Folks on the list may be interested to know in the following
excellent CD of Elizabeth Stewart.

Julia

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Elizabeth Stewart at the Gates of 'Binnorrie'


'Binnorrie', the first of a projected series of recordings representing the
rich musical heritage of the Travelling People of Scotland has just been
released by the University of Aberdeen's Elphinstone Institute. The double
CD has more than two hours of music and features over thirty tracks of
songs and instrumental pieces by one of the finest living interpreters of
the tradition, Elizabeth Stewart. As the late Hamish Henderson revealed
some fifty years ago through his pioneering fieldwork, Scottish Travellers
have played a key part in preserving native musical traditions and the new
CD is a vivid reminder of just how much we owe to the Travellers, the
oldest of Scotland's minority peoples. It is not just a matter of
preservation, however. The Travellers' relationship with Scotland's musical
traditions has always been an active and dynamic one one of the most
effective tragic ballads in the collection, 'Lord Gordon's Bonnie Boys', is
a contemporary composition by Elizabeth herself, and illustrates her deep
inwardness with the ballad idiom, while in 'The Foreign Sailor', she
supplies a beautifully apt new tune for words recalled from her Aunt Lucy's
singing.

             The material on the album reflects the sheer variety of the
folk tradition in tone and tempo, subject matter, and provenance : 'Lord
Gordon' is preceded by the rural mock-pathos of a 'Big Strong Strappin
Young Hizzy' lamenting that she canna get a lad, and is followed by the
urban sentimentality of the nineteenth-century temperance song usually
known as 'Faither's Old Coat' (here 'Peer Wee Jockie Clark'). One piano
tune, 'The Queen o the Dukkker' is rooted in the local, taking its title
from the family history of the Stewarts of Fetterangus, while the
immediately preceding song, 'The Gallant Rangers' is originally from the
other side of the Atlantic. But wherever the material comes from and
whatever it is concerned with, it is performed with memorable musicianship
and authority. The recordings have been impeccably produced by Alison
McMorland of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, who also
contributes an informative biographical note, drawing on the work she has
been doing with Elizabeth Stewart for a forthcoming book on Elizabeth's
life and music. Tom McKean of the Elphinstone Institute contributes full
and informative notes on each of the songs.


Elizabeth Stewart, 'Binnorrie': Songs, Ballads, and Tunes, Traveller
Traditions of North-East Scotland No. 1, EICD 002, Elphinstone Institute,
2004, £16.00 plus post & packaging (£1 in UK, £2 in EU, £3 worldwide).



At 14:45 24/01/2005 +0000, you wrote:
>Ian - I just noticed a comp slip with the Elizabeth Stewart Cd you
>kindly sent me, which says 'for review by UK Ballad Institute'.  Not
>sure what this means!
>
>Is the Ritchie contract in train?
>
>Thanks,
>J
>
>
>Julia C. Bishop (Dr)
>National Centre for English Cultural Tradition
>University of Sheffield
>Sheffield  S10 2TN
>U.K.
>
>Tel: (Direct Line) 0114 222 6295
>(NATCECT Office) 0114 222 6296
>EMAIL: [log in to unmask]

___________________________
Dr Ian Russell, Director
The Elphinstone Institute
University of Aberdeen
24 High Street
Aberdeen
AB24 3EB
Tel: +44 (0)1224 272386
Fax: +44 (0)1224 272728
[log in to unmask]
Website:
www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/

------- End of forwarded message -------


Julia C. Bishop (Dr)
National Centre for English Cultural Tradition
University of Sheffield
Sheffield  S10 2TN
U.K.

Tel: (Direct Line) 0114 222 6295
(NATCECT Office) 0114 222 6296
EMAIL: [log in to unmask]