Ronald Grant Browne ("The Voice") (20 August 1937 in

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 ...

, Lothian, Scotland) is a Scottish

folk music 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 b ...

ian and songwriter, who is a founding member of

The Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne continued ...

Biography

Browne was born in Edinburgh to John Albert 'Bertie' Browne, a truck driver, and Anne 'Nancy' Browne. He was raised in Scotland. Aside from singing, Browne's other abilities are painting, sketching and rugby, having once played as a winger for his secondary school Boroughmuir. He met

Roy Williamson Roy Murdoch Buchanan Williamson (25 June 1936 – 12 August 1990) was a Scottish people, Scottish songwriter and folk musician, most notably with The Corries. Williamson is best known for writing "Flower of Scotland", which has become the de fa ...

on the rugby field, as Williamson had played as a winger also for Boroughmuir's rivals Edinburgh Wanderers. This led to meeting multi-instrumentalist Bill Smith at

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

in 1955 and the formation of the Corrie Folk Trio in 1962. The group was expanded the following year with the addition of female singer

Paddie Bell Patricia Margaret Bell (née Simpson, 8 April 1931 – 3 August 2005) professionally known as Paddie Bell, was a Scottish folk singer and musician, born in Northern Ireland. Biography Bell was born as Patricia Margaret Simpson, in Belfast, Nort ...

. Shortly after releasing three albums in 1965, Bell left to begin a solo career. With the departure of Smith, the following year, Browne and Williamson continued to perform as a duo now known as The Corries. In 1970, Williamson conceived and built the band's signature instrument: the combolins, a pair of instruments that were rarely played separately. Williamson's instrument featured a basic guitar

fingerboard The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument. The stri ...

with a

bandurria The bandurria is a plucked chordophone from Spain, similar to the mandolin and bandola, primarily used in Spanish folk music, but also found in former Spanish colonies. Instrument development Prior to the 18th century, the bandurria had a round ...

attached and sympathetic resonating strings. Browne's model was a basic guitar with a

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

attached and four bass strings. Browne and Williamson were regular performers on Scottish television shows and movies and in 1983 received an International Film and Television Festival gold award for their

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

series, "The Corries & Other Folk". The 1996 film '' The Bruce'' features Browne's rendition of the Williamson-penned ''

Flower of Scotland "Flower of Scotland" is a Scottish song, frequently performed at special occasions and sporting events as an unofficial national anthem of Scotland. The song was composed in the mid-1960s by Roy Williamson of the folk group the Corries. It w ...

'' at the end. Browne appeared in the film playing the role of Maxwell The Minstrel. Since Williamson's death in 1990, Browne continued to perform and record in the spirit of the Corries. He regularly led the singing of ''Flower of Scotland'', de facto

national anthem of Scotland As Scotland is part of the United Kingdom, the British national anthem "God Save the King" is used in Scotland on royal occasions, for example, or when Scottish athletes participate at the Olympics. However, in other situations, other songs are ...

, for the

Scotland national rugby and football teams Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. During his performances, he was known to yell "COME ON!" to the audience during the opening line of the song he was singing and this has often been parodied by the BBC

Hogmanay Hogmanay ( , ) is the Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 January) or i ...

sketch show ''

Only an Excuse? ''Only an Excuse?'' is an annual Scottish comedy sketch show that was broadcast on BBC One Scotland on Hogmanay from 1993 to 2020. It starred the actor and comedian Jonathan Watson and featured impressions of some of Scottish football's great c ...

''. As of 27 April 2015, Browne announced that due to emotional breakdowns during performances, he has put an end to singing in public. Browne is now an accomplished portrait artist.

Personal life

Browne met and fell in love with Patricia Elliott during secondary school, and the two married on 30 June 1959. Together they had three children. Gavin Browne is the eldest, and has run The Corries Official Website since 1997. Ronnie and Pat were married for 53 years until Pat died due to cancer in 2012.

Filmography

* '' The Bruce'' (1996)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Ronnie 1937 births Living people 20th-century Scottish male singers Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Bodhrán players Musicians from Edinburgh People educated at Boroughmuir High School Scottish folk musicians Scottish folk singers Scottish multi-instrumentalists Scottish male songwriters