The Iron Horse by Kentigern

This is a song about a Scottish train called the Iron Horse by Kentigern. The wonderful vocals here are by Sylvia Barnes. Kentigern was a group formed in 1978 out of a regular session at the Victoria Bar, Glasgow. John Gahagan (whistle) had been a member of The Battlefield Band, and with Jimmy McGuire (fiddle, banjo) combined with the four members of Tinkler Maidgie - Sandy Stanage (cittern, guitar, banjo) (who had also been in Molendinar), Ian MacDonald (pipes), Jim Barnes (cittern, guitar, vocals) and Sylvia Barnes (vocals, dulcimer, guitar, bodhran) - to form Kentigern. Dougie Pincock (pipes, whistle) replaced Ian MacDonald. The photos with the music were taken in Scotland of the stream train known as the Jacobite. This ride is often described as one of the great railway journeys of the world. The 84 mile round trip takes you past a list of impressive extremes. Starting near the highest mountain in Britain, Ben Nevis, it visits Britain's most westerly mainland railway station, Arisaig; passes close by the deepest freshwater loch in Britain, Loch Morar and the shortest river in Britain, River Morar, finally arriving next to the deepest seawater loch in Europe, Loch Nevis.

Sylvia Barnes

Sylvia’s pedigree in Traditional music is a long and distinguished one. Together with her late husband Jim, she formed the vocal nucleus of the influential Glasgow band Kentigern, and was one of an elite group of female vocalists to sing the with the Battlefield Band, before moving to England in the 80’s. She fronted several bands during this time and continued to perform as a duo with Jim, becoming firm favourites with folk club and festival audiences throughout the country and abroad, and releasing a number of well received recordings. She continues to be in demand as a solo singer, being a frequent guest at singing festivals in this country and in Ireland and was recognised as "Scots Singer of the Year" for 2006, an award sponsored by the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland. Among the very top flight of Scots singers, she is a dramatic performer with a wonderful voice. She can render passion, humour and gentle sentiment with equal ease and has been described as one of the finest ballad singers of her generation. Her deep commitment to her songs and her involvement in them bring them to life in a way few other singers can achieve.