It is generally agreed by folklorists that the Scottish travelling folk are among our finest oral tradition bearers, be it song or tale. Many of these tinker families claim direct descent from the dispossessed and scattered clans who supported the losing side at the battle of Culloden in 1746. Belle was of travelling stock; proud, dignified and a distinguished maintainer of noble traditions. A singer, songwriter and poet, Belle was born on 18th July 1906, in a 'wee bow-tent' by the side of the River Tay at Caputh. She died in September 1997.
Belle Stewart first came to the attention of folklorists in the mid 1960s when Hamish Henderson, a folk music collector for the School of Scottish Studies, came to Blairgowrie seeking someone who knew the old folksong, "The Berryfields of Blair." Directed to Belle Stewart, Henderson hit the mother lode. Not only did she know the song, she possessed an extremely vast repertoire of traditional folksongs and ballads and originals that she had written for weddings and other occasions. Henderson was so impressed that he booked time in the studio at the School of Scottish Studies Sound Archives and recorded Stewart singing as many songs as she could remember with her husband, who died of leukemia in 1981, and daughters, Sheila and Cathie. Word of Stewart's amazing ability to recall songs from the past spread quickly and she was visited frequently by folksong collectors, musicians, and musicologists. When the first Traditional Music and Song Association Festival was held in Blairgowrie, Stewart and her family were featured performers. Their audience was expanded to England after Ewan MacColl featured them in a Radio Ballad. MacColl and his wife and musical collaborator Peggy Seeger later wrote a biography of Stewart and her family, -'Til Doomsday in the Afternoon, that was published by Manchester University Press. |
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