Songwriter Malcolm MacWatt mined the history of Scotland, the UK, and the United States for injustices on scales small and epic. One moment, he’s getting into the specifics of whether a tax break meant to bring local vegetation back to Scotland is just, another he’s covering the emotions a woman born to an enslaved mother and the white man who holds her in bondage.
The beauty of MacWatt’s songwriting is that it’s all more complicated than it seems. The support for the environment is lining the pockets of wealthy landowners; the woman, performed by Angeline Morrison, feels both love and scorn for her father.
“I think the Scots have always had this idea of social justice” said MacWatt, who grew up across a small body of water from where Scottish highlanders were evicted from their land so that landlords’ sheep could graze there. “I suppose being a colony of England, there’s been that very long history of right and wrong. It’s been engrained into me, especially by my grandmother.”
The title track tells a remarkable story of environmental protest taken to the furthest possible extreme. After Gruinard Island is used for biological weapons testing in the Second World War, the British government allows it to remain contaminated rather than go through the expense of cleaning it up. A group of still unidentified scientists changed that by transplanting some of the contaminated soil to mainland government locations. The act may well have been environmental terrorism, but MacWatt is still a supporter.
“That idea of direct action for the benefit of the whole country, I was very down with that.” MacWatt said. “It’s always a balance of moralities. At the end of the day, I think if they hadn’t shown a willingness to take action that could border on terrorism, I think we’d have ended up having nuclear waste dumped in Scotland.”
Recent events in Europe and the States have shown that the types of injustice referenced in songs like “The Church and The Crown” could once again be the norm in parts of the world that have made so much progress. The song references Wat Tyler, John Ball and the Peasant’s Revolt, an uprising based in part on the notion that royals were no more favored in the eyes of God than ordinary men.
“It all ended badly for the peasants and since then, nothing’s really changed that much for working people in this country,” MacWatt said. “I think when I was first writing this album, I did not set out to write such a heavy and grim album. There’s songs that I wrote as protest songs but they ended up a lot more resigned in tone. I feel powerless in the face of all this conflict going around.”
If there’s any hope to hang onto, it shows up in “Semi Scotsman.” MacWatt identifies that way because he is mixed race, though he was born to one Scottish parent and was raised there. In it, MacWatt wishes for an independent Scotland to at last become a reality.
“What I love about the Scotts is that there’s a stoic sense of just getting on with it, and like the Irish, there’s kind of a dark humor there that comes out of hard times,” MacWatt said. “It’s cold, it’s wet, but I think the Scots as a whole are pretty warm. There’s a hospitality there. You’d always give shelter and the heat of your fireside to a stranger. It’s a small country but it’s got a big heart.”
Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Malcolm MacWatt and the songs we discussed, starting with The Church and The Crown, which tells the story of ill-fated rebels in London. The interview begins with the second video in the playlist. You can hear the show live every Monday at 11am on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://www.malcolmmacwatt.com for more.
Country Pocket 