Song picture
The Last Farmer
2 Comment Share
License   $25
Single   $0.75
Album   $10
The farmers of Scotland wondered, in the grip of winter and the foot and mouth epidemic of 2001, if they were the last generation on the land... a lament for the last farmer, whenever and wherever he (or she) may be.
singer songwriter acoustic folk british guitarist song celtic traditional fingerstyle scottish scotland guitar kelso
Artist picture
Solo singer-songwriter and tunesmith playing British fingerstyle steel and nylon string guitar, and historic instruments. Scots and Irish influences.
I've been writing and playing songs and tunes since teenage years in folk clubs and pubs. I co-organise the Kelso Friday night live music sessions at the Cross Keys (hosted singaround 7.45-10pm) and Cobbles Inn (10-12pm open mic with The Cobbles Band) with the help of many friends. All welcome! Visit us at kelsofolkandlive co uk. It is worth clicking on the tab because the sound quality of my tracks is far higher than the auto player on this page. Many can be streamed or downloaded at 320KBps and the enhancement for solo guitar/voice far exceeds the benefit you get for highly compressed band recordings. My recordings are full dynamic, not compressed. Just select Hi-Fi for the first song, and an MP3 high bitrate window will open - you will still get a sequence of songs. Most of my downloads are free, but some 320KBps tracks are paid-for. These are selected because they make up my main instrumental album. I now have a YouTube page and have started doing some video recordings for fun: @daviddkilpatrick I have mainly played Lowden guitars since 1999. I current play a 1985 S5FN (nylon string), 1986 S22 (jumbo O-size mahogany/cedar), and 1995 S32 (small body rosewood/spruce). I also play my own 1997-built Martin 'kit' Grand Auditorium rosewood/spruce, a Sigma OM-T, Furch Little Jane, Tacoma Papoose, Guild 8-string baritone, Vintage V880 parlour guitar and Gordon Giltrap signature model, a Troubadour mahogany/spruce classical and an Adam Black 12-string. And that's just the guitars... also viola, mandolin, mandola, waldzither, bouzouki, Appalachian dulcimer, low D whistle, keyboards.
Song Info
Charts
Peak #9
Peak in subgenre #3
Author
David Kilpatrick
Rights
David Kilpatrick
Uploaded
February 07, 2008
Track Files
MP3
MP3 3.1 MB 320 kbps 3:20
Story behind the song
The snow which came at the end of February 2001 to the Scottish Borders was not welcome in the way our snow at Christmas had been - then, I wrote 'Lullaby for a Sleeping Landscape'. This snow was sudden, heavy, wind-blasted and clinging; it brought down trees, and it brought down most of the power lines in the entire region. Many were without power for a week and food had to be airlifted to isoated farms and villages. Simultaneously, an epidemic of foot and mouth disease swept the country; great trenches were dug and cows, sheep and pigs burned by the thousands. The farm sheepdogs and the hunting horses had to be destroyed too, wherever the disease was found. Farmers who would have been able to help clear the roads of snow were quarantined on their land, and not allowed to move. The countryside was barred to visitors. Some farmers saw this as the final blow - the end of their farming lives. One Irish farmer, aged 29, looked more like 49 as he spoke on TV about having to 'get a job' and never return to farming. This instrumental is my reaction to the whole scene - the darkness of towns without light or heat, empty roads, telephones and mobiles all dead, only news on the radio about the growing problems. I called it 'The Last Farmer' because that is the saddest part of it all - the idea that a period of a month, maybe, in winter, could end a way of life for so many people. I do not think it will, but unless we change many of our ways there will be a bleak time to come.
Song Likes
On 13 Playlists
Comments 2
Please sign up or log in to post a comment.
ALEXIS PATRICK
May 11, 2012
So enchanting, you have a great touch on the Guitar. Hey, Our last name is Patrick, but, do not kill us.:)
Jeffrey Reilly
Jun 21, 2010
ENJOYED THIS VERY MUCH!!!!