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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZROBERTSON, Jeannie(b '08; d 13 March '75) Scots folk singer. Of Traveller (gypsy) blood, Robertson is regarded as the century's finest carrier and interpreter of Scots ballads and folk song as well as Scots and Traveller folklore and tradition, recorded by Hamish Henderson of the School of Scottish Studies '53 and subsequently championed by him and folklorist Norman Buchan. First commercial release was on a Collector single. Album titles such as The World's Greatest Folk Singer on Prestige International and The Great Scots Trad. Ballad Singer '59 on Topic attested to the esteem for her. Contributed to The Muckle Songs and Heather And Glen '67 on Tradition; Xtra, the budget subsidiary of Transatlantic, released The Cuckoo's Nest And Other Scottish Folk Songs '67. Appeared on Festival At Blairgowie anthology on Topic '68, recorded at the Perthshire festival in '67 singing 'MacCrimmon's Lament' and 'An Old Man Come Courting Me'; sang one track 'Willie's Fatal Visit' on The Travelling Stewarts, also on Topic '68. Awarded MBE (Member of the British Empire) '68 for her contributions to folk song. Up The Dee And Doon The Don On Lismor gathered material from the archives of Edinburgh's School of Scottish Studies, with notes by Henderson. Her spirit lived on in the accomplished singing of her daughter Lizzie Higgins and Ray Fisher. The fourth volume of the Riverside/Folklore Series '96 under the title Singing The Mother Countries: Dance, Street Songs, And Love Songs From England, Scotland, And Ireland was drawn from recordings made originally in '55--6, incl. 'The Broken Token', 'When I Was Noo But Sweet Sixteen' and 'The Butcher Boy' (along with Margaret Barry, A. L. Lloyd, Ewan MacColl and others). The trad. ballad singer's attitude, and perhaps as well the attitude towards personal freedom of the Travellers, was reflected by Lizzie Higgins in the sleeve notes to her Up And Awa' Wi' The Laverock '75: 'the folk scene claimed Jeannie. I didnae want it tae claim me'. Jeannie Robertson -- The Great Scots Traditional Ballad Singer '94 on Ossian was a trawl of Topic's vault; The Alan Lomax Sampler '97 on Rounder incl. her showcase 'David, My Son' as a taster for a volume in the Lomax Portraits series dedicated to her. Further reading: Hershel Gower and James Porter's Jeannie Robertson: The Child Ballads In Scottish Studies Volume 12 '70. |