Poems & Lyrics (in the English dialect) (1856)

Songs of the seasons, the forest and the sea, home and exile, mortality and immortality:

an adaptation of the book, “Poems and Lyrics (in the English and Scotch dialects)“ by John Collie, of Boyndie (1834-1893), with music by his descendants in New Zealand, between 2020-2025

Listen

“Songs from the harp and lyre – a fantastic flow back from the ancient days” – Dr Emit Snake-Beings

The album includes collaborations with my nephew Hans Landon-Lane, plus guest appearances by Antony Milton and Dr Emit Snake-Beings.

“I have been lucky enough to hear some of Dave Edwards work on this at a couple of shows – very cool concept project and worth a listen” – James Trotman

Background

My great-great-grandfather published his book in 1856, before emigrating to New Zealand for the rest of his life.

Discovering this family outsider art precedent in 2018 cast fiffdimension in a whole new light! It sparked a seven-year project to record musical arrangements of his poems for a new century’s audience.

“And with a trembling hand I launch my tiny vessel into the troubled ocean of literature , where many a noble craft has been shattered to pieces…”

Like his better-known countryman (and influence) Robert Burns, John Collie wrote in both English and Scots. The other half of the album is Poems & Lyrics in the Scotch Dialect

The ‘earthier’ Scots poems focus on the rhythms of 19th century rural life, courtship, superstitious villagers, Scottish national pride, and the pleasures of alcohol. Whereas the English poems have a ‘grander’ scope, covering themes of nature, the seasons, youth and old age, bereavement, emigration, and the poets of antiquity.

For more detail see fiffdimension.com/poems-lyrics-by-john-collie-1856/

Together, this double album is one of my major works, with extra historical and literary depth! Where to from here…?

Ironically, I’ve never been to Scotland – so have had to use imagination. The opposite side of the world is very far, and too expensive for me to visit from New Zealand currently.

But Scottish is the largest share (38%) of my pre-NZ ancestry, from both sides of my family. Some of John Collie’s other descendants Céleste Rochery, Megan Rochery Edwards, Hans Landon-Lane (aka Clever Hansel) and Rhys Landon-Lane, also appear on the Scotch half of the album (kia ora whanau!).

John Collie emigrated here in 1858, and spent his later years in the Wellington region – where I was born, over a century later.

Poems & Lyrics by John Collie (1856)
John Middleton Collie (1834-1893)
Masterton NZ, 2023
Carterton NZ, 2025
Clever Hansel
The Dying Monarch
Dave Black & Snake Beings, 2014
Megan Edwards, as ‘Mrs Proudfoot’ in Lord of the Rings
John Middleton Collie (in his later years)
Scotland
Scotland

Tracklist

1.	Solitude 11:58
2.	The American Chief’s Song of Defiance 02:12
3.	The Exile’s Return 03:46
4.	Give me the Golden Cup of Love 03:26
5.	w/ Clever Hansel – Nature 03:12
6.	Clever Hansel – Sonnet on Summer 03:18
7.	Autumn 03:36
8.	Lines on the Death of Lord Raglan 03:09
9.	The Troubled Times – The Dying Monarch 07:48
10.	To a Snowdrop 02:01
11.	To the Ocean 03:37
12.	The Bard’s Lament 02:19
13.	Clever Hansel – The Mother to her Son 03:35
14.	Farewell to Thee, Charming Deceiver 03:31
15.	Adieu to Tweedside 02:52
16.	Address to a Linnet while Singing 03:34
17.	Clever Hansel – The Land of my Youth 03:57
18.	The Emigrant’s Reflections 03:29
19.	fiffdimension + snakebeings – An Hour Among the Poets 05:43
20.	The Wounded Hero 03:59