> Folk Music > Records > The Stewart Family: The Stewarts of Blair
The Stewarts of Blair
 |
The Stewarts of Blair Topic Records 12T138 (LP, UK, 1965) |
Recorded by Bill Leader in his own home, Camden Town, London, 1964 or 1965;
Notes by Hamish Henderson
Musicians
Alex Stewart (Belle's husband), goose [11],
pipes [12];
Belle Stewart (1906-1997), vocals [1-5];
Cathie Stewart (Alex and Belle's daughter), vocals [6-7, 11];
Sheila Stewart (1935- ; Alex and Belle's daughter), vocals [8-10]
Tracks
| Side 1 | Side 2 |
|---|---|
|
|
Review
This review is from Gramophone, March 1966:
Another good record, strictly traditional, is by The Stewarts of Blair (Topic 12T138). Belle, Cathie and Sheila, the female members of this famous Scottish singing family, perform songs like Huntingtower, The Dowie Dens of Yarrow and Young Jamie Foyers in a way that shows, if any doubt it, that you can sing in a traditional manner and yet make a delightful sound. Alex Stewart plays a March, Strathspey and Reel on the Highland war pipes. This is one of Topic's best.
> Folk Music > Records > The Travelling Stewarts
The Travelling Stewarts
 |
The Travelling Stewarts Topic Records 12T179 (LP, UK, 1968) |
Recorded by Bill Leader in Scotland in 1967;
Notes by Carl MacDougall;
Photographs by Brian Shuel
Musicians
Lizzie Higgins (Jeannie's daughter), vocals [1];
Jeannie Robertson, vocals [2];
Donald Higgins (Jeannie's husband), whistle [3];
Isaac Higgins (Jeannie's brother-in-law), mouth organ [3];
Jane Stewart (Davie's daughter), vocals [4];
Davie Stewart, vocals [5];
Christina Stewart (Davie's cousin), vocals [6];
Maggie McPhee, vocals [7]
Alex Stewart (Belle's husband), pipes [8],
goose [9, 10];
Belle Stewart, vocals [9];
Cathie Stewart (Alex and Belle's daughter), vocals [10];
Sheila Stewart (Alex and Belle's daughter), vocals [11];
Tracks
| Side 1 | Side 2 |
|---|---|
|
|
Review
This review is from: D.K. Wilgus, Scots and Irish Tradition, The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 85, No. 337 (Jul.-Sep. 1972), pp. 292-296:
Performances from the rich tradition of the Stewart clan of “travellers” continue to be available. The Travelling Stewarts (Topic I2TI79) records no less than twelve of the extended family. Jeannie Robertson's Willie's Fatal Visit (Child 255) raises again the problem of the role of Peter Buchan in Aberdeenshire tradition; at any rate this version is more than a copy of the Buchan text. Maggie McPhee contributes a fine traditional version of MacPherson's Farewell. (Since my study of 1965, more information concerning the “hanged fiddler” tradition has come to light, including greater possibility of previous Irish connections and its occurrence in Hungary possibly as early as the thirteenth century.) Cathie Stewart's The Dawning of the Day is not Laws P16, at least if one makes a tight differentiation. There are at least seven narrative textual types in English of The Dawning of the Day, of which Laws P16 is Type V (in which the girl is seduced), while Cathie Stewart sings Type II, one of three closely related forms in which the wooer is rejected. Type I has only a courtship scene, and Types VI and VII culminate in successful courtship and marriage. But all the types are genetically related. Bogie's Bonnie Belle is justly a tinker favorage, while Donald's Return to Glencoe (Laws N39) is a well-known returned-disguised-lover form. There are, of course, a number of fine pipe tunes by Alec Stewart and Donald and Isaac Higgins.
Aisnia Cswica's review is from Gramophone, December 1968:
Back of Benachie (Topic 12Tl80) is a generous sample of the living tradition, with Sheila Stewart's Mill o’ Tiffy’s Annie, Belle Stewart's Bonnie House o' Airlie, and Maggie MacPhee's Back o' Benachie. Sheila Stewart and her mother, like Lizzie Higgins and her mother Jeannie Robertson, span two generations, and show what has been lost further south in strength and renewal of singing. The same point is amply illustrated on The Travelling Stewarts, a companion record (Topic 12Tl79), with their singing, their husband's piping and the first Topic recording of Christina Stewart, Davie Stewart, and his daughter Jane. The other meaning of a living tradition—the spontaneous renewal of the songs as well as the singers—is brought out in Festival at Blairgowrie (Topic 12T181), where Belle Stewart sings both the Berryfields o' Blair, which she wrote forty years ago, and her 1966 parody of it; while the indefatigable Mary Brooksbank, having composed one of the shortest and clearest of radical statements in her Jute Mill Song (“Oh dear me, the world's ill divided/ Them that work the hardest are the least provided”), returns at the age of 70 to sing it movingly. This record is also notable for the singing of John “Hoddan” Macdonald of Lewis.
> Folk Music > Records > Belle Stewart: Queen Among the Heather
Belle Stewart: Queen Among the Heather
 |
Queen Among the Heather Topic Records 12TS307 (LP, UK, 1977) |
 |
Recorded by Fred Kent in Blairgowrie, Perthshire in May 1976;
Produced by Tony Engle;
Front sleeve photograph by D. Wilson Laing;
Back sleeve photograph by Mike Yates;
Sleeve design by Tony Engle
Musicians
Belle Stewart, vocals
Tracks
| Side 1 | Side 2 |
|---|---|
|
|
All tracks trad. except
Tracks 4, 6 Belle Stewart
> Folk Music > Records > Sheila Stewart: … And Time Goes On …
Sheila Stewart: … And Time Goes On …
 |
… And Time Goes On … Offspring Records OFFCD00101 (CD, UK, 2000) |
Recording and notes by Doc Rowe in Blairgowrie, 1999;
Digitally remastered at Oisin Studios January 2000;
Cover photo by Vivienne Bloomfield
Musicians
Sheila Stewart, vocals
Tracks
- The Parrot story (8.37)
- Rosie (1.47)
- The Wooden Ball story (8.16)
- The Three Wishes story (4.12)
- Betsy Bell (Roud 5211) (3.37)
- Cod Liver Oil (2.00)
- The Trampman story (9.11)
- Jock Stewart (3.14)
- Native American origin story (4.16)
- Never Wed an Auld Man (2.52)
- Appley and Orangey story (12.49)
> Folk Music > Records > Sheila Stewart: From the Heart of the Tradition
Sheila Stewart: From the Heart of the Tradition
 |
From the Heart of the Tradition Topic Records TSCD515 (CD, UK, 2000) |
Recorded by Doc Rowe in Blairgowrie, Perthshire on October 15, 1998;
Production: Tony Engle and Doc Rowe;
Mastering: Tony Dixon at Reflex Audio;
Sleeve design by The Art Surgery
Musicians
Sheila Stewart, vocals
Tracks
- Queen Amang the Heather (Roud 375) (4.38)
- Twa Brothers (Roud 38; Child 49) (4.25)
- False, False (Roud 8276) (1.43)
- Hatton Woods (Roud 5531) (3.05)
- Glencoe (Roud 515; Laws N39) (4.47)
- Bogie's Bonnie Belle (Roud 2155) (2.49)
- Mill o' Tifty's Annie (Roud 98; Child 233) (4.49)
- Wi' My Dog and Gun (Roud 2124) (3.24)
- Blackwaterside (Roud 6319) (4.16)
- Mantle So Green (Roud 714; Laws N38) (4.02)
- Blue Blazin' Blind Drunk (Roud 6333) (1.25)
- Willie Leonard (Roud 189; Laws Q33) (3.03)
- Echo Mocks the Corncrake (Roud 2736) (1.59)
- The Moving On Song (Roud 13374) (1.59)
- The Oxford Tragedy (Roud 218; Laws P30) (3.56)
- Inverness-Shire (Roud 6856) (2.22)
- The Convict's Song (Roud 5122) (2.21)
- A Health to All True Lovers (Roud 1235) (3.38)
- The Nobleman's Wedding (Roud 567; Laws P31) (3.37)
- The Parting Glass (Roud 3004) (3.00)
> Folk Music > Records > The Stewart Family
Other records with the Stewart Family
Various Artists,
Heather and Glen: Folk Songs and Music from Aberdeenshire and the Hebrides,
LP, Tradition TLP 1047, 1961
Various Artists,
A Prospect of Scotland
(Topic Sampler No 5),
LP, Topic TPS169, 1966
Various Artists,
Back o' Benachie: Songs and Ballads from the Lowland East of Scotland,
LP, Topic 12T180, 1967
Various Artists,
Festival at Blairgowrie,
LP, Topic 12T181, 1967
Various Artists,
The Child Ballads 1
(The Folk Songs of Britain Vol. 4),
LP, Topic 12T160, 1968
Various Artists,
The Child Ballads 2
(The Folk Songs of Britain Vol. 5),
LP, Topic 12T161, 1968
Various Artists,
The Travelling People
(Radio Ballad No 8),
LP, Argo DA 133, 1968
Various Artists,
Songs of Animals and Other Marvels
(The Folk Songs of Britain Vol. 10),
LP, Topic 12T198, 1970
Various Artists,
Songs of the Travelling People: Music of the Tinkers, Gipsies and Other Travelling People of England, Scotland and Ireland
CD, Saydisc CD-SDL 407, 1994
Various Artists,
Ancient Celtic Roots,
CD, Topic TSCD704, 1996
Various Artists,
Come Let Us Buy the Licence
(The Voice of the People Vol. 1),
CD, Topic TSCD651, 1998
Various Artists,
O'er His Grave the Grass Grew Green
(The Voice of the People Vol. 3),
CD, Topic TSCD653, 1998
Various Artists,
Come All My Lads That Follow the Plough
(The Voice of the People Vol. 5),
CD, Topic TSCD655, 1998
Various Artists,
Tonight I'll Make You My Bride
(The Voice of the People Vol. 6),
CD, Topic TSCD656, 1998
Various Artists,
A Story I'm Just About to Tell
(The Voice of the People Vol. 8),
CD, Topic TSCD658, 1998
Various Artists,
Who's That at My Bed Window?
(The Voice of the People Vol. 10),
CD, Topic TSCD660, 1998
Various Artists,
They Ordered Their Pints of Beer and Bottles of Sherry
(The Voice of the People Vol. 13),
CD, Topic TSCD663, 1998
Various Artists,
As Me and My Love Sat Courting
(The Voice of the People Vol. 15),
CD, Topic TSCD665, 1998
Various Artists,
There Is a Man Upon the Farm
(The Voice of the People Vol. 20),
CD, Topic TSCD670, 1998
Various Artists,
The Travelling People
(Radio Ballad No 8),
CD, Topic TSCS808, 1999
Various Artists,
The Blair Tapes,
CD, Ericht Trust ETCD01, 2000
Various Artists,
Scottish Women: Scotland's Queens of Songs Recorded Live on Tour 2002,
CD, Greentrax CDTRAX 261, 2004
Various Artists,
Three Score and Ten: 70 Years of Topic Records,
7 CD, Topic TOPIC70, 2009