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morton's Wee Cowrin' Timorous Beastie is an original Scottish epic poem produced as a Book/CD project with Canadian composer Howard Baer. Baer, who has produced hundreds of CDs, written numerous TV themes and scores, and worked on several IMAX films, read morton's story and was inspired to compose a musical score to accompany her work— including performances by some of the finest Celtic musicians in the world.
"It's an amazing project," morton said. "and it's such an honour to have worked and created something so magical with someone as incredibly talented as Howard Baer."
The result is a unique and beautiful mix of poetry, story and music.
 Wee Cowrin' Timorous Beastie is a Scottish epic story written in rhyme about a 17th century Scottish pirate named John Murray and his love, Vashti. They are separated for years, because her faither denies their marriage until John can make his fortune to claim her hand. While they are apart, John has given his love an enchanted brooch to protect her, but when the village falls into natural disaster, the villagers turn against her, blaming their misfortune on her and the magic brooch. It's an exciting story about longing and love and the mystery of the beautiful
foggy dew of Scotland.
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I find it quite amazing how certain divine forces come together to create a project, and the making of Wee Cowrin' Timorous Beastie has been nothing less than magic- an incredibly wonderful gift from the universe... via Stan, my very patient and gracious husband.
 On vacation many years ago, Stan and I met John Murray, and his wife, Linda, of Glasgow. Through the years, this eccentric and loveable Scotsman has become my best friend, and although we're on opposite sides of the earth, the technology of the internet has sealed our families with an eternal friendship. One evening, John sent me an e'mail (after enjoying a late night on the town) with the message that he was feeling "a bit wee cowrin' beastie".
That phrase stuck. I knew I knew it, and I started my search for it at the most obvious Scottish origin: the poetry of Robert Burns. Yes, there it was— the first line from Burns' poem "To a Mouse" that goes: "Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie..." That's the seed that started this whole project, one simple phrase from my dear friend (whom I've always considered a pirate at heart). Now, mix that with the gift of a brooch given to me the Christmas before, and an epic story was born.
Not finding a home in this modern day world for this olde-style, rhyming story, I went to a writer's conference in Oregon and was set on the pathway of audio by instructor and author Gerald Hausman, but I was in need of music.
 For six months, I listened to artist after artist, song after song— searching for the perfect music to tell this 17th century story of pirate John Murray and his betrothed love, Vashti (which, by the way, was my great-grand mother's middle name). The music needed to envelop the story, (which is sprinkled with old Scottish-gaelic words), as well as the beautiful Scottish countryside, which at times is filled with mystic fog. But I had no luck. What was in my head seemed a futile search.
So, on a seeming disasterous family reunion to Florida (due to one tropical storm and one nasty hurricane), the beaches were closed, forcing us indoors. I walked into a little shop, shook off the excess rain, and was held— suspended— by the music over the speakers... this was it! I promptly purchased the CD called Celtic Mystique by Canadian composer Howard Baer, and proceeded to track him down. I sent Mr. Baer a note describing my project and my search for background music that would express the magic and mystery of Scotland. Baer asked to read my story, and almost immediately afterwards, wrote me back asking if he could create an original musical score for the project. Months later, I was in his studio in Canada, bonding a friendship with Howard and his wife, Anne, and having the experience of a lifetime: recording this beautiful mix of poetry, story and music called Wee Cowrin' Timorous Beastie.
 
I firmly believe that there are no coincidences in this life, that fate directs us to meet certain people who change our world, and, in return, the rest of the world is changed. All we can do in our lifetimes is give back to the universe the gifts we have been given... to love with our whole heart. And when this is done, and the beauty of life opens up to us, we can't help but believe in this divine gift of magic. And this magic, my friends, is love— a love born from around the world— from a Texas poet, to a rogue Scotsman, to an incredibly talented Canadian.
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Other music by Howard Baer is heard regularly on network television across Canada, used in schools throughout the USA, England, Germany, China, Malaysia and Korea, and has been played in the UK, Australia, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, and Japan.
During his 36-year career Mr. Baer has had over 7000 of his arrangements recorded, has received a total of 7 JUNO nominations for album production including a win in 1999, has composed and conducted numerous scores for TV and film, and has written and produced extensively for children.
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