Making a Bukkehorn

Bukkehorn and lur

All Rams Horns for blowing are not Shofars as used in Hebrew Worship. In Norway the ram's horn and wooden horn (Bukkehorn and lur) are traditional instruments. The bukkehorn is an instrument type which is found over large parts of the world. It was traditionally used on high mountain summer dairy farms by herders at least since medieval times. There are two main types of bukkehorn. The more common type has a plain hole for a mouthpiece and is blown as a brass instrument, with from two to three up to eight finger holes. The other type is called tungehorn ("tongue horn"), and is played like a clarinet; it has a reed made of birch bark or juniper in the mouthpiece. There is far less knowledge of the ritual use of these instruments than of their function as "tools". In Norway, both these instruments and their history are associated with mountain farms and shepherds. The ram's horn was, from its earliest days, a practical tool rather than a musical instrument, used as a means of giving warnings and signals. Later horns were made with two, three, and up to eight finger holes. It is also called the trumpet horn (trompethorn). A variation on the ram's horn is known as the tongue horn (tungehorn). It has a reed made of juniper wood that is similar to a clarinet reed, and has from four to eight finger holes.




Women Blowing Lur

While the ram`s horn was used first and foremost by shepherds, the lur (similar to an alpenhorn) was the instrument of the dairy maids (budeia) who tended the summer farms. The lur`s history can also be traced back to the Middle Ages. We know that the lur was an important tool at sea in olden times, where it was used to communicate between boats. In the Oseberg ship, an elaborate grave from Viking times, a wooden tube was found that researchers believe was a lur. We divide lurs into 3 groups based on the construction technique: lurs that are hollowed out of a single piece of wood, lurs that are made from a piece of wood that is first split and later bound back together, and lurs that are simply bound together by a birch strip. The lur is blown like a trumpet; the thin end where you blow is usually formed something like the mouthpiece of a trumpet. On an ordinary lur it is possible, using overblowing technique, to produce pitches ranging from the 2nd up to the 6th or 8th harmonic of the harmonic series (natural scale). If the lur is very long, it is possible to produce all the way up to the 12th harmonic.

http://www.moabmusicfest.org/Norse_by_NorseWest_School_Assembly

http://www.ramshornstudio.com/the_bukkehorn.htm

Sea eagle chicks take to the sky

The sea eagle has a wingspan of about eight feet


A giant bird of prey hunted to extinction in Britain by the Victorians are being reintroduced to the east of Scotland.

A group of 14 chicks from Norway, which have been reared in custom-built aviaries in Fife, have been released at the Tay estuary.

The re-colonisation project, now in its third year, has already proved to be a success in the west of Scotland.

Scotland now has about 200 sea eagles, which have an eight-foot wingspan.

Last year, 44 pairs of breeding birds produced 28 chicks - a record year for the species since it was first reintroduced to the region.

Some birds from the west coast have made their way east - attracted by the new colony on the other side of the country.

'Perfect habitat'

The sea eagle chicks will be fitted with radio tags so scientists can follow their movements for the next five years.

The re-colonisation project involves RSPB Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and Forestry Commission Scotland.

Claire Smith, RSPB Scotland's sea eagle project officer, said: "Now that we're into the third year of the project, these amazing birds are becoming a more common sight around the Tay estuary, which some of the previous year's birds have made their home.

"This shows that the prey and habitat in this area are perfect for these birds and I look forward to seeing this year's birds meet up with their older counterparts.

"The distinct populations around Scotland and Ireland are now starting to meet and mingle, which is a really good sign for the species."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8196838.stm

The sheep who abseiled down electricity cable

Real-life Ram-bo: The sheep who abseiled down electricity cable after snagging his horn.

This hapless sheep has become a real life 'ram-bo' after inadvertently abseiling down a hill when its horn became snagged on an electricity wire.

The unfortunate sheep was spotted bleating for help more than 15 feet above the ground next to an telegraph pole.

German tourists do their best to get to the hapless sheep

Luckily he did not catch the current from the wire.

The drama unravelled at the small town of Helgoysund on the Norwegian coast on Wednesday.

Tourists at the scene mounted a rescue attempt and eventually roped him to pull him back to ground level in little over an hour.

Bemused spectators suggested he may have been trying to take the fast route down to a herd of ewes grazing in the field below.

Marita Vestersjo Landsnes, aged 13, caught the calamity on her camera phone. The schoolgirl said she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the sheep sliding down the live wire.


Spectators suggested the sheep may have been trying to reach a field of ewes at the bottom of the hill


After nearly an hour, and some ingenious rope work, the German tourists managed to bring the sheep down unharmed

Her dad Geir Landsnes, 45, also watched the dramatic events unfold. He said Marita would never to go out without a camera again.

He said: 'As a reward for his embarrassing predicament we helped him to achieve his quest by allowing him access to the ladies.

'My wife saw something surreal from the kitchen window and realised it was the sheep hanging five to six metres off the ground from the wire by its horn and called me straight away, asking what to do.

'I asked my daughter Marita to photograph the rescue operation so I could see the images of what had happened.

'Marita is so proud that her images and I've encouraged her not to leave the house without her camera.'

The sheep had been grazing on the hill. He had got his horn stuck on the zip wire and as he got more agitated, was pulled down the hill on the wire he was attached to and ended more than up five metres above the ground.

The German tourists were in the area because the Landsnes family, alongside the sheep farm, run a small vacation place on the Norwegian island.

The sheep escaped unharmed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1205004/Pictured-Ram-bo-Amazing-abseiling-sheep-tries-unorthodox-method-attracting-ewes.html