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Up Yon Wide and Lonely Glen: Travellers' Songs, Stories and Tunes of the Fetterangus Stewarts PDF

415 Pages·2012·9.196 MB·English
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Up Yon Wide and Lonely Glen Howard Glasser, based on notes left on a scrap of paper by his late mother Up Yon Wide and Lonely Glen Travellers’ Songs, Stories and Tunes of the Fetterangus Stewarts Elizabeth Stewart Compiled and edited by Alison McMorland University Press of Mississippi in association with the Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, Scotland www.upress.state.ms.us The University Press of Mississippi is a member of the Association of American University Presses. The Fishgutters’ Song (from the Radio Ballad “Singing the Fishing”) by Ewan MacColl, published by Stormking Music Inc. Reproduced by permission of Ewan MacColl Ltd. Copyright © 2012 by University Press of Mississippi All photographs, stories, songs, and tunes copyright © 2012 by Elizabeth Stewart, except where indicated All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America First printing 2012 ∞ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Stewart, Elizabeth, 1939– Up yon wide and lonely Glen : Travellers’ songs, stories and tunes of the Fetterangus Stewarts / Elizabeth Stewart ; compiled and edited by Alison McMorland. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-61703-314-8 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 978-1-61703-308-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-61703-309-4 (ebook) 1. Folk songs, Scots—Scotland—History and criticism. 2. Ballads, Scots—Scot- land—History and criticism. 3. Folk music—Scotland—History and criticism. 4. Scottish Travellers (Nomadic people)—Music—History and criticism. 5. Stuart family. I. Title. ML3655.S84 2012 782.42162’91630092—dc23 [B] 2011038627 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available First and foremost, I would like to dedicate this book to my three children, Jeannette, Elizabeth and Michael. I’d like to think that my children and grandchildren will always and in their own way honour our special family traditions. I also would like to extend this dedication to the memories of my mum, Jean Stewart, my Aunt Lucy and Uncle Ned, and my talented brother Robert, all of whom were so dear to me. And, of course, not forgetting Big Michael. —Elizabeth Stewart Contents ix ........Preface xiii .......Acknowledgments xvii ......Introduction xxii ......Select Family Tree xxiii ......Map 3 ........Chapter One Doon the Dukker 27 .......Songs 67 .......Chapter Two Jean Stewart’s Dance Band 100 ......Songs 141 .......Chapter Three Aunt Lucy 171 .......Songs 221. . . . . . . Chapter Four Binnorrie 263 ......Songs 315 .......Song Notes —Geordie McIntyre Appendices 339 ......I. The Narrative Voice —Caroline Milligan viii Contents 341 ......II. Transcribing and Editing the Music —Jo Miller 347 ......III. Kenneth and Rochelle Goldstein Archive: Stories, Riddles and Song Fragments —Alison McMorland 365 ......Glossary 369 ......Bibliography 373 ......Discography 375 ......Contributors 377 ......Song Index 385 ......Index Preface Elizabeth Stewart comes from a legendary Traveller family of pipers, musi- cians and singers. From the 1920s until the early 1960s her mother, Jean Stewart, was a household name in the North-East of Scotland, known for her dance bands, broadcasting and teaching, while Elizabeth’s aunt Lucy’s ballad singing and treasury of songs made an impact on the 1950–60s Scottish Folk Revival reaching well beyond these shores. The influence of these women is still reverberating today. They in turn owed much to their mother, Aul Betty, whose own story is of a hardworking and resourceful Traveller woman. Songs and singing enlivened Aul Betty’s life and as it turned out were part of the legacy she left to the family. Elizabeth Stewart’s personal reminiscences are at the heart of this book. She tells of her ancestral family and of three generations of women, of their lives and musical traditions, and of their story traditions. The family narra- tives, traditional tales and riddles are interwoven throughout, giving a fasci- nating portrayal of the Stewart family’s wealth of stories and lore. A diverse and wide-ranging anthology of songs complement the prose; these vary from Stewart versions of classic ballads, to comic and music hall songs, parodies and children’s rhymes. Some of these ballads and songs are now widely sung, having been first brought to the wider public during the Folk Revival. Docu- mented here, we are again reminded of the Stewarts’ key role, and of their kith and kin, inhabiting the same area as Gavin Greig and James Duncan, whose Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection was amassed here during the early years of the twentieth century, though very few of their sources were Travellers. The richness of the Stewart song repertoire illustrates the family’s and the Travellers’ unique role in the preservation of the music and song traditions of Buchan and the North-East, an area extensively studied by ballad collectors over the centuries. Also included in the song anthology are Elizabeth’s own music and ballad compositions adding modernity to this kist of riches and revealing the continuity of tradition. Elizabeth’s wish for her family songs, stories and lore to be available gives prominence to her unswerving convic- tion and belief in her inheritance. She is keen to stress, however, that ‘it is not ix

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