Ayre by Stephen Picton, sung by Josie Black

Submitted by: Stephen P.

This is January’s song, from the song cycle and forthcoming album ‘Musicalmanac – a year of human emotion in song’ – one song for every month of an extraordinary year, drawing inspiration from the beautiful Moray Firth area of Scotland that I am lucky to call my home.

An Ayre is a type of Renaissance lute song, of which this is a modern interpretation. It’s also the word for a shingle or sand spit which forms an inland beach, like the one near Nairn where this was filmed – a desolate but beautiful spot at low tide.

The birdsong is the haunting cry of the black-throated diver (or loon as it is perhaps aptly known in the USA), a regular winter visitor to the Moray Coast.