There is a wooden sign in Aristo's bar in Barga Vecchia which reads "from wine what sudden friendships spring" a quote from the English poet John Gay who in 1708 published 'Wine', a poem to celebrate the Act of Union between England and Scotland. That sign has been invested with added meaning by the arrival of a new member to the Barga Community – the Scotsman Hamish Moore who will be in Barga over the next year celebrating the friendship between Italy and Scotland.

Hamish, acknowledged as the premier small pipes bagpipe maker in Scotland first came to Barga last year after hearing a fellow Scot – the artist John Bellany during a radio interview who talked so passionately about his move to this area and the City of Barga that he decided to come and see for himself what all the fuss was about. (article here)

After meeting with the Mayor of Barga and other members of the Comune an ambitious project was created which launches this week.

Hamish will be artist in residence in Piazza Angelio augmenting the already long established link between Scotland and Barga this time with music and musical instruments.

His studio in Piazza Angelio will be open to the public during 2008 where people can see first hand the creation of Hamish's world famous Small Scottish Pipes. This will be the first time that an Scottish artisan takes up residence and place of work inside the Castle. Once upon a time there were many artisans working inside the walls of the castle making many and varied products – all of which have long since disappeared. Hamish is maybe the vanguard of a new return to artisans once more occupying pride of place in Barga Vecchia.

Hamish will be a regular contributor to barganews over the coming months as he documents and recounts his experience of coming to live and work in a totally different environment to the one he is used to in his native Perthshire, Scotland. This morning he was coping with the language problems in getting keys cut to gain access to his studio and the physical difficulties of just getting his tools and equipment for making his musical instruments into Barga Vecchia. Watch this space

On this day..

• Strani Poeti at Barga Jazz Club - 2010
• Video section now open on barganews - 2007