Far from being simple or barbaric, the Anglo-Saxons were the first great documenters of events, and it’s fair to say that their writings have been crucial in understanding the chronology of pre-Medieval England. The Anglo-Saxon chronicles represent some of the first written histories, and a keen awareness of chronology and the passage of time.
Time and the seasons remain inextricably linked, but back in the 7th century their connection was more closely observed and vital to the way people lived, due to their dependence on nature and natural cycles. Consequently, it’s fair to say that in the 7th Century, man was much more attuned to the natural world.
Chris Watson’s document, created using field recordings – literally – recreates the experience of life on Lindisfarne in the time of St Cuthbert, monk and bishop of Lindisfarne, whose life was recorded by Bede in ‘The Ecclesiastical History of the English People’, completed circa 731.
The cackling of geese and the call of the curlew and circling gulls are carried on a biting wind. You can hear the bleakness and the isolation. As Winter fades into Spring (‘Lencten’), the wind abates and the birds’ cries of desperation soften to mating calls and happier sounds. The waves lap on the beach more gently.
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Yet as one season shifts gradually into the next and the circuit of time, the lack of any sounds of human activity is noticeable. What Watson’s recording highlights is the solitude of the location, and of the hermit’s life. So close to the mainland and even connected at low tide, and yet almost entirely cut off from any settlements of significance, Lindisfarne is indeed a unique setting. Such separation and solitude was integral to the operations on Lindisfarne, where the monastery was the hub of activity for crafts and prayer, and the production of the renowned Lindisfarne Gospels.
Late Autumn (Haerfest) finds mournful, ghostly voices out at sea as the year slowly fades following the harvesting of the crop.
It’s mellow, and pleasant on the ear in many ways, but also strikes the modern listener as being remarkably sparse, with little company but the birds. Sometimes, I can’t help but think it would be magnificent to have lived in such simpler times.
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