The Quiraing is not a gentle place. Stone spires jut skyward, cliffs crumble toward the sea, and paths twist like they're still being carved by giants. It's a landscape that doesn't promise safety—it dares you to take another step. On Skye, they say even dragons once hid in these folds, rising to defend the island from invaders. And standing here, staring into that mist and stone, you can feel it: adventure isn't slaying dragons. It's choosing to face the one within. Music from Kinnfolk, Ed Miller, and Marc Gunn.
This is Quest & Chorus #308
0:39 - - Kinnfolk "Highland Laddie" from Star Above The Mountain
4:21 - WELCOME TO QUEST & CHORUS
Where every hill might hide a dragon, and every fear might be your map. We stand on the edge… of a cliff, of a journey, of ourselves. The Quiraing, on the Isle of Skye, is a land caught between movement and stillness… earth sliding slowly toward the sea. And standing here, staring out over stone teeth and mist-choked valleys, you might ask: Should I go forward? Or turn back?
I'm your bard, Marc Gunn, also host of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, and typically host of this show as Folk Songs & Stories, but today, we call it Quest & Chorus.
Quest & Chorus is a 6-part podcast series. I fuse my love of Celtic and folk music, science fiction and fantasy, and travel into a podcast with a quest. In each episode, you will get a clue to unlock a secret reward. And at the end of the season, you will combine all of those clues to unlock an even bigger amazing reward.
If you're new to the show, please follow us. You can do that PubSong.com or Just send me an email to follow@celtfather.
Review of ALEP 6: A Long Expected Party. Stories:
- 6 mile hike
- Dressing like a hobbit
- Playing music with Kelly and Mitch in the Dancing Pony.
- Providing the atmosphere for Middle-Earth
- Sunrise over The Shire
- Singing beneath the stars.
Ed Miller has a gift for turning lived experience into song. In "The Wide Rio Grande," he tells the story of a young Scottish singer facing the sting of rejection at the U.S. border — and how that moment bound him to countless others who've risked everything to cross into a new life. It's a song about displacement and determination, about rules that separate and courage that refuses to be denied. From Houston to Laredo, from Scotland to Mexico, it is both personal and universal — a reminder that behind every border there are human hearts, still daring to cross.
11:19 - Ed Miller "The Wide Rio Grand" from Many's The Fine Tale
The Wide Rio Grande
Lyrics and music by Brian McNeill
Fifteen years gone, the airport in Houston
A young Scottish singer stands waiting in line
He's been too long apart from the home of his heart
It's a young Texas sweetheart so fair and so fine
But the man at the desk with his uniform shoulders
Gives uniform reasons and a uniform smile
Takes more than a song son. The paperwork's wrong son
Fly back where you came from just 5000 miles
Come all you brave lads who follow my story
I'll stand at the border and give you my hand
Here's honor and luck, good health, and glory
To those who would try for the wide Rio Grande
London to Mexico, ready to try again
Walk through a border that thousands have crossed
Join the bold dispossessed of the South and the West
For a white boy from Scotland, no irony lost
But he knows as he reaches the light in Laredo
With the guards looking on and the sun beating down
That the hard law and order, the rules on the border
Has made him at one with the men who have drowned
Come all you brave lads who follow my story
I'll stand at the border and give you my hand
Here's honor and luck, good health, and glory
To those who would try for the wide Rio Grande
So the next time you walk the wrong side of the border
Remember this song as you think on your lot
For every man, Jack, who can take the road back
Should think on the fortune of those who cannot
For Wetback's a name that they whisper in corners
But there's one man hear who will wear it with pride
For a fence or a wall means nothing at all
For a heart full of courage will ne'er be denied
Come all you brave lads who follow my story
I'll stand at the border and give you my hand
Here's honor and luck, good health, and glory
To those who would try for the wide Rio Grande
Compadres and amigos who follow my story
I'll stand at the border and give you my hand
Here's honor and luck, good health, and glory
To those who would try for the wide Rio Grande
15:50 - UPCOMING SHOWS
- OCT 11: The Lost Druid Brewery, Avondale Estates, GA
- OCT 17-19: MultiVerse, Peachtree City, GA
- NOV 1: Georgia Renaissance Festival Fall Festival, Fairburn, GA
- NOV 8: IrishFest Atlanta, Roswell, GA with Inara
- NOV 14-16: CONjuration, Duluth, GA
- NOV 22: Georgia Renaissance Festival Fall Festival, Fairburn, GA
- DEC 6: Georgia Renaissance Festival Fall Festival, Fairburn, GA
- DEC 7: Nerdy Wonderland at The Lost Druid, Avondale Estates, GA @ 12 - 5 PM.
Please leave a comment on the podcast show notes at pubsong.com or wherever you listen. Email pictures of where you're listening to follow@celtfather . I'll send you a free gift and you can learn more about how to follow this podcast.
News
- There is also a 10-day Sale at com for the 2025 Firefly Drinking Songs t-shirts. This is the only time you'll be able to get a copy of this shirt this year. The store closes on October 10. So get those orders in!
- October Patreon Membership Drive. I'm running a Patreon Membership Drive from October 1-10, 2025. When you become a Patron, you get a free album: Kilted Drinking Songs. I say a free album. But to be fair, you get several free albums. This is the latest. It features songs that were once recorded exclusively for this podcast. It's now together as a digital-only album. There's only one way to get it.
A big thanks to my…
GUNN RUNNERS ON PATREON
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18:38 - Marc Gunn "Paddy Murphy" from Kilted Drinking Songs
24:17 - TODAY'S SHOW IS BROUGHT TO BY CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS
Every year, I take a small group of people on a relaxing adventure to one of the Celtic nations. We don't see everything. Instead we stay in one area. We get to know the region through its culture, history, and legends. You can join me with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts, blogs, videos, and photos.
In 2026, you can join me for a Celtic Invasion of Galicia in Spain. Sign to the Celtic Invasion Vacations mailing list at CelticInvasion.com.
Let's begin the…
QUEST & CHORUS of QUIRAING, SCOTLAND
The Quiraing lies on the northern Trotternish Ridge of Skye. It's part of the largest landslip in Britain — a massive collapse of rock that stretches nearly the length of the peninsula. What makes the Quiraing remarkable is that it's still moving. Every year, the road below must be repaired, because cracks open and the land shifts. The cliffs and pinnacles here are not frozen in time; they are alive, in motion, reshaping themselves even now.
Within this landscape are some striking features: The Needle, a tall jagged spike of rock; The Prison, a crag shaped like a fortress; and The Table, a grassy plateau hidden away within the folds of the cliffs. These names reflect how the landscape feels — not just natural, but storied.
The word Quiraing comes from Old Norse — Kví Rand — which means "round fold." It's thought to describe the way the land curves inward, almost like a natural pen or hollow. Local lore says the hollows were once used to hide cattle, especially during Viking raids. The geography itself became a shield, a place of protection.
There are stories of dragons living in the Quiraing. However, the dragon stories don't come from ancient Gaelic tradition. They appear more in modern folklore retellings and travel writing — stories told to capture the atmosphere of the landscape. It's easy to see why. The Prison, a huge crag that looks like a fortress, seems like the perfect lair. The Needle rises like a spear ready to strike. The Table, hidden within the fold of the cliffs, feels like a secret clearing where wings could unfurl.
One version says the dragons hid in the folds of the Quiraing, guarding the people of Skye from Viking invaders. When longships came over the horizon, the dragons rose from the cliffs themselves — wings beating like thunder, breath as fierce as the Atlantic spray. The Vikings fled, and the people survived.
It's not a tale you'll find in the oldest manuscripts. In a place where the land still moves, where cliffs shift and stones crash down, dragons feel less like fantasy and more like a natural explanation for the Quiraing's wild power.
So when you set foot there today, you're not just walking among rocks and landslides. You're stepping into a landscape that invites adventure — where the air feels charged, as if dragons might still be hiding just behind the next ridge, waiting for the moment to rise again.
In Middle-earth, places like this are where heroes are tested. This is where Frodo keeps walking. Where Aragorn faces the dead. Where you ask: Am I brave enough to keep going?
Talk prompts:
- Fear is not the enemy—stagnation is. Talk about how fear can be a compass, not a wall.
- The illusion of safety: The "door" we hide behind may protect us—but it can also trap us.
- Personal story: Have you ever reached a moment of internal Quiraing? When you had to keep going even if you were shaking?
- D&D parallel: Every great campaign starts with a hesitant first step. Players choose to walk into darkness.
- The song's core idea: Adventure is not slaying dragons. It's choosing to face the dragon within.
This song came from that moment— That catch in the chest before you say 'yes.' That step forward that feels like a leap. It's about choosing the road that scares you… Because it also might save you. This is Come Adventure With Me.
29:24 - Marc Gunn "Come Adventure With Me" from Come Adventure With Me
Thanks for walking the edge with me today. The Quiraing doesn't give answers. But it gives perspective. Next time, we dive into a different kind of exile, on Skellig Michael, where legends go to disappear beneath the waves. Until then, wherever you are… Come adventure with me.
33:52 - CREDITS
Thanks for listening to Quest & Chorus. This episode was edited by Mitchell Petersen.
You can follow and listen to the show on my Patreon or wherever you find podcasts. Sign up to my mailing list to learn more about songs featured in this podcast and discover where I'm performing.
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