Scottish folk music (also Scottish traditional music) is a
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
of
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 ...
that uses forms that are identified as part of the Scottish musical tradition. There is evidence that there was a flourishing culture of popular music in Scotland during the late Middle Ages, but the only song with a melody to survive from this period is the "Pleugh Song". After the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, the secular popular tradition of music continued, despite attempts by the Kirk, particularly in the Lowlands, to suppress dancing and events like
penny weddings. The first clear reference to the use of the
Highland bagpipes
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 milita ...
mentions their use at the
Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh ( , ), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Cro ...
in 1547. The Highlands in the early seventeenth century saw the development of piping families including the
MacCrimmons, MacArthurs,
MacGregors and the Mackays of
Gairloch
Gairloch ( ; gd, Geàrrloch , meaning "Short Loch") is a village, civil parish and community on the shores of Loch Gairloch in Wester Ross, in the North-West Highlands of Scotland. A tourist destination in the summer months, Gairloch has a go ...
. There is also evidence of adoption of the fiddle in the Highlands. Well-known musicians included the fiddler Pattie Birnie and the piper
Habbie Simpson
Habbie Simpson (1550–1620) was the town piper in the Scottish village of Kilbarchan in Renfrewshire. Today Simpson is chiefly known as the subject of the poem the ''Lament for Habbie Simpson'' (also known as ''The life and death of the piper of ...
. This tradition continued into the nineteenth century, with major figures such as the fiddlers
Niel and his son
Nathaniel Gow
Nathaniel Gow (28 May 1763 – 19 January 1831) was a Scottish musician who was the fourth son of Niel Gow, and a celebrated performer, composer and arranger of tunes, songs and other pieces on his own right. He wrote about 200 compositions inc ...
. There is evidence of
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
s from this period. Some may date back to the late Medieval era and deal with events and people that can be traced back as far as the thirteenth century. They remained an oral tradition until they were collected as folk songs in the eighteenth century.
The earliest printed collection of secular music comes from the seventeenth century. Collection began to gain momentum in the early eighteenth century and, as the kirk's opposition to music waned, there was a flood of publications including
Allan Ramsay's verse compendium ''The Tea Table Miscellany'' (1723) and ''
The Scots Musical Museum
The ''Scots Musical Museum'' was an influential collection of traditional folk music of Scotland published from 1787 to 1803. While it was not the first collection of Scottish folk songs and music, the six volumes with 100 songs in each collected ...
'' (1787 to 1803) by James Johnson and
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
. From the late nineteenth century there was renewed interest in traditional music, which was more academic and political in intent. In Scotland collectors included the Reverend James Duncan and
Gavin Greig
Gavin Greig (1856–1914) was a Scottish folksong collector, playwright, novelist and teacher.
He edited James Scott Skinner's biggest collection of music, ''The Harp and Claymore Collection'', providing harmonies for Skinner's compositions, and ...
. Major performers included
James Scott Skinner
James Scott Skinner (5 August 1843 – 17 March 1927) was a Scottish dancing master, violinist, fiddler and composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential fiddlers in Scottish traditional music, and was known as "the Strathspey Kin ...
. This revival began to have a major impact on classical music, with the development of what was in effect a national school of orchestral and operatic music in Scotland, with composers such as
Alexander Mackenzie,
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.
Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...
, Learmont Drysdale,
Hamish MacCunn
Hamish MacCunn, ''né'' James MacCunn (22 March 18682 August 1916) was a Scottish composer, conductor and teacher.
He was one of the first students of the newly-founded Royal College of Music in London, and quickly made a mark. As a composer he ...
and
John McEwen
Sir John McEwen, (29 March 1900 – 20 November 1980) was an Australian politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Australia, holding office from 1967 to 1968 in a caretaker capacity after the disappearance of Harold Holt. He was the ...
.
After World War II, traditional music in Scotland was marginalised, but remained a living tradition. This was changed by individuals including
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...
,
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 disc ...
and
Peter Kennedy, through collecting, publications, recordings and radio programmes. Acts that were popularised included
John Strachan
John Strachan (; 12 April 1778 – 1 November 1867) was a notable figure in Upper Canada and the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto. He is best known as a political bishop who held many government positions and promoted education from common sc ...
,
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 hug ...
,
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 ...
and
Flora MacNeil
Flora MacNeil, MBE (6 October 1928 – 15 May 2015) was a Scottish Gaelic Traditional singer. MacNeil gained prominence after meeting Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson during the early 1950s, and continued to perform into her later years.
Early ...
. In the 1960s there was a flourishing
folk club
A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk r ...
culture and
Ewan MacColl
James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...
emerged as a leading figure in the revival in Britain. The clubs hosted traditional performers, including Donald Higgins and the
Stewarts of Blairgowrie, beside English performers and new Scottish revivalists such as
Robin Hall
Robin Hall (27 June 1936 – 18 November 1998) was a Scottish folksinger, best known as half of a singing duo with Jimmie Macgregor. Hall was a direct descendant of the famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor as well as of th ...
,
Jimmie Macgregor
Jimmie Macgregor (born 10 March 1930) is a Scottish folksinger and broadcaster, best known as half of a singing duo with Robin Hall.
Biography
Jimmie Macgregor was born in Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in a tenement and then a ...
,
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 ...
and the
Ian Campbell Folk Group
The Ian Campbell Folk Group were one of the most popular and respected folk groups of the British folk revival of the 1960s. The group made many appearances on radio, television, and at national and international venues and festivals. They per ...
. There was also a strand of popular Scottish music that benefited from the arrival of radio and television, which relied on images of Scottishness derived from
tartanry
Tartanry is the stereotypical or kitsch representation of traditional Scottish culture, particularly by the emergent Scottish tourist industry in the 18th and 19th centuries, and later by the American film industry. The earliest use of the word ...
and stereotypes employed in
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
and
variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
, exemplified by the TV programme ''
The White Heather Club
''The White Heather Club'' was a BBC TV Scottish variety show that ran on and off from 7 May 1958 to 11 April 1968
History
It was an early evening BBC television programme. It started at 6.20, and Jimmy Shand composed a melody "The Six Twenty ...
'' which ran from 1958 to 1967, hosted by
Andy Stewart and starring
Moira Anderson
Moira Anderson (born 5 June 1938) is a Scottish singer.
Life and career
Moira Anderson was born on 5 June 1938 in Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. She was educated at Lenzie Academy, She then attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Mu ...
and
Kenneth McKeller. The fusing of various styles of American music with British folk created a distinctive form of
fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plectr ...
playing known as
folk baroque
Folk baroque or baroque guitar, is a distinctive and influential guitar fingerstyle developed in Britain in the 1960s, which combined elements of American folk, blues, jazz and ragtime with British folk music to produce a new and elaborate form o ...
, pioneered by figures including
Davy Graham
David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham (originally spelled Davy Graham) (26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008) was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many famous practitioners ...
and
Bert Jansch
Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter ...
. Others totally abandoned the traditional element including
Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
and the
Incredible String Band
The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a Scottish psychedelic folk band formed by Clive Palmer (musician), Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966. The band built a considerable following, esp ...
, who have been seen as developing
psychedelic folk
Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelic music.
Chara ...
. Acoustic groups who continued to interpret traditional material through into the 1970s included
Ossian
Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora'' (1763), and later combined under t ...
,
Silly Wizard
Silly Wizard was a Scottish folk band that began forming in Edinburgh in 1970. The founder members were two like-minded university students— Gordon Jones (guitar, bodhran, vocals, bouzouki, mandola), and Bob Thomas (guitar, mandolin, mand ...
,
The Boys of the Lough
The Boys of the Lough is a Scottish-Irish Celtic music band active since the 1970s.
Early years
Their first album, called ''Boys of the Lough'' (1972) consisted of Aly Bain (fiddle), Cathal McConnell (flute), Dick Gaughan (vocals and guitar) and ...
,
Natural Acoustic Band,
Battlefield Band
Battlefield Band were a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, they have released over 30 albums and undergone many changes of lineup. As of 2010, none of the original founders remain in the band.
The band is noted for t ...
,
The Clutha
The Clutha were a traditional Scottish band hailing from Glasgow, that released a small number of albums in the 1970s. The line-up on the Clutha's first album, ''Scotia'' (1971), was John Eaglesham (vocal, concertina), Erlend Voy (fiddle, conc ...
, and The Whistlebinkies.
Celtic rock
Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been extremely prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundat ...
developed as a variant of
British folk rock
British folk rock is a form of folk rock which developed in the United Kingdom from the mid 1960s, and was at its most significant in the 1970s. Though the merging of folk and rock music came from several sources, it is widely regarded that the ...
by Scottish groups including the
JSD Band
The JSD Band was an influential Scottish-based Celtic and folk rock band primarily active from 1969 to 1974 and then again briefly from 1997 to 1998. The band released five full-length albums, and numerous singles and special releases, many of ...
and Spencer's Feat.
Five Hand Reel
Five Hand Reel was a Scottish/English/Irish Celtic rock band of the late 1970s, that combined experiences of traditional Scottish and Irish folk music with electric rock arrangements. The members of the band were Dick Gaughan (born 17 May 1948) ...
, who combined Irish and Scottish personnel, emerged as the most successful exponents of the style. From the late 1970s the attendance at, and the number of, folk clubs began to decrease, as new musical and social trends began to dominate. However, in Scotland the circuit of
ceilidhs and festivals helped prop up traditional music. Two of the most successful groups of the 1980s that emerged from this dance band circuit were
Runrig
Runrig were a Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. From its inception, the band's line-up included songwriters Rory Macdonald and Calum Macdonald. The line-up during most of the 1980s and 1990s (the band's most succe ...
and
Capercaillie
''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Tetrao'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ...
. A by-product of the
Celtic Diaspora was the existence of large communities across the world that looked for their cultural roots and identity to their origins in the Celtic nations. From the United States this includes Scottish bands
Seven Nations,
Prydein and
Flatfoot 56
Flatfoot 56 is an American Celtic punk band from Chicago, Illinois, that formed in 2000. The group's use of Scottish Highland bagpipes has led to their classification as a Celtic punk band.
History
The band formed in summer 2000 as a three-piece ...
. From Canada are bands such as
Enter the Haggis
Enter the Haggis is a Canadian Celtic rock band based in Toronto. The band was founded in 1995 by Craig Downie, the only remaining original member in the lineup, which currently consists of Downie ( highland bagpipes, vocals), Brian Buchanan (vo ...
,
Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...
,
The Real Mckenzies
The Real McKenzies is a Canadian Celtic punk band founded in 1992 and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are one of the founders of the Celtic punk movement, albeit 10 years after The Pogues.
In addition to writing and performing origin ...
and
Spirit of the West
Spirit of the West were a Canadian folk rock band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which ma ...
.
Development
There is evidence that there was a flourishing culture of popular music in
Scotland in the Late Middle Ages
Scotland in the Late Middle Ages, between the deaths of Alexander III in 1286 and James IV in 1513, established its independence from England under figures including William Wallace in the late 13th century and Robert Bruce in the 14th centur ...
. This includes the long list of songs given in ''The Complaynt of Scotland'' (1549). Many of the poems of this period were also originally songs, but for none has a notation of their music survived. Melodies have survived separately in the post-Reformation publication of ''The Gude and Godlie Ballatis'' (1567),
[J. R. Baxter, "Music, ecclesiastical", in M. Lynch, ed., ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), , pp. 130–33.] which were spiritual satires on popular songs, adapted and published by the brothers
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
,
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
and
Robert Wedderburn.
[J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , pp. 187–90.] The only song with a melody to survive from this period is the "Pleugh Song".
After the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, the secular popular tradition of music continued, despite attempts by the Kirk, particularly in the Lowlands, to suppress dancing and events like
penny weddings at which tunes were played.
[J. Porter, "Introduction" in J. Porter, ed., ''Defining Strains: The Musical Life of Scots in the Seventeenth Century'' (Peter Lang, 2007), , p. 22.]
The first clear reference to the use of the
Highland bagpipes
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 milita ...
is from a French history, which mentions their use at the
Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh ( , ), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Cro ...
in 1547.
George Buchanan
George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...
claimed that they had replaced the trumpet on the battlefield. This period saw the creation of the ceòl mór (the great music) of the bagpipe, which reflected its martial origins, with battle-tunes, marches, gatherings, salutes and laments. The Highlands in the early seventeenth century saw the development of piping families including the
MacCrimmonds, MacArthurs,
MacGregors and the Mackays of
Gairloch
Gairloch ( ; gd, Geàrrloch , meaning "Short Loch") is a village, civil parish and community on the shores of Loch Gairloch in Wester Ross, in the North-West Highlands of Scotland. A tourist destination in the summer months, Gairloch has a go ...
. There is also evidence of adoption of the fiddle in the Highlands with
Martin Martin
Martin Martin (Scottish Gaelic: Màrtainn MacGilleMhàrtainn) (-9 October 1718) was a Scottish writer best known for his work '' A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland'' (1703; second edition 1716). This book is particularly noted for ...
noting in his ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland'' (1703) that he knew of eighteen players in
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
alone.
[J. Porter, "Introduction" in J. Porter, ed., ''Defining Strains: The Musical Life of Scots in the Seventeenth Century'' (Peter Lang, 2007), , p. 35.] Well-known musicians included the fiddler Pattie Birnie (c. 1635–1721) and the piper
Habbie Simpson
Habbie Simpson (1550–1620) was the town piper in the Scottish village of Kilbarchan in Renfrewshire. Today Simpson is chiefly known as the subject of the poem the ''Lament for Habbie Simpson'' (also known as ''The life and death of the piper of ...
(1550–1620).
This tradition continued into the nineteenth century, with major figures such as the fiddlers
Niel (1727–1807) and his son
Nathaniel Gow
Nathaniel Gow (28 May 1763 – 19 January 1831) was a Scottish musician who was the fourth son of Niel Gow, and a celebrated performer, composer and arranger of tunes, songs and other pieces on his own right. He wrote about 200 compositions inc ...
(1763–1831), who, along with a large number of anonymous musicians, composed hundreds of fiddle tunes and variations.
[J. R. Baxter, "Culture, Enlightenment (1660–1843): music", in M. Lynch, ed., ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), , pp. 140–1.]
There is evidence of
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
s from this period. Some may date back to the late Medieval era and deal with events and people that can be traced back as far as the thirteenth century, including "
Sir Patrick Spens
"Sir Patrick Spens" is one of the most popular of the Child Ballads (No. 58) (Roud 41), and is of Scottish origin. It is a maritime ballad about a disaster at sea.
Background
''Sir Patrick Spens'' remains one of the most anthologized of Briti ...
" and "
Thomas the Rhymer
Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders. Thomas ...
", but for which there is no evidence until the eighteenth century. Scottish ballads are distinct, showing some pre-Christian influences in the inclusion of supernatural elements such as the fairies in the Scottish ballad "
Tam Lin
Tam (or Tamas) Lin (also called Tamlane, Tamlin, Tambling, Tomlin, Tam Lien, Tam-a-Line, Tam Lyn, or Tam Lane) is a character in a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. It is also associated with a reel of the same name, also ...
".
["Popular Ballads" ''The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century'' (Broadview Press, 2006), , pp. 610–17.] They remained an oral tradition until increased interest in folk songs in the eighteenth century led collectors such as Bishop
Thomas Percy to publish volumes of popular ballads.
[
]
Early song collection
In Scotland the earliest printed collection of secular music was by publisher John Forbes, produced in Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
in 1662 as ''Songs and Fancies: to Thre, Foure, or Five Partes, both Apt for Voices and Viols''. It was printed three times in the next twenty years, and contained seventy-seven songs, of which twenty-five were of Scottish origin. Eighteenth century publications included John Playford
John Playford (1623–1686/7) was a London bookseller, publisher, minor composer, and member of the Stationers' Company, who published books on music theory, instruction books for several instruments, and psalters with tunes for singing in churche ...
's ''Collection of original Scotch-tunes, (full of the highland humours) for the violin'' (1700), Margaret Sinkler's ''Music Book'' (1710), James Watson's ''Choice Collection of Comic and Serious Scots Poems both Ancient and Modern'' 1711. The oppression of secular music and dancing by the kirk began to ease between about 1715 and 1725 and the level of musical activity was reflected in a flood of musical publications in broadsheets and compendiums of music such as the makar
A makar () is a term from Scottish literature for a poet or bard, often thought of as a royal court poet.
Since the 19th century, the term ''The Makars'' has been specifically used to refer to a number of poets of fifteenth and sixteenth cent ...
Allan Ramsay's verse compendium ''The Tea Table Miscellany'' (1723), William Thomson's ''Orpheus Caledonius: or, A collection of Scots songs'' (1733), James Oswald's ''The Caledonian Pocket Companion'' (1751), and David Herd's ''Ancient and modern Scottish songs, heroic ballads, etc.: collected from memory, tradition and ancient authors'' (1776). These were drawn on for the most influential collection, ''The Scots Musical Museum
The ''Scots Musical Museum'' was an influential collection of traditional folk music of Scotland published from 1787 to 1803. While it was not the first collection of Scottish folk songs and music, the six volumes with 100 songs in each collected ...
'' published in six volumes from 1787 to 1803 by James Johnson James Johnson may refer to:
Artists, actors, authors, and musicians
*James Austin Johnson (born 1989), American comedian & actor, ''Saturday Night Live'' cast member
*James B. Johnson (born 1944), author of science nonfiction novels
*James P. John ...
and Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
, which also included new words by Burns. The ''Select Scottish Airs'' collected by George Thomson and published between 1799 and 1818 included contributions from Burns and Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
. Among Scott's early works was the influential collection of ballads ''Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'' (1802–03).
Revivals
First revival
From the late nineteenth century there was renewed interest in traditional music, which was more academic and political in intent. Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
professor Francis James Child
Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of r ...
's (1825–96) eight-volume collection ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads
The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as ''T ...
'' (1882–92) has been the most influential on defining the repertoire of subsequent performers, and the English music teacher Cecil Sharp was probably the most important in understanding of the nature of folk song.[B. Sweers, ''Electric Folk: The Changing Face of English Traditional Music'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), , pp. 31–8.] In Scotland, collectors included the Reverend James Duncan (1848–1917) and Gavin Greig
Gavin Greig (1856–1914) was a Scottish folksong collector, playwright, novelist and teacher.
He edited James Scott Skinner's biggest collection of music, ''The Harp and Claymore Collection'', providing harmonies for Skinner's compositions, and ...
(1856–1914), who collected over 1,000 songs, mainly from Aberdeenshire. The tradition continued with figures including James Scott Skinner
James Scott Skinner (5 August 1843 – 17 March 1927) was a Scottish dancing master, violinist, fiddler and composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential fiddlers in Scottish traditional music, and was known as "the Strathspey Kin ...
(1843–1927), known as the "Strathspey King", who played the fiddle in venues ranging from the local functions in his native Banchory
Banchory (, sco, Banchry, gd, Beannchar) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is about west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee.
Prehistory and archaeology
In 2009, a farmer discovered a short cist ...
, to urban centres of the south and at Balmoral. In 1923 the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society
The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (RSCDS), was founded on 28 November 1923 as the Scottish Country Dance Society by Jean Milligan and Ysobel Stewart of Inverneill House, Fasnacloich, who wanted to preserve Scottish country dance, country d ...
was founded in an attempt to preserve traditional Scottish dances that were threatened by the introduction of the continental ballroom dances such as the waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...
or quadrilles
The quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies. The quadrille consists of a chain of four to six '' contredanses''. Latterly the quadrille was frequently danced to a medley of opera melodie ...
. The accordion also began to be a central instrument at Highland balls and dances.[J. R. Baxter, "Music, Highland", in M. Lynch, ed., ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), , pp. 434–5.]
This revival began to have a major impact on classical music, with the development of what was in effect a national school of orchestral and operatic music in Scotland. Major composers included Alexander Mackenzie (1847–1935), William Wallace
Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.
Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...
(1860–1940), Learmont Drysdale
Learmont Drysdale (full name George John Learmont Drysdale; 3 October 1866 – 18 June 1909) was a Scottish composer. During a short career he wrote music inspired by Scotland, particularly the Scottish Borders; this included orchestral music, c ...
(1866–1909), Hamish MacCunn
Hamish MacCunn, ''né'' James MacCunn (22 March 18682 August 1916) was a Scottish composer, conductor and teacher.
He was one of the first students of the newly-founded Royal College of Music in London, and quickly made a mark. As a composer he ...
(1868–1916) and John McEwen
Sir John McEwen, (29 March 1900 – 20 November 1980) was an Australian politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Australia, holding office from 1967 to 1968 in a caretaker capacity after the disappearance of Harold Holt. He was the ...
(1868–1948).[Gardiner, ''Modern Scottish Culture'', pp. 195–6.] Mackenzie, who studied in Germany and Italy and mixed Scottish themes with German Romanticism, is best known for his three ''Scottish Rhapsodies'' (1879–80, 1911), ''Pibroch'' for violin and orchestra (1889) and the ''Scottish Concerto'' for piano (1897), all involving Scottish themes and folk melodies.[ Wallace's work included an overture, ''In Praise of Scottish Poesie'' (1894).][J. Stevenson]
"William Wallace"
''Allmusic'', retrieved 11 May 2011. Drysdale's work often dealt with Scottish themes, including the overture ''Tam O’ Shanter'' (1890), the cantata ''The Kelpie'' (1891).["Learmont-Drysdale"]
''Scottish Composers: the Land With Music'', retrieved 11 May 2012. MacCunn's overture '' The Land of the Mountain and the Flood'' (1887), his ''Six Scotch Dances'' (1896), his operas ''Jeanie Deans
Jeanie Deans is a fictional character in Sir Walter Scott's novel ''The Heart of Midlothian'' first published in 1818. She was one of Scott's most celebrated characters during the 19th century; she was renowned as an example of an honest, uprigh ...
'' (1894) and ''Dairmid'' (1897) and choral works on Scottish subjects[ have been described by I. G. C. Hutchison as the musical equivalent of the ]Scots Baronial
Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...
castles of Abbotsford and Balmoral. Similarly, McEwen's ''Pibroch'' (1889), ''Border Ballads'' (1908) and ''Solway Symphony'' (1911) incorporated traditional Scottish folk melodies.
Second revival
After World War II, traditional music in Scotland was marginalised, but, unlike in England, it remained a much stronger force, with the Céilidh house still present in rural communities until the early 1950s and traditional material still performed by the older generation, even if the younger generation tended to prefer modern styles of music. This decline was changed by the actions of individuals such as American musicologist Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...
, who collected numerous songs in Scotland that were issued by Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
around 1955. Radio broadcasts by Lomax, 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 disc ...
and Peter Kennedy (1922–2006) were also important in raising awareness of the tradition, particularly Kennedy's ''As I Roved Out'', which was largely based around Scottish and Irish music. The 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 ...
was founded at University of Edinburgh in 1951, with Henderson as a research fellow and a collection of songs begun by Calum Maclean (1915–1960).[Sweers, ''Electric Folk'', pp. 256–7.] Acts that were popularised included John Strachan
John Strachan (; 12 April 1778 – 1 November 1867) was a notable figure in Upper Canada and the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto. He is best known as a political bishop who held many government positions and promoted education from common sc ...
(1875–1958), 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 hug ...
(1894–1972), 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 ...
(1908–1975) and Flora MacNeil
Flora MacNeil, MBE (6 October 1928 – 15 May 2015) was a Scottish Gaelic Traditional singer. MacNeil gained prominence after meeting Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson during the early 1950s, and continued to perform into her later years.
Early ...
(1928–2015). A number of festivals also popularised the music, such as Edinburgh People's Festival
The Edinburgh People's Festival is an arts festival and labour festival in Edinburgh, Scotland which is intended as a celebration of indigenous talent and cultural entertainment at venues across the city, especially in the outer schemes at prices ...
(1951–1953) and Aberdeen Folk Festival (1963–). In the 1960s there was a flourishing folk club
A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk r ...
culture. The first folk club was founded in London by Ewan MacColl
James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...
(1915–1989), who emerged as a leading figure in the revival in Britain, recording influential records such as ''Scottish Popular Ballads'' (1956).[ Scottish folk clubs were less dogmatic than their English counterparts which rapidly moved to an all English folk song policy, and they continued to encourage a mixture of Scottish, Irish, English and American material. Early on they hosted traditional performers, including Donald Higgins and the Stewarts of Blairgowrie, beside English performers and new Scottish revivalists such as ]Robin Hall
Robin Hall (27 June 1936 – 18 November 1998) was a Scottish folksinger, best known as half of a singing duo with Jimmie Macgregor. Hall was a direct descendant of the famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor as well as of th ...
(1936–1998), Jimmie Macgregor
Jimmie Macgregor (born 10 March 1930) is a Scottish folksinger and broadcaster, best known as half of a singing duo with Robin Hall.
Biography
Jimmie Macgregor was born in Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in a tenement and then a ...
(born 1930) and 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 ...
. A number of these new performers, including the Ian Campbell Folk Group
The Ian Campbell Folk Group were one of the most popular and respected folk groups of the British folk revival of the 1960s. The group made many appearances on radio, television, and at national and international venues and festivals. They per ...
, emerged from the 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 ...
movement.
There was also a strand of popular Scottish music that benefited from the arrival of radio and television, which relied on images of Scottishness derived from tartanry
Tartanry is the stereotypical or kitsch representation of traditional Scottish culture, particularly by the emergent Scottish tourist industry in the 18th and 19th centuries, and later by the American film industry. The earliest use of the word ...
and stereotypes employed in music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
and variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
. Proponents included Andy Stewart (1933–1993), whose weekly programme ''The White Heather Club
''The White Heather Club'' was a BBC TV Scottish variety show that ran on and off from 7 May 1958 to 11 April 1968
History
It was an early evening BBC television programme. It started at 6.20, and Jimmy Shand composed a melody "The Six Twenty ...
'' ran in Scotland from 1958 to 1967. Frequent guests included Moira Anderson
Moira Anderson (born 5 June 1938) is a Scottish singer.
Life and career
Moira Anderson was born on 5 June 1938 in Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. She was educated at Lenzie Academy, She then attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Mu ...
(born 1938) and Kenneth McKeller (1927–2010), who enjoyed their own programmes. The programmes and their music were immensely popular, although their version of Scottish music and identity was despised by many modernists.
The fusing of various styles of American music with British folk created a distinctive form of fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plectr ...
playing known as folk baroque
Folk baroque or baroque guitar, is a distinctive and influential guitar fingerstyle developed in Britain in the 1960s, which combined elements of American folk, blues, jazz and ragtime with British folk music to produce a new and elaborate form o ...
, pioneered by figures including Davy Graham
David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham (originally spelled Davy Graham) (26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008) was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many famous practitioners ...
and Bert Jansch
Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter ...
. This led in part to British progressive folk
Progressive folk was originally a type of American folk music that pursued a progressive political agenda. More recently, the term has also been applied to a style of contemporary folk that draws from post-Bob Dylan folk music and adds new lay ...
music, which attempted to elevate folk music through greater musicianship, or compositional and arrangement skills. Many progressive folk performers continued to retain a traditional element in their music, including Jansch who became a member of the band Pentangle in 1967. Others largely abandoned the traditional element of their music. Particularly important were Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
(who was most influenced by emerging progressive folk musicians in America such as Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
) and the Incredible String Band
The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a Scottish psychedelic folk band formed by Clive Palmer (musician), Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966. The band built a considerable following, esp ...
, who from 1967 incorporated a range of influences including medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
and Eastern music
Asian music encompasses numerous musical styles originating in many Asian countries.
Musical traditions in Asia
* Music of Central Asia
** Music of Afghanistan (when included in the definition of Central Asia)
** Music of Kazakhstan
** Music o ...
into their compositions, leading to the development of psychedelic folk
Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelic music.
Chara ...
, which had a considerable impact on progressive and psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
. Acoustic groups who continued to interpret traditional material through into the 1970s included Ossian
Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora'' (1763), and later combined under t ...
and Silly Wizard
Silly Wizard was a Scottish folk band that began forming in Edinburgh in 1970. The founder members were two like-minded university students— Gordon Jones (guitar, bodhran, vocals, bouzouki, mandola), and Bob Thomas (guitar, mandolin, mand ...
.[S. Broughton, M. Ellingham and R. Trillo, eds, ''World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East'' (London: Rough Guides, 1999), , pp. 267.] The Boys of the Lough
The Boys of the Lough is a Scottish-Irish Celtic music band active since the 1970s.
Early years
Their first album, called ''Boys of the Lough'' (1972) consisted of Aly Bain (fiddle), Cathal McConnell (flute), Dick Gaughan (vocals and guitar) and ...
and Battlefield Band
Battlefield Band were a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, they have released over 30 albums and undergone many changes of lineup. As of 2010, none of the original founders remain in the band.
The band is noted for t ...
, emerged from the flourishing Glasgow folk scene. Also from this scene were the highly influential The Clutha
The Clutha were a traditional Scottish band hailing from Glasgow, that released a small number of albums in the 1970s. The line-up on the Clutha's first album, ''Scotia'' (1971), was John Eaglesham (vocal, concertina), Erlend Voy (fiddle, conc ...
, whose line up, with two fiddlers, was later augmented by the piper Jimmy Anderson, and the Whistlebinkies, who pursued a strongly instrumental format, relying on traditional instruments, including a Clàrsach
The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. It is known as in Irish language, Irish, in Scottish Gaelic, in Breton language, Breton and in Welsh language, Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland, ...
(Celtic harp).[Broughton, Ellingham and Trillo, ''World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East'', pp. 261–3.] Many of these groups played largely music originating from the Lowlands, while later, more successful bands tended to favor the Gaelic sounds of the Highlands. While fairly popular within folk circles, none of these groups achieved the success of Irish groups such as The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...
and The Dubliners
The Dubliners were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personn ...
. Some of these bands produced noted solo artists, including Andy M. Stewart of Silly Wizard, Brian McNeill
Brian McNeill (born 6 April 1950, Falkirk, Scotland) is a Scottish folk multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and musical director. He was a founding member of Battlefield Band which combined traditional Celtic melodies and new m ...
of Battlefield Band, and Dougie MacLean
Dougie MacLean, OBE (born 27 September 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Described by AllMusic as "one of Scotland's premier singer-songwriters", MacLean has performed both under his ow ...
of the Tannahill Weavers. MacLean is perhaps the best known of these, having written "Caledonia", one of Scotland's most beloved songs.
Though perhaps not as popular as some of their Celtic fusion counterparts, traditional Scottish artists are still making music. These include Hebridean singer Julie Fowlis
Julie Fowlis (born 20 June 1978) is a Scottish folk singer and multi-instrumentalist who sings primarily in Scottish Gaelic.
Early life
Fowlis grew up on North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides, in a Gaelic-speaking community. Her mothe ...
, 'Gaelic supergroup' Dàimh
Dàimh (pronounced "dive") is a folk band which performs in Scottish Gaelic.
Its members are Angus MacKenzie (musician), Angus MacKenzie (whistle/Great Highland bagpipe, bagpipes), Gabe McVarish (Violin, fiddle), Ellen MacDonald (voice/Great High ...
, and Lau
Lau or LAU may refer to:
People
* Lau (surname)
* Liu (劉/刘), a common Chinese family name transliterated Lau in Cantonese and Hokkien
* Lau clan, one of the Saraswat Brahmin clans of Punjab
* LAU (musician): Laura Fares
Places
* Lebane ...
. Old Blind Dogs
Old Blind Dogs is a Scottish musical group which plays traditional Scottish folk music and Celtic music, with influences from rock, reggae, jazz, blues, and Middle Eastern music rhythms.
Background
The three founding members of the band (Ia ...
have also found success singing in the Doric Scots dialect of their native Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
. Albannach has gained recognition for their distinctive combination of pipes and drums.
Celtic rock
Celtic rock developed as a variant of British folk rock
British folk rock is a form of folk rock which developed in the United Kingdom from the mid 1960s, and was at its most significant in the 1970s. Though the merging of folk and rock music came from several sources, it is widely regarded that the ...
, playing traditional Scottish folk music with rock instrumentation, developed by Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...
and its members from 1969. Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
used the term "Celtic rock" to describe the folk rock he created for his '' Open Road'' album in 1970, featured a song with "Celtic rock" as its title. The adoption of British folk rock heavily influenced by Scottish traditional music produced groups including the JSD Band
The JSD Band was an influential Scottish-based Celtic and folk rock band primarily active from 1969 to 1974 and then again briefly from 1997 to 1998. The band released five full-length albums, and numerous singles and special releases, many of ...
The Natural Acoustic Band (1970) and Spencer's Feat. Out of the wreckage of the latter in 1974, guitarist Dick Gaughan
Richard Peter Gaughan (born 17 May 1948) is a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter, particularly of folk and social protest songs. He is regarded as one of Scotland's leading singer-songwriters.
Early years
Gaughan was born in Glasgow's Roy ...
formed probably the most successful band in this genre Five Hand Reel
Five Hand Reel was a Scottish/English/Irish Celtic rock band of the late 1970s, that combined experiences of traditional Scottish and Irish folk music with electric rock arrangements. The members of the band were Dick Gaughan (born 17 May 1948) ...
, who combined Irish and Scottish personnel, before he embarked on an influential solo career.
From the late 1970s the attendance at, and number of, folk clubs began to decrease, as new musical and social trends, including punk rock, new wave and electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
began to dominate. However, in Scotland the circuit of cèilidhs and festivals helped prop up traditional music. Two of the most successful groups of the 1980s emerged from this dance band circuit. From 1978, when they began to release original albums, Runrig
Runrig were a Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. From its inception, the band's line-up included songwriters Rory Macdonald and Calum Macdonald. The line-up during most of the 1980s and 1990s (the band's most succe ...
produced highly polished Scottish folk rock, including the first commercially successful album with the all Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
''Play Gaelic'' in 1978. From the 1980s Capercaillie
''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Tetrao'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ...
combined Scottish folk music, electric instruments and haunting vocals to considerable success. While bagpipes had become an essential element in Scottish folk bands they were much rarer in folk rock outfits, but were successfully integrated into their sound by Wolfstone
Wolfstone are a Scottish musical group founded in 1989, who play Celtic rock. Their repertoire consists of both original songs and traditional folk pieces. They have released seven studio albums, the latest, '' Terra Firma'', in 2007. The band ...
from 1989, who focused on a combination of highland music and rock. More recently, bands such as Mànran and Tide Lines
Glasgow-based 4 piece, Tide Lines, have grown their large & passionate fanbase through blistering live shows and their trademark anthemic songs. Bending the edges of a number of genres, their neo-folk/rock sound has massive appeal.
This unique ...
have also focused on a combination of Celtic music and pop-rock. Additionally, groups such as Shooglenifty
Shooglenifty are a Scottish, Edinburgh-based six-piece Celtic fusion band that tours internationally. The band blends Scottish traditional music with influences ranging from electronica to alternative rock. They contributed to Afro Celt Sound S ...
and Peatbog Faeries
The Peatbog Faeries are a largely instrumental Celtic fusion band. Formed in 1991, they are based in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Their music embodies many styles and influences, including folk, electronica, African pop, rock and ...
mixed traditional highland music with more modern sounds, such as dubstep rhythms, creating a genre sometimes referred to as "Acid Croft". Niteworks
Niteworks (also known by the Scottish Gaelic ''Obair Oidhche'') is an Electronic Celtic fusion band from the Isle of Skye. The band are known for writing new songs in Gaelic and melding the bagpipes and Gaelic songs such as puirt a beul with ...
inspired the two aforementioned bands and the electronic sampling of Martyn Bennett
Martyn Bennett (17 February 1971 – 30 January 2005) was a Canadian-Scottish musician who was influential in the evolution of modern Celtic fusion, a blending of traditional Celtic and modern music. He was a piper, violinist, composer and pro ...
have further developed Celtic electronic music which has been described as both Gaelictronica and Celtictronica.
Successful Scottish stadium rock acts such as Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...
from Glasgow and Big Country from Dunfermline incorporated traditional Celtic sounds onto many of their songs. The former based their hit "Belfast Child" around the traditional Irish song "She Moved Through the Fair" and incorporated accordion into their line-up, while the latter's guitar and drum sounds on their early albums were heavily influenced by Scottish pipe bands, particularly on songs such as "In a Big Country" and "Fields of Fire (song), Fields of Fire". Big Country also covered Robert Burns' "Killiecrankie".
One by-product of the Celtic Diaspora was the existence of large communities across the world that looked for their cultural roots and identity to their origins in the Celtic nations. While it seems young musicians from these communities usually chose between their folk culture and mainstream forms of music such as rock or pop, after the advent of Celtic punk relatively large numbers of bands began to emerge styling themselves as Celtic rock. This is particularly noticeable in the United States and Canada, where there are large communities descended from Irish and Scottish immigrants. From the U.S. this includes Seven Nations, Prydein and Flatfoot 56
Flatfoot 56 is an American Celtic punk band from Chicago, Illinois, that formed in 2000. The group's use of Scottish Highland bagpipes has led to their classification as a Celtic punk band.
History
The band formed in summer 2000 as a three-piece ...
. From Canada are bands such as Enter the Haggis
Enter the Haggis is a Canadian Celtic rock band based in Toronto. The band was founded in 1995 by Craig Downie, the only remaining original member in the lineup, which currently consists of Downie ( highland bagpipes, vocals), Brian Buchanan (vo ...
, Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...
, The Real Mckenzies
The Real McKenzies is a Canadian Celtic punk band founded in 1992 and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are one of the founders of the Celtic punk movement, albeit 10 years after The Pogues.
In addition to writing and performing origin ...
and Spirit of the West
Spirit of the West were a Canadian folk rock band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which ma ...
. These groups were influenced by American forms of music, some containing members with no Celtic ancestry and commonly singing in English.[J. Herman, "British Folk-Rock; Celtic Rock", ''The Journal of American Folklore,'' 107, (425), (1994) pp. 54–8.]
References
Notes
Bibliography
* "Popular Ballads", in ''The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century'' (Broadview Press, 2006), .
* Baxter, J. R., "Culture, Enlightenment (1660–1843): music", in M. Lynch, ed., ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), .
* Baxter, J. R., "Music, Highland", in M. Lynch, ed., ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), .
* Broughton, S. ,Ellingham M., and Trillo, R., eds, ''World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East'' (London: Rough Guides, 1999), ..
* Craig, C., "Culture: modern times (1914–): the novel", in M. Lynch, ed., ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), .
* Dawson, J. E. A., ''Scotland Re-Formed, 1488–1587'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007), .
* DeRogatis, J., ''Turn on Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock'' (Milwaukie MI, Hal Leonard, 2003), .
* Gardiner, M., ''Modern Scottish Culture'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005), .
* Herman, J., "British Folk-Rock; Celtic Rock", ''The Journal of American Folklore'', 107, (425), (1994).
* Hutchison, I. G. C., "Workshop of Empire: The Nineteenth Century" in J. Wormald, ed., ''Scotland: A History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), .
* Larkin, C., ''The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' (Guinness, 1992), .
* Leitch, D., ''The Autobiography of Donovan: The Hurdy Gurdy Man'' (Macmillan, 2007), .
* Lyle, E., ''Scottish Ballads'' (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2001), .
* MacDougall, C., ''Scots: The Language of the People'' (Black & White, 2006), .
* Mathieson, K., ''Celtic Music'' (Backbeat Books, 2001), .
* Millar, P., ''Four Centuries Of Scottish Psalmody'' (1949, Read Books, 2008), .
* Porter, J., "Introduction" in J. Porter, ed., ''Defining Strains: The Musical Life of Scots in the Seventeenth Century'' (Peter Lang, 2007), .
* Sawyers, J. S., ''Celtic Music: A Complete Guide'' (Da Capo Press, 2001), .
* Simpson, P., ''The Rough Guide to Cult Pop'' (London: Rough Guides, 2003), .
* Sweers, B., ''Electric Folk: The Changing Face of English Traditional Music'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), .
* Whetter, K. S., ''Understanding Genre and Medieval Romance'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008) .
* Wormald, J., ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), .
External links
* John Playford'
''Collection of original Scotch-tunes, (full of the highland humours) for the violin''
* Walter Scott'
''Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border''
{{English folk music
Scottish folk music,
Folk music by country