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Jimmy MacBeath
Jimmy MacBeath (1894–1972) was a Scottish Traveller and Traditional singer of the Bothy Ballads from the north east of Scotland. He was both a mentor and source for fellow singers during the mid 20th century British folk revival. He had a huge repertoire of songs, which were recorded by Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson. Life Jimmy MacBeath (pronounced the same as Macbeth) was born to a family of Scottish Travellers in the fishing village of Portsoy, Banffshire, Scotland. He learned songs such as "Lord Randall" (Child Ballad 12) from his mother. At the age of 13 he started work as a live-in farm hand at Deskford. He was a bachelor all his life and learned many songs in the bothies, or farm huts where the male farm workers lived. He was to be a traveller for much of his life; in 1908 he took his first long walk, from Inverness to Perth. In the First World War he joined the Gordon Highlanders and fought in Flanders. Later he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Irish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portsoy
Portsoy ( gd, Port Saoidh) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Historically, Portsoy was in Banffshire. The original name may come from ''Port Saoithe'', meaning "saithe harbour". Portsoy is located on the Moray Firth coast of northeast Scotland, northwest of Aberdeen and east of Inverness. It had a population of 1,752 at the time of the 2011 census. History Portsoy became a burgh of barony in 1550, under Sir Walter Ogilvie of Boyne Castle, and the charter was confirmed by parliament in 1581. From the 16th century until 1975, Portsoy was in the civil and religious parish of Fordyce. It lost its status as a burgh in 1975 and became a part of the District of Banff And Buchan. In 1996, administration was transferred to the Aberdeenshire council area. The "old harbour" dates to the 17th century and is the oldest on the Moray Firth. The "new harbour" was built in 1825 for the growing herring fishery, which at its peak reached 57 boats. The Old Town Hall in The Square was comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irish War Of Independence
The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-military Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and its paramilitary forces the Auxiliaries and Ulster Special Constabulary (USC). It was part of the Irish revolutionary period. In April 1916, Irish republicans launched the Easter Rising against British rule and proclaimed an Irish Republic. Although it was crushed after a week of fighting, the Rising and the British response led to greater popular support for Irish independence. In the December 1918 election, republican party Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in Ireland. On 21 January 1919 they formed a breakaway government (Dáil Éireann) and declared Irish independence. That day, two RIC officers were killed in the Soloheadbeg ambush by IRA volunteers acting on their own initiative. The conf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Horseman's Word
The Horseman's Word, also known as the Society of Horsemen, is a fraternal secret society operating in Britain for those who work with horses. Established in north-eastern Scotland during the early nineteenth century, in ensuing decades it spread both to other parts of Scotland and into Eastern England. Although having largely declined by the mid-twentieth century, the society continues to exist in a diminished capacity within parts of Scotland. Influenced by the formation of the Miller's Word and other friendly societies that based their structure on Freemasonry, the Horseman's Word was founded to cater to the growing number of individuals who worked with draft horses in north-eastern Scotland. Its members included horse trainers, blacksmiths, and ploughmen, all of whom were of lower economic and class status in Scottish society. The Horseman's Word acted as a form of trade union, aiming to protect trade secrets, ensuring that its members were properly trained, and defending the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doric Dialect (Scotland)
Doric, the popular name for Mid Northern Scots or Northeast Scots, refers to the Scots language as spoken in the northeast of Scotland. There is an extensive body of literature, mostly poetry, ballads, and songs, written in Doric. In some literary works, Doric is used as the language of conversation while the rest of the work is in Lallans Scots or British English. A number of 20th and 21st century poets have written poetry in the Doric dialect. Nomenclature The term "Doric" was formerly used to refer to all dialects of Lowland Scots, but during the twentieth century it became increasingly associated with Mid Northern Scots. The name possibly originated as a jocular reference to the Doric dialect of the Ancient Greek language. Greek Dorians lived in Laconia, including Sparta, and other more rural areas, and were alleged by the ancient Greeks to have spoken laconically and in a language thought harsher in tone and more phonetically conservative than the Attic spoken in Athens. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thieves' Cant
Thieves' cant (also known as thieves' argot, rogues' cant, or peddler's French) is a cant (language), cant, cryptolect, or argot which was formerly used by thieves, beggars, and hustlers of various kinds in Great Britain and to a lesser extent in other English-speaking countries. It is now mostly obsolete and used in literature and fantasy role-playing, although individual terms continue to be used in the criminal subcultures of Britain and the United States. History It was claimed by Samuel Rid that thieves' cant was devised around 1530 "to the end that their wiktionary:cozening, cozenings, wiktionary:knavery, knaveries and wiktionary:villainy, villainies might not so easily be perceived and known", by Cock Lorel and the King of the Gypsies at Peak Cavern, The Devil's Arse, a cave in Derbyshire. It seems to have originated in this period, but the story is almost certainly a myth. Cant (language), Cant is a common feature of rogue literature of the Elizabethan period in England, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flophouse
A flophouse (American English) or dosshouse (British English) is a place that offers very low-cost lodging, providing space to sleep and minimal amenities. Characteristics Historically, flophouses, or British "doss-houses", have been used for overnight lodging by those who needed the lowest cost alternative to staying with others, shelters, or sleeping outside. Generally rooms are small, bathrooms are shared, and bedding is minimal, sometimes with mattresses or mats on the floor, or canvas sheets stretched between two horizontal beams creating a series of hammock-like beds. People who make use of these places have often been called transients and have been between homes. Quarters are typically very small, and may resemble office cubicles more than a regular room in a hotel or apartment building. Some flophouses qualify as boarding houses, but only if they offer meals. American flophouses date at least to the 19th century, but the term ''flophouse'' itself is only attested fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Strachan (singer)
John Strachan (1875–1958) was a Scottish farmer and Traditional singer of Bothy Ballads including several old and influential versions of the famous Child Ballads. He had a huge repertoire of traditional songs, and was recorded by the likes of James Madison Carpenter, Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson. Background John Strachan was born on a farm, Crichie, near St. Katherines in Aberdeenshire. His father had made his fortune by trading in horses, and had rented the farm. From 1886 John attended Robert Gordon's College as a boarder in Aberdeen. In 1888 he moved with his father to Craigies in Tarves. In 1895 he moved back to Crichie, which became his own farm in 1897. It was still rented, but he bought it in 1918. By 1939 he was successful enough to own five farms. He became president of the Turriff Agricultural Association. He died in Crichie. Tradition Bearer John Strachan was a " tradition bearer". He was part of the last generation to sing traditional songs in bothies, along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Traditional Singer
A traditional singer, also known as a source singer, is someone who has learned folk songs in the oral tradition, usually from older people within their community. From around the beginning of the twentieth century, song collectors such as Cecil Sharp went to rural areas to collect traditional songs. Later, Percy Grainger and James Madison Carpenter, followed by Alan Lomax and Peter Kennedy (folklorist), Peter Kennedy, made field recordings of traditional singers. Many old ballads, including the famous Child Ballads, were found within the oral tradition in the twentieth century. List of traditional singers (Arranged by nation and year of birth) England * The Copper Family [Sussex] *Henry Burstow (1826-1916) [Sussex] *Joseph Taylor (folk singer), Joseph Taylor (1833-1910) [Lincolnshire] *Emma Overd (1838-1928) [Somerset] *Lucy White (1848-1923) [Somerset] *Sam Bennett (folk musician), Sam Bennett (1865-1951) [Warwickshire] *Pop Maynard, George "Pop" Maynard (1872-1962) [Sussex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tor-na-Dee Hospital
Tor-Na-Dee Hospital was a health facility at Milltimber, Aberdeen, Scotland. History The hospital, which was established as part of an initiative by Dr Alexander Stewart to provide services to patients with rheumatism, opened as Deeside Hydropathic Hospital in November 1899. It became the Tor-Na-Dee Sanitorium (meaning ''Hill by the River Dee'') in 1918. An east wing was opened in 1920 and the hospital was acquired by the Red Cross in 1945. After joining the National Health Service in 1955, it became the Tor-Na-Dee Hospital in 1960. Further extensions included the Roxburghe House palliative care unit which opened in 1977 and a day care unit for cancer patients which opened in 1990. The hospital closed in 2002 and the building was subsequently converted into apartments as part of the Woodland Grove development. From 1939 to 1957 the sanatorium was under the charge of Dr Robert Young Keers FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elgin, Moray
Elgin (; sco, Ailgin; gd, Eilginn, ) is a town (former cathedral city) and formerly a Royal Burgh in Moray, Scotland. It is the administrative and commercial centre for Moray. The town originated to the south of the River Lossie on the higher ground above the floodplain where the town of Birnie is. There, the church of Birnie Kirk was built in 1140 and serves the community to this day. Elgin is first documented in the Cartulary of Moray in 1190 AD. It was created a royal burgh in the 12th century by King David I of Scotland, and by that time had a castle on top of the present-day Lady Hill to the west of the town. The origin of the name Elgin is likely to be Celtic. It may derive from 'Aille' literally signifying beauty, but in topography a beautiful place or valley. Another possibility is 'ealg', meaning both 'Ireland' and 'worthy'. The termination 'gin' or 'in' are Celtic endings signifying little or diminutive forms, hence Elgin could mean beautiful place, worthy place or litt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silent Film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when necessary, be conveyed by the use of title cards. The term "silent film" is something of a misnomer, as these films were almost always accompanied by live sounds. During the silent era that existed from the mid-1890s to the late 1920s, a pianist, theater organist—or even, in large cities, a small orchestra—would often play music to accompany the films. Pianists and organists would play either from sheet music, or improvisation. Sometimes a person would even narrate the inter-title cards for the audience. Though at the time the technology to synchronize sound with the film did not exist, music was seen as an essential part of the viewing experience. "Silent film" is typically used as a historical term to describe an era of cinema pri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hiring Fair
Hiring fairs, also called statute or mop fairs, were regular events in pre-modern Great Britain and Ireland where labourers were hired for fixed terms. They date from the time of Edward III, and his attempt to regulate the labour market by the Statute of Labourers in 1351 at a time of a serious national shortage of labour after the Black Death. Subsequent legislation, in particular the Statute of Apprentices of 1563, legislated for a particular day when the high constables of the shire would proclaim the stipulated rates of pay and conditions of employment for the following year. Because so many people gathered at a fair, it quickly turned into the major place for matching workers and employers. Hiring fairs continued well into the 20th century, up to the Second World War in some places but their function as employment exchanges was diminished by the Corn Production Act 1917. This legislation guaranteed minimum prices for wheat and oats, specified a minimum wage for agricultural wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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