Consistency of Simple Songs within Dialect Groups

 

Below are examples of simple songs from individuals from four Highlands locations: CAT glen in Glen Clunie, Glen Clunie below CAT glen, Glen Shee near the top, and Loch Lee in Glen Esk. These are presented in order to demonstrate the amount of consistency of simple songs within groups.

 

CAT glen: Four songs from four birds, all of the single simple song sung by all individuals in this area.


Click on individual song in sonogram to hear recording. Each song file is between 15 and 30k.

FOUR INDIVIDUALS FROM CAT GLEN (leading to CARN AN TUIRC)

RZCAT1,2,3,6 are individuals recorded in CAT glen.
RZCAT1: up glen and to the left about 300 meters from bridge
RZCAT2: further up on the wall of the left of two crofter's cottage between which the upper track runs; probably one year old
RZCAT3: above main road from parking lot
RZCAT6: further up the glen.
.

 

Glen Clunie proper: Seven songs from four individuals: both simple types from RZSB1, only second type from RZSB2 (no whistles recorded), and both types from from RZGC1 and RZCAT4. The first two birds were countersinging neighbours, the latter two remote.

Click on individual song in sonogram to hear recording.

FOUR INDIVIDUALS IN GLEN CLUNIE PROPER

Four individuals, the first two up the east side of Glen Clunie near the old stone bridge across Clunie Water, the third in a skinny glen with a skinny waterfall on the east side of the glen about 750 meters up Glen Clunie from the larch plantation, and the fourth adjacent to CAT glen.

RZSB1: looking up from parking lot down stream from stone bridge this bird was high to the left; wearing silver and white on right leg?
RZSB2: looking up from parking lot down stream from stone bridge this bird was high to the right near the dyke that runs up the hill; wearing silver and white on right leg? In over two hours of recording we did not hear this bird make any flat whistles. The second song is just one of the complex songs holding a place for the whistles.
RZGC1: bird in skinny glen up road from larches. A high percentage of this bird's songs were the flat whistles.
RZCAT4: down Glen Clunie from CAT glen

 

Glen Shee near top: Five songs from three individuals: first and third song types from RZGST2,and RZGST3 , and third type from RZGST5 (no whistles recorded). The commonly sung type four is dealt with next.

Click on individual song in sonogram to hear recording.

THREE INDIVIDUALS IN GLEN SHEE

This location is high up Glen Shee on the hillside running west from the main Glen Shee stream, on both sides of the stream that comes in from the west.
RZGST2: bird on ridge, first down close to road then higher
RZGST3: bird beyond ridge up high
RZGST5: bird up road and across main stream, down from the two parking lots; no whistle song heard or recorded

 

The fourth type song of this dialect was sung by at least four birds, less frequently than type three above in three birds, more frequently in RZGST5 (58 times for fourth, 33 times for the third in the morning's recording). Click on individual song in sonogram to hear recording.

FOURTH TYPE GLEN SHEE SONG

 

Glen Esk, Loch Lee: Six songs from three individuals: types 4 and 1 from RZGE1, types 4, 2 and 3 from RZGE2, and 4 from RZGE3, who was countersinging with RZGE2 and from which I heard no whistles.


Click on individual song in sonogram to hear recording.

THREE INDIVIDUALS IN GLEN ESK

On the north side of Loch Lee in Glen Esk.
RZGE1: bird at western end of loch near the bridge
RZGE2: up high on right at the beginning (east end) of the loch, two songs unlike that of RZGE1
RZGE3: up high on right at the beginning of the loch, countersinging with RZGE2, no whistles recorded

 

VARIATION IN WHISTLE SONGS
The extent of variation in type 1 songs, flat whistles in these four dialects, in and between groups, is not clear, but there seems to be significant conformity within groups and variation between groups. The following two collections illustrate this. The first is four flat whistle songs of four birds in the CAT glen. This is followed by a selection of one flat whistle from each major location.

Click anywhere to hear. Sound file is over 100k.

FLAT WHISTLES (TYPE 1) IN CAT GLEN

Click anywhere to hear. Sound file is over 100k.

FLAT WHISTLES (TYPE 1) FROM FOUR LOCATIONS

 

Detailed Sonograms of the most frequently sung song types of four Scottish glens

The following are sonograms of typical simple songs of four Scottish locations. The time scale has been spread out to show more detail than in the more crowded sonograms above. Click on the sonograms to hear the songs.

CAT Glen Simple Song

Glen Clunie Type 1 Simple Song

Glen Clunie Simple Song Type 2

Glen Shee Type 1 Simple Song

Glen Shee Type 3 Simple Song

Glen Shee Type 4 Simple Song

Glen Esk Type 1 Simple Song

Glen Esk Type 4 Simple Song