in a circle and one of which seemed to show carvings of a mastodon – 40-feet beneath the surface waters of Lake Michigan.  If verified, the carvings could be as much as 10,000 years old – coincident with the post-Ice Age presence of both humans and mastodons in the upper midwest.

In a PDF assembled by Holley and Brian Abbott to document the expedition, we learn that the archaeologists had been hired to survey a series of old boatwrecks using a slightly repurposed “sector scan sonar” device. You can read about the actual equipment – a Kongsberg-Mesotech MS 1000 – here.

The circular images this thing produces are unreal; like some strange new art-historical branch of landscape representation, they form cryptic dioramas of long-lost wreckage on the lakebed. Shipwrecks (like the Tramp, which went down in 1974); a “junk pile” of old boats and cars; a Civil War-era pier; and even an old buggy are just some of the topographic features the divers discovered.

These are anthropological remains that will soon be part of the lake’s geology; they are our future trace fossils.

But down amongst those otherwise mundane human remains were the stones.

While there is obviously some doubt as to whether or not that really is a mastodon carved on a rock – let alone if it really was human activity that arranged some of the rocks into a Stonehenge-like circle – it’s worth pointing out that Michigan does already have petroglyph sites and even standing stones.

You can read the full story on the BLDG Blog site. It’s fascinating that the Mes0/Neolithic culture that produced the Bronze Age Celts also produced similar stone artefacts across the Atlantic. Just how much trade and communication actually did take place across the ancient world?

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The CMP Logo Pic: Gary

This is the Chatterbox Show. We’ve got so much to talk about, so much to tell you that we thought instead of bringing you dribs and drabs here and there that we’d bring you a different type of show. This one is an informal chat where we talk about some of the national news that’s going on around us, some of our plans for the coming year, what’s happening with the show and where we would like to go with it.

On top of all this you can also hear five fantastic pieces of music, including one track from the group that we now play with – the Pentacle Drummers. And as if that wasn’t enough – we finish off with a competition for a one-off, unique prize! We loved making the show and hope that you have just as much fun listening to it!

Next Show Planned

As we mention in this show, the next show will be either the Irish Mythological Cycle Summary Show or the Spirit of Albion show – it all depends on who can chat when and where etc. and/or whether the Irish show is finished.

How to Listen

The Episode is available for subscribers on the feed, or you can download it or listen to it from our Episodes page. You can find the Shownotes for this episode in the Shownotes section.

If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

We hope you enjoy the show,

Gary & Ruth x x x

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The Eco-Fairies Poster Pic: Eco-Fairies

The Eco-Faeries believe that: Through education we move towards positive change within individuals and the greater global community. Events are invaded by Eco Faeries to bring education and positive energy wherever possible. From the Eco Faerie  marquee activity tent to roving shenanigans- the eco faeries have become reputable party shakers. Community events, festivals and functions are a regular hang out for the wild faeries.

4th annual Eco Faerie festival

This Sunday 27th March is the 4th annual Eco Faerie festival held at Cityfarm East Perth from 10-3pm.

A solid line up of artists, workshop presenters, art installations, medieval folk, market stalls, faerie entertainers and sustainability gurus. Find the timetable attached.

Entry is $5 with funds going towards Cityfarm community.
All workshops and activities are free!

Make sure you bring three items of unwanted clothing to exchange at the community clothing exchange.

This is our biggest line up or presenters yet. Have a day out with friends and family. Enjoy an organic snack from the Cityfarm cafe or bring your own lunch to eat inside the gardens of Cityfarm.

From next week… Eco Faeries are facilitating community gatherings on Thursday evening at the Henderson Environmental Centre situated at the end of Groat Street, North Beach, within Star Swamp Reserve. 7.30-9.30pm
Pay by donation.

Upcoming topics-

March 31^st Acrobalance with Mark Bently

14^th April storytelling workshop for adults with Kitsisi

April 28^th adults only evening with sexologist Claire Litton- looking inwards, awareness of your sexual side

May 12^th upcycling with Lafee Verte- Bring your old t-shirt or leggings and turn them into something spectacular

May 19^th bellydance with Faerie Cara

May 26^th Creative Goddess workshop with Shannon Bush

June 9^th Raw Food Living with Casey Loraine

June 16^th World of wellness with a Chinese Medicine practitioner, Ayurvedia practitioner and naturopath

For more information head to www.ecofaeries.com

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The Welsh Flag Logo Pic: Language Trainers

Wendy Wong, from the Language Trainers Blog remebers that from a recent article (Google translates into Welsh as ‘No’): IT’S just the latest in a long line of tools designed by one of the world’s best-known internet companies to make our lives that little bit easier. But users of Google Translate – which has followed in the footsteps of the firm’s maps, images and news functions – have spotted one significant flaw: it won’t translate into Welsh. Well, I use Google Translate via (Mozilla add-on) Ubiquity all the time, but I’d never noticed the lack of Welsh, to be honest.

Bethan Williams, chair of the Language Act Group – Cymdeithas yr Iaith, said: “For a multi-national company like Google failing to consider the Welsh language with translating tools is disgraceful.

“They offer translation services in Arabic, Hindi, Maltese and a host of other languages so why not Welsh?

Google Translate is currently available to work between 42 languages, and the Google search page is already available in Welsh.  Now, before any angry Welsh language speakers email me about my insensitivity, I’d just like to point out that not only would it take an awful lot of man hours to add more languages to an already quite comprehensive and free translation service, but that other languages may have a more pressing need.

According to a 2004 survey, there are approximately 600,000 Welsh speakers living in Wales, while another survey indicated about 130,000 living in England.  Very, very few of these speakers are monoglots (only speak one language, i.e. Welsh).  Therefore, any translation services would likely only be needed by non-Welsh speakers, and not the other way around.

Read the full article by Wendy on the Language Trainers Blog.

Our reponse is that the Celtic Languages are part of our heritage, a heritage that spreads across the world, and adding them to Google Translate should be a priority and not just a luxury. If you are involved in Celtic STudies at any kind of serisou level, the study of the language becomes a necessity to understand not only the culture but the poetry of the everyday life of the Ancient Celts, a poetry that has continued to the modern day and shows not signs of dying out.

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The CMP Logo Pic: Gary

This is our Spring Holiday special for 2011. We start off with a plan, and finally bring you the Dryad story that we have been promising since Autumn last year! You can also hear 4 great pieces of music – one of which is a highly sought after preview from the Dolmen’s forth-coming album ‘Storm’. We finish off with some Listener Feedback, a promo for another great podcast and that’ll do us – back in the driving seat again!

Look out for some different shows coming up very, very soon followed by the beginnings of our telling of the tales of Welsh Mythology. We shall be starting with the Mabinogion – the name which Lady Charlotte Guest called the largest collection of Welsh Myths waaaay back in 1877!

Next Show Planned

As we mention in this show, the next show will be a Chatterbox special in which we’ll bring you somew news, tell you what’s going on with us and then discuss what you can expect from the show in the very near future.

How to Listen

The Episode is available for subscribers on the feed, or you can download it or listen to it from our Episodes page. You can find the Shownotes for this episode in the Shownotes section.

If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Hope you enjoy the show,

Gary & Ruth x x x

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Branwen Pic: Gary Colcombe

There are many Gods and Goddesses that can be considered to be the Celtic Gods or Goddesses of Love. Amongst those of Irish mythology we can count Aengus Og, Brighid and Aine or Anu. Amongst the Welsh we can count Arianrhod, Branwen and Blodeuwedd. The Scottish Celts also have young Angus as the God of love as does Manx Mythology. In general there seems to have been a great crossover and exchange of mythological material between the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Welsh stories. It is probably true that many of the religious practices of the Ancient Celts travelled between the tribes and were adopted, adapted or rejected depending on the customs and beliefs of the tribe involved in the meeting. I don’t know of any Cornish or Breton Love deities at the moment, so if any Celts of those nationalities can enlighten me that would be absolutely brilliant.

Gods in Irish Myth

Aengus Og

In Irish mythology, Óengus (Old Irish), Áengus (Middle Irish), Aengus or Aonghus (Modern Irish) is a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and probably a god of love, youth and poetic inspiration. He was said to have four birds symbolizing kisses flying about his head (whence, it is believed, the xxxx’s symbolizing kisses at the end of lovers’ letters come from).
He is also called Aengus Óg (“Aengus the young”), Mac ind Óg (“son of the young”), Mac Óg (“young son”) or Maccan. [wiki]

We also find him in Scottish Mythology as Angus mac Og.

Brighid

In Irish mythology, Brigit or Brighid (“exalted one”) was the daughter of the Dagda and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She was the wife of Bres of the Fomorians, with whom she had a son, Ruadán. She had two sisters, also named Brighid, and is considered “a classic Celtic Triple Goddess”. [wiki]

When her son died, she is said to have lamented his death with the first ‘keening’ (a sort of unearthly death-wail) heard in Ireland. She is also said to be the Goddess of the Hearth. Her love is that of the family and the home.

Danu/Aine/Anu

In Irish mythology, Danu  is the mother goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann (Old Irish: “The peoples of the goddess Danu”). Though primarily seen as an ancestral figure, some Victorian sources also associate her with the land. [wiki]

The Goddess known as the primordial Mother Goddess giving birth to the Gods, her children, known as the Tuatha De Danaan. Her love, again,  is that of the Mother. Some commentators see Brighid as a form of the Mother Goddess also, equating their roles.

Gods in Welsh Myth

Arianrhod

Arianrhod is a figure in Welsh mythology who plays her most important role in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi. She is the daughter of Dôn and the sister of Gwydion and Gilfaethwy; the Welsh Triads give her father as Beli Mawr. In the Mabinogi her uncle Math ap Mathonwy is the King of Gwynedd, and during the course of the story she gives birth to two sons, Dylan Ail Don and Lleu Llaw Gyffes, through magical means. [wiki]

Due to the ‘improper’ nature of her conceptions and later births (i.e. the unknown father), she is seen as the Goddess of Lust and Desire.

Blodeuwedd

Blodeuwedd Pic: Wiki

Blodeuwedd or Blodeuedd, (Middle Welsh composite name from blodeu ‘flowers, blossoms’ + gwedd ‘face, aspect, appearance’: “flower face”), is the wife of Lleu Llaw Gyffes in Welsh mythology, made from the flowers of broom, meadowsweet and the oak by the magicians Math and Gwydion, and is a central figure in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi. The hero Lleu Llaw Gyffes has been placed under a tynged (a doom or fate) by his mother Arianrhod that he may never have a human wife. So as to counteract this curse, the magicians Math and Gwydion: [take] the flowers of the oak, and the flowers of the broom, and the flowers of the meadowsweet, and from those they conjured up the fairest and most beautiful maiden anyone had ever seen. And they baptized her in the way that they did at that time, and named her Blodeuedd. Some time later, while Lleu is away on business, Blodeuwedd has an affair with Gronw Pebr, the lord of Penllyn, and the two conspire to murder Lleu. [wiki]

Blodeuwedd’s story is primarily about Love – real, fallible mortal love, It is more than the ‘lust’ that the births of Arianrhod suggest and it is yet something that we can all relate to in our long-term relationships, our married lives. It is a human love.

Branwen

Branwen, Daughter of Llŷr is a major character in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, which is sometimes called the Mabinogi of Branwen after her. Branwen is a daughter of Llŷr and Penarddun. She is married to the King of Ireland, but the marriage does not bring peace. In Ireland, Branwen is eventually treated cruelly by her husband Matholwch as punishment for Efnisien’s mutilation of the horses (though not before she gives birth to an heir, Gwern). She tames a starling and sends it across the Irish Sea with a message to her brother and Bendigeidfran brings a force fromWales to Ireland to rescue her. [wiki]

The love that Branwen shows is the true love that brings about sacrifice, she agrees to go to a foreign country to pledge peace with her marriage – she gives her self in sacrifice. This purity of heart is where she gets her name Branwen from: meaning white (or pure) breast. The earlier version of her name is Bronwen and its derivation is white crow, again her singularity and value as the most beautiful woman in the world is made clear here.

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The Wicker Tree Poster Pic: Dread Central

The Wicker Tree is a 2010 film by British director Robin Hardy. The film contains several similar elements to the 1973 film The Wicker Man, but is neither a sequel nor a remake of that film. It is due for release in 2011. Based on Hardy’s own 2006 novel Cowboys for Christ, the film focuses on Texas pop star turned gospel singer, Beth (Brittania Nicol) and her cowboy boyfriend, Steve (Henry Garrett), both devout evangelical Christians from the church Cowboys for Christ, sent on a mission to spread the word of God to the people of Scotland.

The Story

Young Christians Beth and Steve, a gospel singer and her cowboy boyfriend, leave Texas to preach door-to-door in Scotland . When, after initial abuse, they are welcomed with joy and elation to Tressock, the border fiefdom of Sir Lachlan Morrison, they assume their hosts simply want to hear more about Jesus. How innocent and wrong they are. [wiki]

Below is the Teaser to the film found on YouTube, but there is also a longer version that contains blood and nudity, so we can’t show it, but if you want to see it after our warnings you can see it on YouTube or the movie’s official website.

More Info

These days, The Wicker Man probably makes many think of derisive laughter, elated confusion and Nicolas Cage getting  attacked by bees. But the original 1973 cult film still holds up as a chilling, uncomfortably funny horror movie about the power of fear, desperation and faith. Its director Robin Hardy has been struggling for years to make a companion-piece, and now, more than 30 years later, the trailer for The Wicker Tree has arrived. Those scared of naked women wearing horse masks may want to look elsewhere today. Ah yes, it’s probably NSFW.

But before I get to the imagery, I want to get a few problems with this trailer out of the way. First, it’s hard to tell exactly how well this film will work, since anyone familiar with the film knows that the young Christian country singers who decide to visit that creepy Scotish island are doomed from the start. It’s true that the first film’s success wasn’t entirely due it’s shocking ending, but now that we know exactly how things are supposed to go down, it begs the question of what another movie could possibly offer. Also, I do not care how twisty and menacing they look – wicker trees are just not as scary or iconic as huge wicker men. [MovieLine]

A Possible Trilogy?

Film Junk has this to say about the new movie:

The May Queen? Pic: Film Junk

We’ve heard rumblings about a Wicker Mansequel for a couple of years now, but it was never really clear (to me, at least) whether or not this thing would actually get made. However, recently the very first teaser trailer for The Wicker Treearrived online, so apparently they found the money to make it a reality after all. Writer/director Robin Hardy has returned to this cult classic some 37 years later to continue the story, which is pretty amazing in and of itself. It seems to be more of a retelling of the original, with Christopher Lee playing a similarly evil role, although I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be the same character.

This time around there are two young Christians from Texas who foolishly bring their missionary work to Tressock, Scotland, where they fall victim to the pagan villagers. Nicolas Cage’s The Wicker Man remake has kind of turned this movie into a joke in recent years, but for obvious reasons Hardy seems determined to restore some credibility to the name. The original was loosely based on the novel The Ritual by David Pinner and the screenplay was written by Anthony Shaffer, but this movie is based on a novel that Hardy wrote himself called Cowboys for Christ. He actually plans to do a third movie as well to create a trilogy. Production on the film is reportedly complete, although a release date is still TBA. For more info, stay tuned to the official website.

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