The cover is in excellent condition, with the bonus that it has been signed by all 3 Mirk members. Margie Sinclair ‘Yours aye – Margie’, Ian Sinclair ‘Best of luck with the festival – Ian’ and Ray Crompton ‘ Ta v much – Ray (I’m not as daft as they say!)’. The labels are perfect and the vinyl has a lovely sheen and plays beautifully, just a little background crackle in parts of Side 1.

VINYL: VG+

LABEL: Ex

COVER: Ex

Side 1

1. As I cam ower the Muir O’Ord
2. The ploughboy laddie
3. The keech in the creel
4. The cruel mother
5. Bowermadden

Side 2

1. Sleepy town
2. Flower of Northumberland
3. Brundenlaws
4. The King’s shilling
5. The Glasgow/Caithness centenary gathering

This album was Mirk’s first studio album and was recorded in London, produced by Saffron Summerfield. Mirk are a 3 piece band from Caithness in the far north of Scotland and comprised of Ian Sinclair, Margie Sinclair and Ray Crompton. The music is generally very traditional, brimming with heavy Scottish accents, which creates a great atmosphere. There are 2 tracks written by Ian Sinclair, ‘Bowermadden’ and ‘King’s shilling’, which display a more contemporary approach and maybe he should have been allowed to contribute more material to the album. Despite that, this is a great and rare album with a great cover design by Craig Maclachan.