Banff musician’s tribute song to hero Poles set to be taught in Polish schools
A song created to celebrate the lives and contributions of Poles who fled to Scotland during the war is set to be taught in Polish schools.
The beginning of September saw the official unveiling of an exhibition - entitled The Eagle and the Unicorn - in Duff House, Banff to tell the tale of the Poles who evaded the clutches of first Nazi, then Soviet invasions in September 1939 to continue the fight for their country in other lands.
Following the war and the imposition of a puppet Communist regime, many Poles found that the hoped for reward of victory in the war was not to be a long-awaited return to their homeland, with imprisonment or death awaiting those braved the trip.
Specially written to herald the exhibition was the song We Came to Shelter, which was first aired at a special service in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Banff the evening prior to the exhibition opening.
Penned by Banff postman and musician Gerald Duncan, the song provides a poignant backdrop to what is often a very emotional subject.
He revealed that he was first introduced to the project by colleague Adam Golebiewski, who has been one of the driving forces behind the exhibition project to bring proper recognition to the contributions and sacrifices of those Poles who made it to sanctuary in Scotland.
Gerald said: “Hearing that my song is now going to be taught in Polish schools has come as something of a shock, to be honest, it’s quite exciting.
“Adam spoke to me last year about doing a remembrance event for the Poles and he suggested I write a song for the service.
“Over the years I’ve got to know and worked with Polish folk and I’ve listened to them talking about their experiences. I remember one guy telling me he escaped from Poland with the Germans literally running behind him and shooting at him.
“Others told me how upset their parents were at that they could never go back to Poland. When they were watching the football when Poland were playing they’d cry when the Polish national anthem was sung.
“Some of them died before the Communist government fell and they weren’t able to go back.
“It ignited a spark for the song.”
Tragically Gerald was to have his own pain to battle through during writing the song when his wife Marina lost her battle with a brain tumour earlier this year.
He continued: “After Marina died I was struggling and I couldn’t even look at music for a while.
“Once I did get back into it I couldn’t find a melody for the song and I was struggling to find a key for it. The deadline was getting closer and closer and my son, Geordie, sat down with me and said ‘Let’s get this finished!’.
“He helped me change the key and in the end it all came quite quickly.
“I felt quite sad - I let Marina hear the song as I was writing it but she passed away before I finished it and she never got to hear the final version. Carrying on with the song helped take my mind off the tragedy of losing Marina.”
However, his determination to persevere through the heartache was to bring its own reward.
Gerald added: “The reaction I got from Polish people after I played it at the service left me very moved.
“It was very emotional, both for them and me.
“As an artist it vindicates what I’ve created.”
Adam, whose grandfather Stanislaw made it across to Scotland before being based at Duff House with the 9th Polish Lancers, said he was delighted for Gerald that his song has proved so popular.
He continued: “I’m really glad for Gerald, just chuffed.
“It’s brilliant to see his song being recognised and valued like this.
“Everyone has come together despite their problems for this project, but what Gerald did while dealing with Marina’s illness and passing is unbelievable. During the church service his song was the first to be performed and it really set the tone for the evening.
“To be honest I never thought any of this would go as far as it’s gone, our original aim was to do something for the Scottish Poles and to commemorate those folk who came over during the war.
“There was original wider interest in Gerald’s song from the Scottish Polish community with people wanting to know the words so they could teach it to their kids. The next thing we know we had people in Poland getting in touch about it and now it looks on course to be taught in schools over there.
“The whole thing’s really escalated beyond anything we could have imagined.”
The exhibition is open until December 28, Friday to Sunday, 10.30am-12.30pm and 1.15pm-3pm.