Andron Rae's Brigadoon

 What a day this has been, 

What a rare mood I'm in...

"It's almost like being in love", Brigadoon, (Lyrics by AJ Lerner)

Our second stop on this week's Safari was to a magical place by Andron Rae, and the much missed Pasha Theas, a great builder with a big heart and a talent to match. The HG address for this build on Sharing is Caring is, as always at the end of the post.
The sim held up amazingly well considering the vast amount of detail here, much down to the grid owner, admin, and some sharp skilled building.

Chilli Bean: hi thirza n all newly arrived

Andron Rae: welcomes lifted, Jupiter, Forest, Thirza! welcome humbletim

humbletim metaverse: /me waves hello

lifted pixel: hello! thank you!

Andron Rae: there will be lots of things to click on though Thirza said let me chat in local i will walk you through most of the story, and if the sim crashes Chilli can reboot it for us lol

Chilli Bean: hopefully it will be okie lol

Andron Rae: i will shout like trouble did in the last place

Thirza Ember: i see bits of you all

Ayla Alvarez: no bytes yet, eh... the last place, everyone was naked for a bit. that was fun.

Andron Rae: i'll begin then :) Welcome to The Stories of Brigadoon region. There are several stories here, this is one of them - at the main landing 128,128 there is a hub that teleports you to any of them. This is a 2x2 region, the story was written and built by me, then landscaped with the enigmatic Pasha Theas who you may have seen from some other builds - The Caves, Crystalwind, and Shijima which is also here on Sharing Grid. Most of this sim region centers around a rewrite of the English/Scots poem ''Tam O'Shanter'' with elements from other Brigadoon legends (and some new ones!) Near us is #27 Royal Post, wherein begins your journey... you are welcome to walk inside though I will read everything off that you would click on :)

Andron Rae: shouts: Static NPCs speak on private local chat when you click on them. Other objects interact giving clues and backstory. A visitor would normally walk up the stairs and go inside to begin the tale, where you meet the postal clerk... it might be a tight fit as its a small building though feel free to step in... in this opening area the region lets you know many things are clickable.

Angelic Kisses: zoomed in....love the decor

Alan Scot: well I got my package from the postman to take to the bridge

Andron Rae: shouts: smiles, good Alan , the postal clerk gets drunk later so its ok

Thirza Ember: why is andron wearing pyjamas and a pirate hat

Ary Ravenshire: lol Andron in Pajamas

Andron Rae: /lol am i wearing a pirate hat? oh my. should just be a dark elf with an eye patch

Thirza Ember: oh wait no, it's Alan

Alan Scot: hey thats my fashionable beach wear

Al Scot in his... beach pyjamas?

Andron Rae: whew... on the wall is a Portrait of Robert Burns: A painting of the Scottish poet, most likely done around 1790 while living in Dumfries. Along with the story 'Tam O'Shanter' which was written in a mixture of Scots and English, the author is best known for the tune Auld Lang Syne. The texts you will read throughout this story are transliterated into English in a way I hope retains the charm of the original, along with some plot twists and remixes we've slipped in along the way...

Thirza Ember: Andron lol sorry about that i must have scared you to death

Andron Rae: pj's always ok in any build, i promise there are no jump scares lol

Alan Scot: came in handy under water last sim

Ayla Alvarez: wet cotton? or spandex... lycra...

Forest Azure: better than wet knitwear

Thirza Ember: i have a photo of Tim and the post master... I can die happy now

Tim still wearing his pirate hat from our first destination, gets the parcel to deliver

Andron Rae: shouts: the pictures are from Robert Burns' art and some IRL and inworld photos :) will read these off for you :)

Angelic.Kisses: I love that!!

Ary Ravenshire: focussing on Andron

Andron Rae: shouts: When the peddler people leave their street,

 and thirsty neighbors, as neighbors meet;

 As market days are wearing late,

 and folks journey home. along with mates,

 we'll sit right here, boozing up strong ales,

 getting drunk and happy, and share our tales...

The historiography of the Brigadoon of RL is a great metaphor for opensim. It  was a hugely popular Musical written in the 1940s by New York lyricist Alan J Lerner, modding the bridge or 'brig' if doon from the Rabbie Burns poem "Tam O'Shanter", although learned opinions differ. Lerner was instantly accused of copybotting the plot from "Gemelhausen" the 1860 story by Friedrich Gerstäcker, which was itself a reworking of tales found in German folklore, which is of course full-perms.

Brigadoon is a bewitched town doomed (or blessed?) to reappear for one day every 100 years, beginning on May 24 1746. The musical is set in 1946, when two American tourists stumble upon the village, with romantic effect. So that makes or Safari visit on May 29 five days late, but also 22 years too early. Andron's build is however, more than just one thing, it's a cool mashup of ideas, many of them very personal to the creators.

Thirza Ember: Andron, why did you pick this theme? can you remember the genesis of it?

Andron Rae: shouts: yes Thirza, for a my build i wanted to make the poem a living story that you could walk through , then it kind of took a life of its own

Nara Nook: cool

Andron Rae: shouts: i didn't know of the stage play though saw the film and the original scots poem - I am IRL scottish decent

Ary Ravenshire: its a very cool story - a love story

Angelic Kisses: it really does bring the build to life....like the interactive aspect

Andron Rae: shouts: the story takes place in Ayr , Scotland, where some of the trees and bridges and things are modeled after IRL buildings except for the town of Brigadoon, which will be revealed near the end

The poem continues, and to keep lag at a minimum, Andron clicked on each section for the whole group, so we could read as we moved from tableau to tableau.

Inside the post office, with Jupiter Rowland and Andron Rae

Andron Rae: ( hope this isn't too much text to read, dont want to put you to sleep )

Taarna Welles: Not at all Andron :)

Ary Ravenshire: its a good story

lifted pixel: i'm camming, lots of details!

Andron Rae: shouts: as ye come to the postal clerk he hands you his package ( er, the box ) lol: if you touch the box it will give you a copy of it... Tam needs it later in the story. 

Andron Rae: shouts: some more backstory - Brigadoon: The Brig o' Doon, sometimes called the Auld Brig of Doon is a late medieval bridge in Ayrshire, Scotland.The Scots word 'brig' meaning 'bridge' and 'doon' meaning 'down' though in this case it refers to the river Doon -- Put them together and we get Brig over Doon, or simply, 'brigadoon'

Taarna Welles: And what means "his hame"?

Ary Ravenshire: his home

Taarna Welles: ah okay

Andron Rae: shouts: aye the weary traveler now walks across the first little bridge to the O'Shanter hame (home) where you are hoping to find Tam... no spoilers lol ... Ishould have a flag lol

The poem continued, as some of us went into the house. But Tam wasn't home...

Roffellos Kisses: of course - he's down the pub !

Andron Rae: shouts: smiles, we move down the road to where it opens up to our next bridge. theres lots of cute things along the way, I wanted the build to be a beautiful space also that people could just come to and enjoy the scenery. There are nooks around to sit or cuddle or take pics

lifted pixel: the variety of trees is lovely

Andron Rae: shouts: some details to notice - on the bench inside is a doll, this was Pasha's favorite doll and she kept it with her everywhere, and did anyone notice the small rabbit at the end of the bridge?

Roffellos Kisses: yep the wee brown one

Pretty soon we had reached the pub, which has a cute sign outside, and some free booze on the inside.

Andron Rae: shouts: if you turn right before going to the pub you can fish a bottle of gypsy brew out of the water ... the landscaping has 2 purposes, one to be beautiful and the other to cleverly hide the separate parts from each other... clicking a bottle should give you a copy of it

Forest Azure: /me mixes it with the rum

Taarna Welles: Thank you for more free items I found :)

Andron Rae: shouts: the name of the pub is Bonny Thistle and Unicorn, two icons of Scotland. Inside are banners from the Ayr football team and some things... here is where we start to deviate more from the original poem...  there's a lot of story here but will leave it for you when you return - the barmaid and bartender are having a contest to see who can make grumpy faces... when you talk to Tam, he says keep the package for now, and we will give it to him at the Kirk (church) down the road . 

Andron Rae: As we leave the bar we come across a witch with a table... she wants you to get bottles from the river and give them to her, and she will give you a bottle of special brew in return...  We are in for a bit of wet weather it will rain!

No time for gurning, this is Safari and we are on a strict timetable... in all weathers. We headed for the church. I didn't even have time to discover the loo hidden in the undergrowth. You should be luckier than me, when you visit. Cross fingers.

Andron Rae (center) at the haunted Kirk

Andron Rae: shouts: then we continue over the next bridge to ... the haunted kirk. This fellow here watches over the kirk...

" Alloway Kirk: Ah, the rain, washes away the sorrows.

 What lovely weather, then, this is!

 Those folk over there, some say witches, aye, we say Gypsies.

 They set camp not far from here. Great wine and brew makers, they are.

 Oh, before you wander off, do us a favor and see if you can get Tam out of my church?

 It's haunted by spirits, and he's been drinking the other kind!

Andron Rae: shouts: inside the church we find Tam , who has a telescope missing a part we happen to be carrying

Forest Azure: oh, so this is Tam.. i thought he would have looked quite different... younger

Andron Rae: shouts: yes, age is about right for the story - you would think he was younger though we will see him a few more times... Tam quotes more of the poem, which i have since converted to a love story, this is my favorite part of the build.

Then follows a great story about Tam, Nannie, a priest, some gypsies and immodest skirts riding up so high during dancing that knickers are spied...

lifted pixel: honestly, the part about the dancing and no clothes sounds about right for safari

Ary Ravenshire: naked dancing is just ahead on the left

Luna Lunaria: We need a naked and afraid version of HG Safari

Nara Nook: I though all safaris haad naked and afraid moments

Forest Azure: but... what is naked in lifted pixel terms?

James Atlloud: ringless?  diskless?

lifted pixel: shouts: maybe i take my alpha layer off ...that's scary lol

Ary Ravenshire: I double dog dare ya

Luna Lunaria: just DEW EET

And so she did...

lifted pixel: hey ladies ;]

I honestly don't know how Andron kept the whole thing together. W went on to learn about Granma and Granpa, and the little boy called Gordon (after Pasha's RL cat) and their special brew... and pretty soon we were all dancing ...

... listening to the story of quid and squid, of potions and passions, this whole universe of romance and wit made by Pasha and Andron was quite enchanting. As fun as it is to visit you can just feel how much fun they had making the rymes and the puns and the various tasks and steps along the way, not to mention the textures and landscaping, sounds and scripts.

And then suddenly, almost by chance, just like in the musical, we found ourselves transported into the village of Brigadoon...

Andron Rae: shouts: quick summary of the backstory ...grampa fell ill and needs a cure, to get said cure we had to go to Brigadoon... Nannie and Tam are secretly looking to buy a home from a builder, named Evar , who is also the person who makes the cure. So the happy couple will venture forth to find Evar,  the builder of houses and healer of wounds, and hopes to acquire something to help Nannie's grampa ...then give it to Kate before she returns home ... Meanwhile, Kate gathers the provisions she might need for her first brew, along with the hundred quid, er, squid, that she needs to pay Gramma Rose to begin her training....A warning reads, 

 There is one bridge that brings you into the village,

 while another bridge takes you out again;  

 so enjoy your stay, then find the exit: 

 It won't be the same as whence you came!

another pub - we find the barkeep has squid for Kate, and gives it to her. meanwhile Tam and Nannie head to Evar's house. Notice all the houses  have fun names...Merrily .. Joyously ... Evar's house simply says, " For Evar ". and the last house ... Happily ... is the one Tam and Nannie buy... do you see where it is? After Evar's house... Happily After Evar

lifted.pixel: loll

 Andron Rae: shouts: so Kate , with all her provisions, finds a merchant heading back to the real world... look inside his cart ... there is a special gift for everyone!!

Forest studies the sheep situation in Brigadoon

Roffellos Kisses: very well done Andron

lifted pixel: thank you for the tour! this is a great build :3

Luna Lunaria: Andron expertly sidestepped our inappropriate ramblings too

James Atlloud: that's a talent

Andron Rae: shouts: laughs, I have been with Safari for how long, Luna? :)

Lynnestra Parker: Brigadoon is one of my all time favorite musicals.

Nara Nook: I really enjoyed the story and poetry

James Atlloud: Yes, this is so nicely done.

Forest Azure: ty so much, Andron!

Neo Nook: I rarely saw any sim that has been set up that accurate like yours here!

Angelic Kisses: this build is so well laid out...I enjoyed the storyline, Andron:)  Thanks for the tour.

lifted pixel: see all you lovely avatars next time :D

humbletim metaverse: Hear, hear! A toast to Captain Thirza, the best captain on the seven seas!

Mal Burns: many thanks - this was excellent

Yara Eild: Thank you and bye

Alex Salamander : Thank you very much :-)

Andron Rae: shouts: ty all for enjoying the build and please return to get the full story :)

Chilli Bean: ☪ ♬♪♫ Ｅｘｃｅｌｌｅｎｔ!!! ♬♪♫ ☪

HG Address: SharingIsCaring.Family:8002:Brigadoon