This is a past event
The Festival is a unique celebration, bringing together outstanding traditional singers from Scotland, England, and Ireland.
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nominated for 'event of the year'scottish traditional music awards 2007
The event is especially for those who like to hear, enjoy, and join in traditional singing. Essentially informal, friendly and non-competitive, it will be just the place to encourage the young and less experienced as well as the old hands. The weekend includes ceilidhs featuring the guest singers, singarounds for everyone who wants to join in, workshops, and a talk.
Cullerlie Farm Park and Heritage Centre was set up by Tom (‘Tam’) and Anne Reid in 1993 and is now run by Anne’s daughter Tracey Walker and her husband Eric, as well as other members of the family. Tom moved to the Cullerlie Estate with his parents in 1935, and worked with his father in the traditional way of farming. He kept the traditions alive by turning the old original steading into a farm museum with one of the largest privately owned collections of farming and domestic memorabilia in Scotland. Anne, who was from nearby Peterculter, joined Tom when they married in 1975.
Tom (born 1929) was a legendary singer, having been crowned, in 1977, the Bothy Ballad King before a crowd of 10,000 at the Haughs in Turriff, a title that remained his until his death in January 2003. Anne (1939-2006) was also a fine singer and promoted the traditions of the North-East through singing and speaking workshops with schoolchildren and adults at local schools and at the museum, as well as hosting regular Saturday-night ceilidhs. It is the family’s express wish that the festival should continue to run in memory of Tom and Anne.
At the Park there is a large tearoom where the staff serve soup, sandwiches, and lots of delicious home baking. They cater for all needs with a baby changing area plus disabled facilities.
The Park nestles at the foot of the Hill of Fare where the battles of Corrichie and Cullerlie Moor were fought. It is 6 miles north-east of Banchory and 12 miles west of Aberdeen. From Aberdeen follow the A944 to the Westhill roundabout, then fork left on the B9119 to Garlogie, then fork left again on the B9125 for 3 miles. The Park is on the right.
The Guests
Danny Couper, a fish merchant from Aberdeen, is a fine exponent of the singing traditions of the North-East with a lively sense of humour. His abiding influences are the great singers he heard in his youth, including Jeannie Robertson, Jimmy MacBeath, and Davie Stewart. He is a great supporter of the traditional music scene in Scotland and, with Arthur Argo, was co-founder of Aberdeen Folk Club in 1962.
Shona Donaldson, a fine singer and a fiddler, is one of Scotland’s leading young tradition bearers having appeared in the Young Scottish Traditional Musician of the Year final in 2003 and 2004 and the Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2006. Shona, originally from Huntly, now lives in Tarland and is a great favourite in the North-East.
Bill Gray, a relative newcomer to the traditional singing scene, won his first competition at Kirriemuir in 2002 and last year won the ultimate accolade, the Champion of Champions Bothy Ballad competition in Elgin. An active member of the Buchan Heritage Society through which he regularly leads workshops in local schools, he has been greatly influenced by Jock Duncan.
Jimmy Hutchison was born in Frobost on the island of South Uist, and later moved to Perth. These early years, bilingual in English and Gaelic, influenced his later understated singing style. When he sings he is telling a story with no need to dramatise. He has all the attributes of a traditional Gaelic singer, the only difference being that he sings in English, or to be more precise, in Scots. A full-time joiner and draughtsman, his influences include Jeannie Robertson, Belle Stewart, and Jimmy McBeath.
Sam Lee is a singer, promoter, researcher, and collector of traditional music. He lives in London and works for the English Folk Dance and Song Society as well as running London’s newest and youngest folk club, the Magpie’s Nest. Only knowingly arriving at folk music within the last few years, he has discontinued all previous employment to follow his passion of promoting the songs.
Viv Legg of Bodmin in Cornwall is from a Romany background and learned her songs from her mother, Sophie, and other members of the Orchard family. During the last few years of her life, Sophie greatly encouraged her daughter to continue the family song tradition, and as a result, during the past five years, Viv has appeared at a number of festivals and clubs, and has launched her debut CD, Romany Roots.
Oliver Mulligan is from Co. Monaghan where his style and many of his songs were learned in the 1950s from local and family singers. He attended Fleadh Ceóil sessions throughout Ireland in the 1960s, becoming All-Ireland champion, and adding a wider range of material including Gaelic songs from the West. He now lives in London where he is a veteran of both the Irish community sessions and the traditional clubs and was a resident of the Singers Club for ten years.
Jess Smith from Crieff in Perthshire is a best selling author and a traditional singer and storyteller from Scotland’s Travelling people. Her childhood was spent travelling the length and breadth of Scotland with her family in an old blue bus, working the land: ‘This closeness to nature taught me many things about the body’s hidden senses and thankfully I have never lost them.’ She is in demand for live performances throughout Scotland and is proud to share her culture with new audiences.
Rosie Stewart, from Belcoo, Co. Fermanagh, is rooted in the Ulster style with a voice described as ‘between the pipes, the flute, and broken glass’. Her inspiration to sing came from her father, Packie McKeaney, a major influence and a great encouragement in her career. She is much in demand at festivals as a singer and workshop leader and has twice won All Ireland Championships. In 2004 she was awarded the Irish Language Television Station, ‘Singer of the Year’.
Sheila Stewart is an ambassador for Scotland’s Travelling People, and carries with pride the traditions of her celebrated Perthshire family. She sings with great passion and believes in the conyach, the quality of feeling that comes from the heart. She has performed throughout Europe and North America, and was awarded an MBE for her work. Last November at the prestigious Scottish Traditional Music Awards in Fort William she was inducted into the ‘Hall of Fame’.
Organisers
Tracey Walker (Anne’s daughter) and Jim Taylor (Tom’s nephew) on behalf of Cullerlie Farm Park, and Ian and Norma Russell on behalf of The Elphinstone Institute.
Thank you to our sponsors
Coupers (Fish Processors) of AberdeenDavidson & Murison LtdThe Friends of the Elphinstone Institute
- Hosted by
- Elphinstone Institute and Cullerlie Farm Park
- Venue
- Cullerlie Farm Park