Aderyn/Bird
★★★★★ Disglair/Brilliant
Scottish Storytelling Centre (Venue 30a): Wed 6 – Sat 16 Aug 2025
Review by Rebecca Mahar
Edinburgh’s Ailsa Dixon and Welsh storyteller Ffion Philips, together known as the Harebell Tellers, enchant the Scottish Storytelling Centre with a limited, five show run of Aderyn/Bird this Fringe.
Weaving together mythology, folklore, and language from across the archipelagic Celtic nations, the pair create a captivating hour of bardic wonder. The Aderyn of the title, of course, being the Welsh equivalent of its companion, the English word: Bird.
The Harebell Tellers – Ailsa Dixon and Ffion Philips.
Harebell’s tale begins on a mountain on the Isle of Skye in a cave, where a woman (if woman is the right word for what she is) is singing and milking a great deer. She is a’ Chailleach, hen fenyw, old woman; the Cailleach, a deity of the land and the weather.
With her is her husband (if husband is the right word for what he is): Bodach, hen ddyn, old man; a trickster. Together they make crowdie cheese from the milk and take it high up to the top of the Cuillin mountains, where birds gather to peck it from their hands.
It is these birds whose stories Dixon and Philips tell, following their flights across ancient Britain and beyond.
wren, goose, starling & redstart
How dryw/wren became the king of the birds and gained his bent-up tail, wondering if Lleu Llaw Gyffes knew he was firing at the little sovereign of the trees; how the princess Gŵydd/Goose saved her seven transformed brothers from their mother’s accidental curse; how drudwen/starling carried Branwen’s plea, dros y tonnau/over the waves from Ireland to her brother Bendigeidfran, Brân the Blessed, to free her from Matholwch her husband.
Last of all we are transported to Tír na nÓg, where tiny tingoch/redstart seeks to Ffraid, Bríde, Brigid, for fire to bring to bring to humans in the winter cold, explaining both how fire came to Alba for the first time, and how redstart got his bright feathers.
The Redstart
Between each tale Dixon and Philips take us back to Cailleach, Bodach, and the cheese, where each of the birds comes in turn to feed. They sing and slowly dance in these transitions, or one sings while the other narrates, or support each other on guitar and cello, underscoring the stories with simple, beautifully attuned music.
There are no lighting changes, and their set is simply two chairs and a quartet of painted birds suspended on a black backdrop, but no more is required.
spark of magic
Aderyn/Bird is exceptionally well put together, yet retains the feeling of a tale woven around a fire, rather than something performed on a stage. Dixon and Philips have that spark of magic that guarantees the tradition of storytelling tradition will endure; something anhraethol, y tu hwnt i eiriau/inexpressible, beyond words. They are bearers of a fire that, like Ffraid’s cloak, will not soon go out.
Running time: One hour (no interval).
Scottish Storytelling Centre (Library), 43-45 High Street EH1 1SR (Venue 30).
Wed 6 – Sat16 Aug August 2025.
Wed 6, Fri 8, Tue 12, Thurs 14 & Sat 16 only: 5.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here on EdFringe.com.
Ailsa Dixon website: www.ailsadixonstoryteller.com
Instagram: @harebell_tellers
Linktree: @HarebellTellers
ENDS
