Fonn na TìreThe Land-Song of Scotland April 20-24 2026

with Madge Brae, Brid Walsh, Malin Lewis

Hosted by Rachel Fleming, Jackie Thoms & Land Stewards of Bute

Join us for a shared journey of deep listening, sound-making and immersion in the indigenous traditions of Scotland. Together, we honour our grief for what has been lost, celebrate what we remember and cultivate the gifts we carry in service of the land.

We gather on the Isle of Bute, an ancient place of potency and reverence near the Healing Loch below the Ridge of Lamentations. Here, native forests, living waters and the subtle harmonics of the landscape invite us into connection, humility and awe. Through new and traditional practices, we attune our bodies to the land and to the energies moving between us and the more-than-human world.

At the centre of our time together is dùthchas: the Gaelic sense of deep belonging to place, community, ancestry and the living world. Through this lens, we remember that the land holds memory and song, and that our human voices can listen, respond and offer back.

We will slow down and enter the soundscape of the island, listening for ancient harmonies and giving voice to our relationship with place, our grief, our joy, our reverence.

Is this for you?

This gathering is for those who wish to deepen their reciprocal relationship with the land and explore the subtle song of place through their own embodied sensing. No singing or speaking experience is needed, only a willingness to listen deeply and respond with authenticity.

Weather permitting, we will be out on the land each day, walking, practising and sounding together.

What to expect

·       Days spent on the island in ceremony, presence and deep listening

·       Embodied practices to attune to the subtle energies of landscape

·       Traditional Scottish ways of listening for songs and sounding with place

·       Voicing natural harmonics and keening grief and joy

·       Shared reflection and offerings to the land in this moment of time

Join us by clicking here for more information and to book a place: https://animate-earth.org/fonn-na-tire-the-land-song-of-scotland/