Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland – 2011 video

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“It was deeply Satisfying to be awarely connected world-wide. […] This is an important action on behalf of the Planet. It was a great JOY to participate. I love and appreciate water daily. I loved being able to share this awareness with others” Lilian Kennedy, Choreographer, Kirkcaldy

Water Locale

North Sea Estuary of the River Forth

Audience Site

Ravenscraig Castle and the beach below.

History

The Devil is reputed to have been buried under the sea from Kirkcaldy( pronounced- Kirk-caw-day).
The cunning wizard, Michael Scott, was born at Balwearie in Fife’s kingdom early in 1200. He oft-times stood on the battlements of his tower at Balwearie, silhouetted against the clear sky-line, studying the stars, reading the stories of the heavens. His neighbours, high and low, viewed with awe the stately figure of the venerable astrologer, believing he was communing with the uncanny powers of the unseen world, so they dubbed him wizard. He is best remembered around Kirkcaldy, which is close to Baiwearie, by the trick he played on the Devil, who came to claim the recompense of long service. Mr. Geddie says in his Fringes of Fife, “That must have been a dull-witted member of the infernal hierarchy who was sent to cope with the shrewd Fife Faust, for he undertook as a last labour to twine a rope out of the sand of Kirkcaldy Bay. Who has waded like us through the dry, loose mounds behind Linktown breakwater must feel sorry for the lubber fiend. He laid him down wearied with his fruitless toil, and Kirkcaldy, listening pitifully to his moan, ‘ My taes are cauld,’ has kept adding stone to stone to its length-an allegory doubtless of the triumph of human will and persistence over the perverse powers of Nature. Some say the devil’s dead and buried in Kirkcaldy; others there are who stoutly deny it to this day.”

There is a coal seam under the river which was mined from Kirkcaldy. The sand carries lots of sea-coal, the dross from which darkens the Esplanade Beach and lumps of which can be found at low tide from Seafield Beach to Dysart. Coal ‘ Black Diamonds’ were Fife’s Trade for a long, long time. Now the mines are all closed and a tourist trail is being born.

The Bass Rock can be seen across the water, as can Berwick Law and Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, which are all ancient sites of power and beauty. This is also the river crossed by Lothian’s Princess Thenew, in a Coracle without oars, which tossed her up at Culross (pronounced – Cooris)to be found by St. Serf. Her son Kentigern was born there. He became St. Mungo. They founded Celtic Christian Glasgow Cathedral there.

The river runs past Stirling, of Braveheart fame, through Queensferry and past Edinburgh to the North Sea. It houses the BP refineries at Grangemouth and the Nuclear Submarines, which were fitted out at Rosyth. Their pollution runs down the river towards Kirkcaldy. I see the river from my windows and bless it daily, says Lilian Brzoska-Kennedy, whose mother is Scots and father was Polish. She is a native of Stirling who spent many fine holidays in the Fife fishing villages before moving to live in Kirkcaldy.

The Fife Coast and its fishing villages are very beautiful and have had long trade in salt and coal with the Baltic Sea. Kirkcaldy also has a large Polish population, both World War Two second generation Poles and our recent emigrant population.

Ravenscraig Castle was the home of the St. Claire Family who also own the gloriously carved Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian, made more famous by Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. They were gifted the castle to prevent piracy in the River Forth. At the foot of the castle are some of the most beautiful rocks in Scotland.

This precious, ancient Waterway reaches from the Heart of Scotland to the North Sea, deserving our gratitude and blessings. It is linked to the West of Scotland, in modern times, by the Forth and Clyde Canal. In Ancient Times it was a wide protection for the Highlands, only passable at Stirling Bridge. She is a glorious friend to Fife, Lothian and Berwickshire, whose fishermen find her a Safe Harbour and whose people wave to one another across the ship lanes which serve Leith and the oil on the south side and gas refineries on the Fife side of the Coast. Whaur’s the Devil noo’? On June 25th, 2011, all our dancing angels blessed her waters and her shore, linking her with all the drops that dance in us, in Oceans and in streams. Blessed be She who flows Forth, with Loves Beams.

The Choreographers

Lilian Kennedy and Ambrose Ambrose Stanyer-Hunter

The Music

A combination of downloaded music, written for the project and live music created by the dancers…

The Performance

We danced with the sounds of the sea, on the beach and beautiful rocks for the first movement, added a drumbeat for the second movement of free dancing, followed by set movements. These dances were done either on the rocks or at the water’s edge. The Bass Rock and Arthur’s Seat were the triangulation points with Ravenscraig Castle, for sending our blessings around the Global Waters.

How Can I Find Out More?

Contact Lilian Brzoska 01592 566865 or email Ambrose on – poleorama@hotmail.com

Directions to Site Location

X26/X27 from Glasgow, St.Andrews and Dunfermline or X58/X60 from Edinburgh, Leven and St.Andrews and no.18 to Kelty/ Kirkcaldy Mid-town all pass the location. Get off at Ravenscraig Flats, cross the road and go down the steps to the Large Rocks at the base of the Ravenscraig Castle.

There is a car park at the bottom of the Castle Hill near the sea, accessible opposite the Pathhead Practice Building, which is painted white half-way up the hill near Hutchison’s Flour Mill. On foot you can come around the water purification plant and walk along the beach to the foot of the castle.
There is another car park in Ravenscraig Park. From it the Castle Courtyard is accessible along the cliff.

Email contact

liliannakennedy@gmail.com