The Cutter - Seonaidh Beag Iain

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Seonaidh Morrison

Calum MacDonald

Patsi MacKenzie

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Music: Rock & Indie

BBC ALBA - The Cutter - Seonaidh Beag Iain

The story behind one of Runrig’s best known tracks, 'The Cutter'.

The story behind one of Runrig’s best known tracks, 'The Cutter'. Seonaidh Morrison, from the Isle of North Uist, is reunited with the songwriters who celebrated him in words.

'When you arrived in Canada, you walked the streets. Out of work, out of money, prospects bleak... Now the plane comes down from the morning sky, and you touch the land where the fire won't die. Oh, Johnny...'

The Cutter is one of Scottish band Runrig’s best-known songs, from the album that delivered their breakthrough in 1987, The Cutter And The Clan. 
We meet the 'Johnny' referred to in the words.
Johnny (Seonaidh) Morrison is from the isle of North Uist. He has lived in Ontario, Canada for 56 years but has never lost his native Gaelic. When he recalls the Runrig boys, it’s with a chuckle – still surprised that they wrote one of their famous songs all about him.

As a young man, Seonaidh was a lorry driver in the local community. Young brothers Calum and Rory MacDonald formed part of a gang of children who would leap aboard Seonaidh’s lorry for a free ride at every opportunity. And they’d go with him back and forth to the moors as loads of peat were taken home to families for winter fuel. The MacDonald lads became Runrig.

We hear how Seonaidh left Uist for Canada, how he felt about the 'The Cutter' at the time and how it now makes him feel, when he plays the track on its original vinyl copy gifted by the boys. 

In Gaelic with English subtitles.

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