Ray Galbraith Fisher (26 November 1940 – 31 August 2011) was a Scottish folk singer. ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' has called her "perhaps the best-known Scots folksinger of her generation", and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', "one of Britain's great interpreters of traditional song".

Early life

Ray Galbraith Fisher was born on 26 November 1940 at Redlands Hospital,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, the second of six daughters and third of seven children of John Fisher, a police inspector, and his wife, Morag Fisher (born Marion Macdonald). Her father sang as a soloist in the City of Glasgow police choir, and her mother sang in

Scots Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

. She was educated at

Hyndland Secondary School Hyndland Secondary School is a non-denominational state comprehensive school in the Hyndland area of Glasgow, Scotland. The school provides secondary education for children from the local area, although there are many children from other areas ...

, as was her brother Archie, and it was where she met

Hamish Imlach Hamish Imlach (10 February 1940 – 1 January 1996) was a Scottish folk singer. Imlach was born in Calcutta to Scottish parents, although he claimed to have been conceived in Glasgow, Scotland. His commercial success was limited, but he influence ...

, followed by

Jordanhill Teacher Training College Jordanhill Campus is an historic estate within the boundaries of Jordanhill, Glasgow, Scotland, which developed as a country estate. It is best known and most recently used as the home to the Faculty of Education of the University of Strathcl ...

Career

Fisher began in the 1950s with a

skiffle Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United States ...

group alongside her brother

Archie Archie is a masculine given name, a diminutive of Archibald. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Archie Alexander (1888–1958), African-American mathematician, engineer and governor of the US Virgin Islands * Archie Blake (mathematici ...

, before they became a folk duo, Ray and Archie Fisher. They were regulars at

Norman Buchan Norman Findlay Buchan (27 October 1922 – 23 October 1990) was a Labour Party politician, who was on the left-wing of the party, and represented the West Renfrewshire seat from 1964 until 1983 and the Paisley South seat from 1983 until his de ...

's Glasgow Ballads Club, and it was through Buchan and his wife Janie, that Ray met

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, T ...

, who invited her to stay in Aberdeen, where she then spent six weeks learning about traditional Scottish folk songs. Ray and Archie later formed a trio, The Wayfarers, with singer/fiddler Bobby Campbell, and the

Fisher Family Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...

, with their parents, their younger sister Cilla, and later Cilla's husband Artie Trezise. Ray and Archie both also had solo careers. She was a familiar bespectacled face on television music programmes, and appeared on BBC's ''

Jools' Annual Hootenanny ''Jools' Annual Hootenanny'' is a TV show presented by Jools Holland and broadcast on New Year's Eve as an end-of-year special edition of his series '' Later... with Jools Holland''. It is generally broadcast between approximately 11pm on 31 ...

'' and STV's ''Here and Now''. Fisher released only three solo albums, ''The Bonny Birdie'' (1972), ''Willie's Lady'' (1982), and ''Traditional Songs of Scotland'' (1991).

Personal life

On 3 September 1962, Fisher married Colin Ross (1934–2019), a schoolteacher, fiddler and Northumbrian piper, and they had three children: Andrew (born 1964), Duncan (born 1963) and Fiona (born 1966). She died from cancer on 31 August 2011 in

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

, Tyne and Wear, aged 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Ray Galbraith 1940 births 2011 deaths Scottish folk singers Musicians from Glasgow Scottish songwriters People educated at Hyndland Secondary School 20th-century Scottish women singers