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Isla St Clair (born 2 May 1952 as Isabella Margaret Dyce) is a Scottish singer.


Life

Isla St Clair was born in
Grangemouth Grangemouth ( sco, Grangemooth; gd, Inbhir Ghrainnse, ) is a town in the Falkirk council area, Scotland. Historically part of the county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkirk ...
, central Scotland, in 1952; her mother was Zetta Sinclair. Her family came from northeast Scotland and it was here that she spent her early years. It was in
Findochty Findochty (pronounced , sco, Finichty, gd, Am Fionn Ochdamh) is a village in Moray, Scotland, on the shores of the Moray Firth; historically it was part of Banffshire. The Gaelic name of the village was recorded by Diack using his own transcri ...
that she gave her first stage performances, aged three years, at her mother's Brownie concertsSt Clair, Isla & Turnbull, David (1981) ''The Song and the Story''. London: Pelham Books ; p. 6 and with the local
Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
. In 1955 the family moved to Bradfield Green, near
Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
in
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, before moving back to Scotland in 1960. Zetta Sinclair, Isla's mother, was a talented songwriter and poet, and became a founding member of the Aberdeen Folk Club. The young Isla accompanied her mother to the club where they would both sing. At the club she came to the attention of a BBC producer. She was twelve years old when she sang on her first television programme ''Talk of the North'', followed by the radio series ''Stories are for Singing''. She was a regular guest on many other television and radio shows including '' Hoot'nanny'', ''My Kind of Folk'', ''Corriefolk'', ''On Tour'' and ''Heather Mixture''. Isla was a pupil at Aberdeen Academy and from 1967 Buckie High School. It was on Zetta's remarriage, in 1968, that Isla adopted the original form of her mother's
maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also used ...
, St Clair. In 1969, St Clair moved to
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
to pursue her singing career. During her teenage years she was influenced by her mother's friend
Jeannie Robertson Jeannie Robertson (1908 – 13 March 1975) was a Scottish folk singer. Her most celebrated song is "I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day", otherwise known as "Jock Stewart", which was covered by Archie Fisher, The Dubliners, The McCalmans, ...
, the traditional ballad singer. Another influence was family friend
Hamish Henderson Hamish Scott Henderson (11 November 1919 – 9 March 2002) was a Scottish poet, songwriter, communist, intellectual and soldier. He was a catalyst for the folk revival in Scotland. He was also an accomplished folk song collector and dis ...
of the University of Edinburgh's
School of Scottish Studies The School of Scottish Studies ( gd, Sgoil Eòlais na h-Alba, sco, Scuil o Scots Studies) was founded in 1951 at the University of Edinburgh. It holds an archive of approximately 33,000 field recordings of traditional music, song and other lo ...
. He first recorded St Clair when she was twelve. In 1971, St Clair released her first LP ''Isla St Clair sings Traditional Scottish Songs'' and she was voted "Female Folk Singer of the Year" by the ''
New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
''. St Clair was offered programmes as diverse as ''To Scotland With Love'' for light entertainment and ''Let's See'' for
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
educational television. There followed numerous appearances, both as singer and presenter, on series such as ''Isla's Island'' (34 programmes), ''Welcome to the Ceilidh'' (2 series), ''The Great Western Musical Thunderbox'' and ''Thingummyjig''. St Clair also managed to fit in concert tours of the British Isles, Europe, the United States, and the Soviet Union (2 tours). In the late 1970s, St Clair went to STV and asked for a job as a
continuity announcer In broadcasting, continuity or presentation (or station break in the U.S. and Canada) is announcements, messages and graphics played by the broadcaster between specific programmes. It typically includes programme schedules, announcement of the ...
, they gave her a co-presenting job on a series called ''Birthday Honours'' instead. St Clair's rise to national prominence was in 1978 when she became co-host with
Larry Grayson Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment *Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer * Larry Boon ...
in BBC Television's ''
The Generation Game ''The Generation Game'' is a British game show produced by the BBC in which four teams of two people from the same family, but different generations, compete to win prizes. The game There are eight competitors, hence the catchphrase "Let's m ...
''. She won a number of awards including the Pye Colour Television Award for "TV Personality of the Year". During her four years on the ''Generation Game'' St Clair made television appearances on ''
Morecambe and Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working i ...
'', ''Max Bygraves Show'', ''
The Royal Variety Show The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...
'', ''Parkinson'', ''Blue Peter'', ''Blankety Blank'' as well as her own series ''The Farm On The Hill''. In 1981, the BBC offered St Clair the chance to do a series of her own. She decided to make ''The Song and The Story'' which involved dressing up in historical costume and explaining the social history behind the
folk songs Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...
. The series was a success and won The Roses Award "Best Television Programme" and in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, the coveted "Prix Jeunesse for Best Light Entertainment". In 1981, she was also invited to co-present ''The Travel Show'' with
Des Lynam Desmond Michael Lynam, (born 17 September 1942) is an Irish-born television and radio presenter. In a broadcasting career spanning more than forty years, he has hosted television coverage of many of the world's major sporting events, presentin ...
for BBC2 and the following year she was chosen to co-host Central Television's '' The Saturday Show'' with
Tommy Boyd Timothy Leslie Boyd (born 14 December 1952), better known as Tommy Boyd, is a British radio presenter. Television From 1977 to 1980, Boyd was co-presenter of the ITV children's magazine programme ''Magpie'' replacing Douglas Rae. In 1981, ...
. Despite her success as a presenter St Clair wanted more singing roles, and in 1984 she was offered the part of Maria in ''
The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...
'' at Worthing, with
Edmund Hockridge Edmund James Arthur Hockridge (9 August 1919 – 15 March 2009) was a Canadian baritone and actor who had an active performance career in musicals, operas, concerts, plays and on radio. According to his obituary in ''The Guardian'', his li ...
. Rather than tour with the musical she decided to retire from the business for a while to bring up her young family.


Recordings

During the 1990s St Clair returned to television with guest appearances on
BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
's ''
Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Ta ...
'' and
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
's ''
Highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
''. She began by recording ''Inheritance'' in 1993, an
album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
of Scottish folk songs. This was followed a year later with a
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
series about folk music called ''Kindlin' the Fire''. In 1995, she devised a series called ''Tatties and Herrin'', commissioned by BBC Radio, which told the story of the fishing and farming communities of Scotland's north east. The songs from the series were released on two albums: ''The Land'' and ''The Sea''. In 1996, St Clair recorded ''Scenes of Scotland'', a collection of her mother's songs. The album was a personal tribute to her mother who had recently died. In 1998, St Clair appeared in and co-produced ''When the Pipers Play'' a documentary film about the
great Highland bagpipe The Great Highland bagpipe ( gd, a' phìob mhòr "the great pipe") is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the Great Irish Warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British milit ...
. The film was first aired on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
television in the United States and went on to win four film festival awards. The accompanying CD was also released the same year. Two years later they co-produced, and she presented, the documentary ''Millennium Pipes'' about
Marie Curie Cancer Care Marie Curie is a registered charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which provides care and support to people living with a terminal illness and those close to them, and campaigns for better support for dying people. It was established in 19 ...
. The same year she was asked to sing her mother's song
Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Festival of Remembrance The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...
, in the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
. The song was released on the album ''Amazing Grace – anthems to inspire''. In 2002, St Clair was awarded an honorary degree as Master of the
University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
for her lifelong contribution to the traditional music of Scotland. During the year she released two more albums: the critically acclaimed ''The Lady and The Piper'' with Gordon Walker; and ''My Generation'' a collection of children's songs. Other albums followed including ''Looking Forward To The Past'', a collection of timeless love songs; ''Across the Waters'', recorded in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
with musical support from
Eric Rigler Eric Rigler is an American player of the Uilleann pipes, Great Highland Bagpipes, and tin whistle. He performs as a solo artist and with the band Bad Haggis, and has been featured on a number of movie soundtracks. He has been described as "th ...
; and ''Great Songs and Ballads of Scotland''. St Clair was invited to sing the
lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about somethin ...
"
Flowers of the Forest ''Flowers of the Forest'', or ''The Fluuers o the Forest'' (Roud 3812), is a Scottish folk tune and work of war poetry commemorating the defeat of the Scottish army, and the death of James IV, at the Battle of Flodden in September 1513. Although ...
" at
Tyne Cot Cemetery Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burial ground for the dead of the First World War in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front. It is th ...
in Belgium, in 2007, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the
Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...
, in the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The same year she released ''Highland Laddie'' a CD and DVD tribute to Scotland's soldiers. The DVD featured her award-winning music video ''The Scottish Soldier'' filmed at
Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
. This was followed by ''Remember'', another
tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...
album to all servicemen and women. In 2011, St Clair was asked to record ''Flowers of Forest'' again, this time for the
Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...
album ''From Helmand to Horse Guards''. Isla St Clair continues to work on radio and stage. She also tours with her three diverse stage shows ''An Evening With Isla'', ''The Songs and Music of Scotland'' and ''Eyes Front with Isla St Clair'' an audio visual production about songs and film in wartime.


Publications

*1981: St Clair, Isla & Turnbull, David ''The Song and the Story''. London: Pelham Books (to accompany the TV series)


Discography

* ''Dowie Houms of Yarrow'' (1965) Scottish School of Studies recording at Pollock Halls, Edinburgh * ''Isla St Clair Sings Traditional Scottish Songs'' Tangent TGS 112 (1972) * ''Isla (Christmas Carols)'' Columbia SKL 5317 (1979) * '' 70 Golden Nursery Rhymes'' (1979) (various artists: Isla St Clair,
Martin Carthy Martin Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and later artists such as ...
,
Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...
and
Percy Edwards Percy Edwards (1 June 1908 – 7 June 1996) was an English animal impersonator, entertainer and ornithologist. Biography As a child, Edwards was fascinated by the wildlife he found in his local area, and by the age of 12 was accomplished eno ...
) * ''The Song and The Story'' Clare ISLA 1 (1981)Pohle, Horst (1987) ''The Folk Record Source Book''; 2nd ed. p. 432 * ''
Shape Up and Dance ''Shape Up and Dance'' was the umbrella name for a popular series of exercise instruction albums released in the United Kingdom between 1982 and 1984, during the 1980s aerobics craze. The albums were choreographed by Christina Brookes and each o ...
'' (1982) * ''Inheritance'' (1993) * ''Scenes Of Scotland'' (1996) * ''Tatties and Herrin' – The Land'' (1997) * ''Tatties and Herrin' – The Sea'' (1997) * ''When The Pipers Play'' (1998) * ''When the Pipers Play'' DVD (1999) * ''Murder and Mayhem'' (2000) * ''Royal Lovers and Scandals'' (2000) * ''Pipers on Parade'' DVD (2000) (also marketed as Millennium Pipes) * ''Amazing Grace – anthems to inspire'' (2002) (re-mastered 2004) * ''My Generation'' (2002) * ''The Lady and The Piper'' (2002) * ''Looking Forward to the Past'' (2003) * ''Scottish Connections'' DVD (2003) * ''Highland Laddie'' (2007) * ''Highland Laddie'' DVD (2007) * ''Across The Waters'' (2007) * ''Great Songs and Ballads of Scotland'' (2008) * ''Another Version'' (2009) * ''Remember'' (2009)


TV, film, radio and stage appearances

A selection of her numerous appearances: * Jim McLeod Show (Grampian TV) 1973, Singer * Regular Features (BBC TV Scotland) 1973, Singer/Presenter * Isla's Island – series (Grampian TV) 1973/74, Singer/Presenter * Welcome to the Ceilidh – series (Grampian TV) 1974/75, Singer/Presenter * Let's See – series (BBC Scotland Educational), Singing/Presenting * The Great Western Musical Thunderbox (HTV) 1975, Singer * Scotland on Parade – 3 month Tour of USA 1975, Singing * The Irish Rovers Show (CBS/Granada) 1975, Singer * Thingummy Jig (Scottish TV) 1975, Singer * Two Tours of USSR 1976/77, Singing * Birthday Honours (Scottish TV) 1978, Presenter *
The Generation Game ''The Generation Game'' is a British game show produced by the BBC in which four teams of two people from the same family, but different generations, compete to win prizes. The game There are eight competitors, hence the catchphrase "Let's m ...
(BBC TV) 1978–82, Co-Host/Singer * Speak For Yourself (BBC1 Educational), Acting/Presenting * Children's Video (Longmans) 1979, Singer * Farm on the Hill (BBC1 children) 1978/80, Presenter *
Max Bygraves Walter William Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012), best known by the stage name Max Bygraves (adopted in honour of Max Miller), was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, s ...
Show (Thames) 1979, Acting/Singing *
Morecambe & Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working ...
Show (Thames)1980, Acting/Singing *
Royal Variety Show The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...
* The Song and The Story – own series (BBC1) (2 awards) 1981, Acting/Singing (see also album & book to accompany the series) * The Saturday Show (Central TV) 1982/84, Presenting/Singing *
Sound Of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Set ...
– Stage Musical, 1984, Leading Lady * Highway (BBC1) various dates, Singer *
Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Ta ...
(BBC1) various dates, Presenter * Various Christmas shows and Pantomimes, 1975/2008, Acting/Singing Documentaries * When the Pipers Play, (4 awards) 1999, Singer/Producer/Producer *
Marie Curie Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first ...
, 2000, Presenter/Producer * Scots Box, 2000, Presenter/Producer * Highland Laddie, (Platinum Award) 2007, Singer/Presenter/Producer Films * Red Rose, 2005, Actress


References


External links

*
Isla St Clair
The Mudcat Café {{DEFAULTSORT:St Clair, Isla 1952 births Living people 20th-century Scottish women singers Scottish folk musicians People from Grangemouth Butlins Redcoats People from Banff and Buchan 21st-century Scottish women singers