A 360° video series immersing you in the world of Ulster’s Rhyming Weavers – Ulster-Scots poets who flourished over the 18th & 19th Centuries. In this episode we hear about Hugh Porter – known as ‘The Bard of Moneyslane’. He had an interest in words and in rhyming and composed verses for his own entertainment and to share with his friends. He worked as a weaver which makes him a perfect example of the ‘weaver poets’ genre and it’s easy to imagine the young man, sitting at his loom in a small stone cottage, looking out across the surrounding landscape and setting his thoughts down to the rhythm of the shuttle as it whirred backwards and forwards turning the linen thread into cloth. A book of Porter’s poems, modestly entitled Poetical Attempts, was printed in 1873 and contains some beautiful Ulster-Scots vocabulary. You will hear a reading of “The Author’s Preface” – a four verse introductory poem to the book. The author’s tone is humble, explaining that he had no formal education but was largely self-taught; and that he only ever intended to please his friends, not knowing that his poems would be published. Interestingly, he notices that his style of writing is a mixture of Scotch and English Produced with the support of Northern Ireland Screen’s Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund, the series has been filmed using a 360° camera. You can use your mouse (or a VR headset) to look all around you. For best experience, watch using a desktop, laptop, tablet or VR headset.