A festival to celebrate the singing traditions of Scotland, England, and Ireland in memory of Tom and Anne Reid
The Festival is a unique celebration, bringing together outstanding traditional singers from Scotland, England, and Ireland. The event is especially for those who like to hear, enjoy, and join in traditional singing. Essentially informal, friendly and non-competitive, it will be just the place to encourage the young and less experienced as well as the old hands. The weekend includes ceilidhs featuring the guest singers, singarounds for everyone who wants to join in, workshops, and a talk.
Bookings to:
Traditional Singing Weekend
Cullerlie Farm Park,
Echt,
Skene.
Aberdeenshire AB32 6XL
Booking Enquiries – Tel: 01224 645486 (or 01224 272996)
Please note: Because of the limited number of places available, priority will be given to those who are coming for the whole weekend. Please book early to avoid disappointment.
About Cullerlie
Cullerlie Farm Park and Heritage Centre was set up by Tom (‘Tam’) and Anne Reid in 1993 and is now run by Anne’s daughter Tracey Walker and her husband Eric, as well as other members of the family. Tom, moved to the Cullerlie Estate with his parents when just a toddler in 1935, and worked with his father in the traditional way of farming. He kept the traditions alive by turning the old original steading into a farm museum with one of the largest privately owned collections of farming and domestic memorabilia in Scotland. Anne, who is from nearby Peterculter, joined Tom when they married in 1975.
Tom (born 1929) was a legendary singer, having been crowned, in 1977, the Bothy Ballad King before a crowd of 10,000 at the Haughs in Turriff, a title that remained his until his death in January 2003. Anne (1939-2006) was also a fine singer and promoted the traditions of the North-East through singing and speaking workshops with schoolchildren and adults at local schools and at the museum, as well as hosting regular Saturdaynight ceilidhs. It is the family’s express wish that the festival should continue to run in memory of Tom and Anne.
At the Park there is a large tearoom where the staff serve soup, sandwiches, and lots of delicious home baking. They cater for all needs with a baby changing area plus disabled facilities.
The Park nestles at the foot of the Hill of Fare where the battles of Corrichie and Cullerlie Moor were fought. It is 6 miles northeast of Banchory and 12 miles west of Aberdeen. From Aberdeen follow the A944 to the Westhill roundabout, then fork left on the B9119 to Garlogie, then fork left again on the B9125 for 3 miles. The Park is on the right.
2008: 25th - 27th July 2008
The Guests
Danny Couper, a fish merchant from Aberdeen, is a fine exponent of the singing traditions of the North-East with a lively sense of humour. His abiding influences are the great singers he heard in his youth, including Jeannie Robertson, Jimmy MacBeath, and Davie Stewart. He is a great supporter of the traditional music scene in Scotland and, with Arthur Argo, was co-founder of Aberdeen Folk Club in 1962.
Shona Donaldson, a fine singer and a fiddler, is one of Scotland’s leading young tradition bearers having appeared in the Young Scottish Traditional Musician of the Year final in 2003 and 2004 and the Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2006. Shona, originally from Huntly, now lives in Tarland and is a great favourite in the North-East.
Bill Gray, a relative newcomer to the traditional singing scene, won his first competition at Kirriemuir in 2002 and last year won the ultimate accolade, the Champion of Champions Bothy Ballad competition in Elgin. An active member of the Buchan Heritage Society through which he regularly leads workshops in local schools, he has been greatly influenced by Jock Duncan.
Jimmy Hutchison was born in Frobost on the island of South Uist, and later moved to Perth. These early years, bilingual in English and Gaelic, influenced his later understated singing style. When he sings he is telling a story with no need to dramatise. He has all the attributes of a traditional Gaelic singer, the only difference being that he sings in English, or to be more precise, in Scots. A full-time joiner and draughtsman, his influences include Jeannie Robertson, Belle Stewart, and Jimmy McBeath.
Sam Lee is a singer, promoter, researcher, and collector of traditional music. He lives in London and works for the English Folk Dance and Song Society as well as running London’s newest and youngest folk club, the Magpie’s Nest. Only knowingly arriving at folk music within the last few years, he has discontinued all previous employment to follow his passion of promoting the songs.
Viv Legg of Bodmin in Cornwall is from a Romany background and learned her songs from her mother, Sophie, and other members of the Orchard family. During the last few years of her life, Sophie greatly encouraged her daughter to continue the family song tradition, and as a result, during the past five years, Viv has appeared at a number of festivals and clubs, and has launched her debut CD, Romany Roots.
Oliver Mulligan is from Co. Monaghan where his style and many of his songs were learned in the 1950s from local and family singers. He attended Fleadh Ceóil sessions throughout Ireland in the 1960s, becoming All-Ireland champion, and adding a wider range of material including Gaelic songs from the West. He now lives in London where he is a veteran of both the Irish community sessions and the traditional clubs and was a resident of the Singers Club for ten years.
Jess Smith from Crieff in Perthshire is a best selling author and a traditional singer and storyteller from Scotland’s Travelling people. Her childhood was spent travelling the length and breadth of Scotland with her family in an old blue bus, working the land: ‘This closeness to nature taught me many things about the body’s hidden senses and thankfully I have never lost them.’ She is in demand for live performances throughout Scotland and is proud to share her culture with new audiences.
Rosie Stewart, from Belcoo, Co. Fermanagh, is rooted in the Ulster style with a voice described as ‘between the pipes, the flute, and broken glass’. Her inspiration to sing came from her father, Packie McKeaney, a major influence and a great encouragement in her career. She is much in demand at festivals as a singer and workshop leader and has twice won All Ireland Championships. In 2004 she was awarded the Irish Language Television Station, ‘Singer of the Year’.
Sheila Stewart is an ambassador for Scotland’s Travelling People, and carries with pride the traditions of her celebrated Perthshire family. She sings with great passion and believes in the conyach, the quality of feeling that comes from the heart. She has performed throughout Europe and North America, and was awarded an MBE for her work. Last November at the prestigious Scottish Traditional Music Awards in Fort William she was inducted into the ‘Hall of Fame’.
Food will be available over the weekend. There will be no bar – BYOB. Camping and caravanning can be booked free of charge. There are many B&Bs in the area – for a list, contact:
Tourist Information at Banchory: 01330 822000 or Aberdeen: 01224 288828
Cullerlie Farm Park, Echt, Skene, Aberdeenshire AB32 6XL (01330 860549)
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2007: 20th - 22nd July 2007
The Guests
Grace Banks is a fine singer and storyteller from Aberdeen, who promotes the ballad tradition through her work in teaching for SCaT. Originally from Glasgow, she embraces NE style and counts as her mentor Stanley Robertson.
Brian Dawson is a favourite singer from Lincolnshire with a distinctive repertoire that reflects his roots. He is also a song collector and a musician, and is recognised as an expert on Percy Grainger’s song collecting.
Bella Hardy is a young singer from Edale in the Derbyshire Peak District who relishes unaccompanied ballads. She performs with ‘The Pack’ and ‘Ola’, and was a finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards for 2005.
Billy Jolly, a retired fish merchant from Kirkwall in Orkney, specialises in songs and stories about the sea, which he performs with great warmth and humour. He loves to perform songs from Orcadian tradition, especially those of George Corrigall and Ally Winick, as well as from further afield. He also plays the ‘moothie’.
Geordie Murison from Stonehaven is a gifted singer of the songs of North-East Scotland and widely recognised as an all-round musician. He is a great supporter of the local tradition, especially younger singers and instrumentalists, and has appeared at many festivals in Scotland.
Jerry O’Reilly from Dublin was born into a singing family and is noted for his declamatory ballad style. His repertoire comes from all over Ireland, especially Clare, Kerry, and Cork. His solo CD is a celebration of republican and anti-clerical sentiments. He is also an expert teacher of Irish set dancing.
Carole and Alan Prior are London-based émigrés from Edinburgh, who developed their great love of Scottish traditional song over the past thirty years while in exile. With many formative influences, such as the Stewarts of Blair, they have achieved wide recognition in England and Scotland and have appeared at many of the key festivals.
Grace Toland was born and raised at Clonmany, Inishowen, where she learnt most of her songs from the older singers. She sings with great style in a strong commanding voice. Now living in Kilpedder, Co. Wicklow, she has performed at many festivals in Ireland and England.
Janet Weatherston from Dalkeith was brought up in a noted singing family in Dalmeny, South Queensferry, with Angus roots on her mother’s side at Glen Isla. She has a lively sense of humour and is a great favourite at Scottish festivals. She recently produced a solo CD of her family’s songs.
Graham White is a singer from Aberdeen whose talents have developed over the past few years. He relishes songs in Scots, and his repertoire has been learnt from his father and through his contacts with SCaT classes over several years.
Food will be available over the weekend.
There will be no bar – BYOB.
Camping and caravanning can be booked free of charge.
There are many B&Bs in the area – for a list, contact: Tourist Information at Banchory: 01330 822000 or Aberdeen: 01224 288828
Cullerlie Farm Park, Echt, Skene, Aberdeenshire AB32 6XL (01330 860549)
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2006: 21-23 July 2006
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2005 guests:
The Festival is a unique celebration, bringing together outstanding traditional singers from Scotland, England, and Ireland. The event is especially for those who like to hear, enjoy, and join in traditional singing. Essentially informal, friendly and non-competitive, it will be just the place to encourage the young and less experienced as well as the old hands. The weekend includes ceilidhs featuring the guest singers, singarounds for everyone who wants to join in, workshops, and a talk.
The Guests
John Campbell. As Ireland’s finest storyteller, John Campbell has been known ‘to make strong men weep with laughter’, but he is also a splendid singer. He comes from the Mullaghbawn district of South Armagh, where he was formerly a shepherd on Slieve Gullion. He is also an expert ‘lilter’ (lilting is ‘diddling’ or mouth music), and plays the jew’s harp or trump. John, in company with Len, has appeared at festivals all over the UK and Ireland, as well as in many other parts of the world.
Katherine Campbell, from Fochabers, is both a performer and a scholar, and comes from a musical family with a background in farming. Not only is she a fine interpreter of North-East songs and ballads, but also an accomplished cellist and keyboard player. She is currently a Project Manager at the RSAMD, having formerly been a research fellow at the Elphinstone Institute, where her project was to edit a performance edition of the Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection.
Gordon Easton (b.1923) is from the Blackhills of Tyrie (near Fraserburgh), where his family has crofted for generations. He learned many of his songs from his mother and grandmother, and is well-known for his fiddle, jew’s harp and ‘moothie’ playing, not to mention his considerable skills as a ‘diddler’. He has competed and sung at TMSA festivals for over twenty years and has won regularly in many categories. Last year he was made an honorary life member of the TMSA.
Scott Gardiner is a favourite singer with roots in Forfar, where his family farm. He has been singing in public since he was eight and has a repertoire of traditional and contemporary material, including many bothy ballads. As a young singer, his formative influences were Jim Reid, Joe Aitken, and Tam Reid. He has been a guest at festivals in Scotland, England, and the USA.
Len Graham was born in County Armagh to a family steeped in traditional music, song, and dance. He has been cultivating the song tradition of his native Ulster all his life, and is recognised internationally as an outstanding traditional singer. He is also a collector of songs and a selection from his field recordings have been published in It’s of My Rambles (ACNI). Len has two albums available on Claddagh – Ye Lovers All and Do Me Justice – and has appeared with John at festivals all over the world.
Sarah Jane Grieve was brought up in a singing family at Harray in Orkney, where she learnt many of her songs singing alongside her mother Barbara and her sister Emma. In fact, she first sang in public at the age of five. She loves to perform songs from Orcadian tradition, especially those of George Corrigall and Ally Winick, as well as from further afield. Archaeology and heritage matter greatly to her and she currently works in the archives in Kirkwall Library.
Bob Lewis is part of a line of wonderful Sussex singers that includes George Belton and Bob Copper. He was born in 1935 in Heyshott near Midhurst in the west of the county. He learnt most of his songs from his parents or at work in agriculture and forestry. He has sung at many festivals over the years, especially Whitby, Sidmouth, the National at Sutton Bonington, and abroad.
Ian Pirie Although Ian has only been performing at Aberdeen TMSA events for the past six years, his singing and song writing skills go back to the early 1960s, when he was at school. During his time in Germany with the armed forces in the 1970s, his talents flourished and he was a regular performer at the folk club there. The themes of his songs are eclectic, ranging from a lament for the original Ferguson tractor and a song in praise of Aberdeen rolls, to ‘A Fine Contented Man’, which was written in memory of Tam Reid.
Kathleen Robertson ‘found’ folk singing in Aberdeen in her thirties as a result of a meeting with Lizzie Higgins. She grew up in Glasgow in a family of music-hall ‘pros’, with links on her mother’s side to Yorkshire song traditions. Kathleen has sung at festivals throughout Scotland, has been recorded for several radio stations, and is a tutor in traditional singing for SCaT, the community-based learning project for Scottish culture in Aberdeen.
Peta Webb, a Londoner with an Irish background, formed her exceptional individual vocal style through the influence of Irish traditional singers, especially Margaret Barry, Sarah Makem, and Sarah and Rita Keane. Peta believes firmly in the importance of learning directly from traditional singers wherever possible. With Ken Hall, she runs the successful Musical Traditions Club in London, which has a policy of presenting traditional singers. She sings regularly at festivals in Britain and Ireland and has been a guest at Pinewoods (USA).
Food will be available over the weekend. There will be no bar – BYOB.
Camping and caravanning can be booked free of charge.
There are many B&Bs in the area – for a list, contact the Tourist Information at Banchory: 01330 822000 or Aberdeen: 01224 288828.
*The Park nestles at the foot of the Hill of Fare where the battles of Corrichie and Cullerlie Moor were fought. It is 6 miles north-east of Banchory and 12 miles west of Aberdeen. From Aberdeen follow the A944 to the Westhill roundabout, then fork left on the B9119 to Garlogie, then fork left again on the B9125 for 3 miles. The Park is on the right.
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