When Robbie Fotheringham left school back in the 70s she had no idea what she wanted to do.
“Someone from the careers advisory service found me a position on a job creation scheme in Falkirk Library – I had to go through the entire library stock and find out the ISBN number for every book. I loved it,” Robbie recalls.
The new-found bibliophile soon found herself involved in children’s Storytime, sharing books with the under-fives. Before she knew it, a new chapter in her life had opened.
“But when I moved to Dundee from Falkirk in 2002, I felt a bit isolated from the world of books and storytelling,” says Robbie. “So I attended some workshops at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh to learn the craft and importance of the oral tradition.
A member of the Storytellers of Scotland Directory since 2007, Robbie is passionate about her hobby and any spare time she gets away from her day job – working for her husband’s business – you’ll find her surrounded by wide-eyed adults and children, spellbound by her stories.
Oral storytelling – when a story is told without the aid of a book – has a long history in Scotland.
“The stories may have originated from a book but the beauty of the oral tradition is that the story is told – as the travellers’ proverb has it – eye to eye, mind to mind and heart to heart,” says Robbie.
“That means there’s a special connection between the teller and the listener. Stories have been told since the dawn of time and were the social media of the day – storytellers would travel from village to village and town to town passing on news, handing down their traditional way of life through their stories.”
With a thriving storytelling community throughout Scotland, Dundee’s own storytelling group, Blether Tay-Gither – Robbie is a member – celebrated its 10th birthday in March this year.
While Robbie’s favourite age group is nursery children, she also loves sharing the tradition with primary school pupils, adult groups, day centres and people with special needs.
“I tell all kinds of stories but I do like ones with humour,” she smiles. “I don’t really go for anything too dark. I also tell some traditional fairy tales and ‘pourquoi’ stories which explain why or how things are as they are, like how the bear lost its tail or why the sea is salty,” she continues.
“They come from all over the world and each country will have a slightly different version.”
Robbie believes that storytelling is a vital way of how we communicate and bond with each other.
“Telling a story can be very organic. I will have the body of the story in my head but often will add pieces in from the audience.
Storytelling is nurturing in its purest form and in this digital age it is important not to forget that. People cannot exist if they’re isolated from each other.”
Robbie will be taking part in the Scottish International Storytelling Festival in Edinburgh on Oct 21.
On October 24 Blether Tay-Gither will be hosting a Thai storyteller from Thailand on HMS Frigate Unicorn, 7pm-9.30pm. Email robbiefotheringham@yahoo.com for tickets priced £5.
Blether Tay-Gither meets the last Tuesday evening of every month (except October when it will be the 24th), 7pm-9pm, in Madigans Folk Cafe in Castle Street, Dundee. From November the venue will be the Butterfly Cafe in Commercial Street.
www.tracscotland.org/scottish-storytelling-centre
