Damascus Drum | Hawick

the story of the damascus drum

see the fine goatskin drum hanging above the cafe counter? it is quite a long story...

it all began with a visit to damascus. while wandering through the local bazaar, the drum was found. later, back in hawick, the drum started telling its tale... of shams, the billy goat, who lived high above damascus on mount kassioun with his flock of goats... how one day (after he had lost his bell, now also hanging behind the counter) he felt unaccustomedly light headed, and a sense of wonderment pervaded his whole being. this led shams to leap over the wall at the very top of the mountain, and so begin a journey into the unknown, such as no billy goat before him had ever undertaken.

needless to say, after many wild adventures and somewhat excessive amorous encounters with endearing female goats, shams died, and his skin arrived at the shop of Abu Kerim, a damascene musician and drum maker.

Abu Kerim immediately sensed that this skin was special. "the quality of a drum depends on the animal it is made from. Not all animals are dumb, you know," he told his friend Daud, who had brought him the skin, "and the skin of an animal can speak things you couldn't imagine..."

('The Story of the Damascus Drum', publication date: 2010.)