Charlie Zahm in Scotland

When we first signed up for the Faith and Freedom Tour, we thought that the only way that the trip could be better would be that Charlie Zahm would come as our balladeer. When we went to the 200 Year Plan conference, Mr. Phillips told us that they had arranged for Mr. Zahm to come! We were really excited. We ordered another CD (Scotland's Heroes) from him to prepare for the trip.

Charlie Zahm mostly sings Scottish, American and Irish folk songs. We first heard him at the National Constitution Party convention in 2004, but when we really learned about him was on the Faith and Freedom Tour in Philadelphia. We also heard him at the Jamestown Quadricentenial Celebration, where we bought a CD.

It was wonderful to hear Mr. Zahm sing Scots Wae Hae at Stirling Castle, Will ye no come back again? at Culloden, and Scotland the Brave at the closing dinner. He did three concerts during the trip, and at many stops along the way.


Here is Mr. Zahm singing Scots Wae Hae at Stirling Castle. Mommy and Rachel and in the background.

'Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled,
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led,
Welcome tae your gory bed,
Or tae Victorie!
'Now's the day, and now's the hour:
See the front o' battle lour,
See approach proud Edward's power -
Chains and Slaverie!
'Wha will be a traitor knave?
Wha will fill a coward's grave?
Wha sae base as be a slave?
Let him turn and flee!
'Wha, for Scotland's king and law,
Freedom's sword will strongly draw,
Freeman stand, or Freeman fa',
Let him on wi' me!
'By Oppression's woes and pains!
By your sons in servile chains!
We will drain our dearest veins,
But they shall be free!
'Lay the proud usurpers low!
Tyrants fall in every foe!
Liberty's in every blow! -
Let us do or dee!'
If you enjoyed this, you might want to visit his website, http://www.charliezahm.com/ where you can order CDs, and listen to samples.

Scotland updates - more comming soon!

No more pictures for a while, because we are leaving for Branson tomorrow.

I am putting pictures in the posts we wrote in Scotland. Some are already up, and there are more to come.

Check back soon!

---
Joshua

Scotland Pictures - Day 4




Scotland Pictures - Day 2 & 3

Edinburgh Castle

Mr. Phillips speaking at Grassmarket, where many Covenanters were martyred


Parking space 23 in the St. Giles church parking lot where John Knox is buried

Scotland - Day 1

We are now in Scotland! We arrived a few days ago and have been on two days of the Faith and Freedom Tour, and have really enjoyed learning all the Scottish and Covenanter history.

We flew out of Charlotte after church. Our flight was delayed because of mechanical and weather problems, and we arrived in Philadelphia, and discovered that we had missed our connection to Glasgow. Kelly Bradrick, her baby Triumph and Blair Brown, who we were traveling with to Scotland, got an alternate flight through London. We walked to the gate of that flight, and they finally got us the last five seats on the plane. After the all-night flight we arrived in London, and we boarded our plane to Glasgow, but Mrs. Bradrick and Ms. Brown were not able to get through security. We arrived in Glasgow, got our car, and waited for them, but they had gotten on a flight to Edinburgh, where we were really headed. When they did not come, we drove to Edinburgh just in time for the opening dinner, and they arrived before we left Glasgow. Our luggage did not make it, since we barely got on the flight to London.


Us waiting for our plane in North Carolina

We really enjoyed the speeches that Mr. Doug Phillips and Mr. Potter made, and we also enjoyed Charlie Zahm's ballads.

Mr. Zahm

Scotland - Day 10

On day 10 the bus left at 5:45am to get on a  ferry to the Isle of Mull. The first ferry was a 45 minute ferry ride, after about an hour drive. Once we were landed we got on the buses to drive across the Isle of Mull to get on a ferry to the Isle of Iona. Iona is the place that Columba first came to. Many missionaries left from there to go to all parts of the world. One of them was Brendan, who went all the way to the equator. In his diary it says, "We came to one place where all there was to eat was long yellow fruit that you had to peel." These were bannanas so we know he made it to the equator. There is evidence that some of them made it to North America. We went into the oldest chapel, which is tiny, for a talk by Doug  Phillips. Then we went into a bigger chapel that is still used as a church  for a talk by Doug Phillips and then one by Dr. Joe Morcraft. Then we went into the abbey that is also used as a church for a concert by Charlie Zahm. Then we  went into the graveyard and listened to a speech by Doug Phillips on some of the people that were buried there. There were 48 Scot kings, Pict Kings, Irish kings, and Viking kings. There was also a talk by Bill Potter on the Picts and their lifestyle. Then we went to the Iona Book Store which had old used books and we bought some. After we ate lunch we went to a building which had ancient tombstones and other important stones to protect them from the weather. After that we went down to the beach. Then we went to some souvenier shops but did not buy anything. We waited for the ferry and when it came we got on. When we arrived on the Isle of Mull  we drove back across the Island to the other ferry location.We got on the ferry to the mainland and arrived safely. Then we got on the buses and arrived at the hotel at 9:00pm. We had to pack up because we were leaving the next day.

Scotland - Day 8

On Monday we first went to Urquhart Castle, on the shores of Loch Ness. It has an incredible history, which includes the friends of Wallace, of the covenantors, of Cromwell and Bonnie Prince Charlie. When we arrived Mr. Phillips gave a speech on the Loch Ness monster, Nessie. He said that if we did find a Loch Ness monster, it would be a very serious problem for the evolutionists, because if their worldview is correct, all dinosaurs would have been dead for more than a million years. After this speech, we explored the castle. We went to this castle, and several of the other sites on our trip to Scotland two years ago. You can read our blog posts on it here.





After the castle we went to a little town about a mile away for lunch, and a Loch Ness exhibit if the families wanted to. We went to the exhibit, which is the 'original' exhibit that gives a more favorable view of Nessie's existence. We enjoyed this, as we had gone to the 'new' visitor's center on our previous trip. At the visitor center they had a couple bookcases of used books for only one pound each. ($2.17)

Our next stop was Culloden battlefield. Mr. Potter told us what happened there, Mr. Zahm sang, and we did a reenactment charge. After visiting the battlefield, we walked to the visitor center, which was updated since two years ago. One exhibit was a 360 view of the battle, and a map that showed the movements of the troops. We really enjoyed this, and could have spent more time there, but it closed.



After this we drove back to Fort William, and tried to find a place to eat, and we went to a bad Chinese restaurant, and then we back to the hotel.

Scotland - Pictures




Old books that I bought











The train driving over a bridge near the Jacobite monument.

Scotland - Day 9

We are skipping yesterday for sake of time.

Today we rode on the "The Jacobite" Railway, which runs from Fort William to a small fishing village called Mallaig. It is a steam train that goes through the beautiful Highland country, and passes the bay where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard at a place called Glenfinnan. We had a really fun time. Mr. Zahm sang some songs for us, and we talked with the others on our tour. We arrived in Mallaig and ate lunch (the normal fish and chips for some) and walked around the souvenir shops while we waited for the train to leave.

When we got back from the train ride, we walked down the street and  went to several shops, including the grocery and a used book store. There Daddy got around 15 books and I bought 3. We found four R. M. Ballantyne books there, which was exciting. The owner was nice enough to ferry the books to our apartment for us. After shopping we returned home to cook dinner and consider how to fit these purchases into our suitcases!

---
Joshua