Cullerlie 2024

The Traditional Singing Weekend at Cullerlie

26–28 July 2024

‘The Bothy Ballad King’! Tom and Anne Reid celebrate Tom’s win at the Haughs of Turriff, Sunday 7 August 1977

A celebration of the singing traditions of Scotland, England, and Ireland in memory of Tom Reid (1929–2003) and Anne Reid (1939–2006)

Guest Singers | Programme | Booking | Ih-Hm | Organisers and Sponsors

The weekend is a unique celebration, bringing together outstanding traditional singers from Scotland, England, and Ireland. The event is especially for those who like to hear, enjoy, and join in unaccompanied 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 informal concerts featuring the guest singers, singarounds for everyone who wants to join in, and includes workshops, craft demonstrations, 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.

Directions
Cullerlie Farm 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 traffic lights, then turn left on to the B9119 to Garlogie, then fork left again on the B9125 for 3 miles. The Park is on the right behind Birchmoss Depot.

Guest Singers

Rosie Davis first developed her singing and dancing during the 60s Liverpool folk scene.  In the 80s she joined with Peta Webb, Janet Russell, and Sandra Kerr as ‘Sisters Unlimited’; they were together for thirty years. A dancer, songwriter, singer, instrumentalist, and workshop leader, she has performed at festivals in the UK and beyond as a member of several well-respected bands. Since 2013 she has been living in Dublin and singing with An Góilín Singers Club and dancing with Brooks Academy.
Shona Donaldson is one of Scotland’s leading tradition bearers. She grew up in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, and was surrounded by music and song from a young age. She studied at RSAMD and has performed and taught worldwide. Shona is a former winner of the Scots Singer of the Year and is the only woman thus far to win the Bothy Ballad Championship at Elgin. She particularly enjoys singing and teaching local songs in Doric, whether it be in a school or a concert hall.
Doug Hay, ‘The Orra Loon’, is from the Turriff area. His roots in a farming community are deep in the heart of Aberdeenshire’s bothy ballad country. With a natural Doric tongue, he promotes the language at every opportunity through his singing of cornkisters, traditional ballads, bothy ballads, poetry, prose, and competing at TMSA festivals throughout Scotland. He has been a loyal and much valued supporter of the Cullerlie weekend for many years.
Annie Hughes is an Irish traditional singer, born and raised in Blanchardstown, north county Dublin. She has been a guest at the Inishowen Singing Weekend, the Frank Hart Festival, and An Góilín Singers Club. Annie is also an active member of the Night Before Larry Got Stretched singers’ collective. She is inspired by Dublin-born singing legend Liam Weldon and Connemara-born sean-nós singer, Róisín Elsafty, as well as singers from the Irish Traveller community, especially Thomas McCarthy.
Jo Miller is a singer, fiddler, ethnomusicologist, and community musician based in Stirling. She enjoys bringing new life to old songs, especially the neglected repertoire of SW Scotland. Her recent album A’ the Way to Galloway has been described as ‘both poignant and entertaining…a wonderful piece of living social history’. Jo has also researched and written widely about the learning and teaching of traditional music. In 2017 she received the Hamish Henderson Award for services to traditional music.
Mícheál Quinn was reared in Mullaghbawn in Armagh and now lives in Leixlip, Co. Kildare. His inheritance of traditional singing came directly from his father, Miceal Ned (Mick Quinn), and his grandfather, John Ned Quinn, who were well-known traditional singers before him. His repertoire is heavily influenced by his family, birthplace, and the rich tradition of Ulster singing. Mícheál has been a guest performer at the Frank Harte Festival, the Inishowen Singing Weekend, and was a guest at the Róise Rua festival on Árainn Mhór.
Seb Stone is a traditional singer, whistle player and uilleann piper from the Peak District. In 2022, he won the Future of Folk Award at Bromyard Folk Festival, since when he has performed at a number of festivals and folk clubs around the country. Seb sings a variety of English and Irish songs, from ballads to choruses, and is an active part of the Sheffield sessions circuit. His debut album, recorded with Scribe Records, is being released in March 2024.
Sheena Wellington is a renowned singer, activist, and Dundonian. She is the only person to have sung at both the opening of the Scottish Parliament and the Concert for Lockerbie, just weeks after the bombing. She draws her inspiration from three women – her grandmother, Mary Morrison Thoms/Johnston, a Dundee weaver who raised a big family and had a great repertoire of Scots songs; her friend, the late Anne Neilson, a fine singer and a gifted teacher; and Rosa Parks, the US civil rights activist.

Programme

A = Marquee    B = Bothy/Wash Hoose     C = Tea Room     D = Outside

Booking

Booking Form

General Information 

• Food will be available over the weekend in the tea-room.
• You can buy an all-day meal ticket at a discount. 
• There will be no bar – BYOB
• Camping and caravanning can be booked. There is a charge of £15.00 per pitch.
• There are several B&Bs in the area – for a list contact: Tourist Information: 01224 269180 (Banchory Library 01330 700441)
• Bursaries are available for singers under 25 yrs in full-time education

Cullerlie Farm Park, Echt, Skene, Aberdeenshire AB32 6XL (01330 860549)

‘Ih-Hm’

This was one of Tom’s favourite songs. The original words,‘M-Hm’, are attributed to James Nicholson in John Greig’s Scots Minstrelsie (1893), VI, 302-04.

Hiv ye heard o the deil as he wauchled through life
With a wife in ilk oxter an een in his teeth
Till some-een bawled out will ye tak mine the morn
He waggit his tail an he cockit his horn
But he only said ‘im-hm’, that daft-like word ‘im-hm’
That auld-farrant ‘im-hm’, that stands for an ‘aye’.

Now fin I wis a callant lang syne at the skweel
Oh the maister aye caed me a dunce an a feel
For aa that he said I cuid ne’er unnerstan
Except when he cried, ‘Jimmy, will ye haud oot yer han?’
Then I gloomed an said ‘im-hm’, I glowered an said ‘im-hm’
I wis nae that prood bit ower dour tae say, ‘aye’.

Syne ae day a queer wird like aul-nibbet’s himsel
He vowed he wid thrash me if I widnae spell
Says I, ‘Mr Quill’ wi a kind of a swither
I’ll spell ye the wird if ye’ll spell me anither
Lat’s hear ye spell ‘im-hm’, that daft-like wird ‘im-hm’
That auld-farrant ‘im-hm’, ye ken it means ‘aye’

Syne he steid an he glowered an he scratched his aul pate
An he shouted, Ye villain get oot o ma gate
Get aff tae yer seat, ye’re a plague o the skweel
The deil gin I ken if ye’re maist rogue or feel
Bit I only said ‘im-hm’, that daft-like wird ‘im-hm’
That auld-farrant ‘im-hm’, ye ken it means ‘aye’.

Oh and when a braw wooer I coorted my Jean
O aa the braw lassies the pride an the queen
When in my great plaidie wi hairt beatin’s pain
O I speired in a whisper, Oh! if she’d be my ain
She smiled an said ‘im-hm’, she blushed an said ‘im-hm’
A thoosan times sweeter an dearer than ‘aye’.

Well bit noo I’m a dad wi a hoose o my ain
A dainty-bit wife aye an mair than ae wean
Bit the warst o’t is this when I question I speir
They pit on a luik sae auld-farrant an queer
An they only say ‘im-hm’, that daft-like wird ‘im-hm’
That auld-farrant ‘im-hm’ that stans for an ‘aye’.

Noo ye’ve heard o this ‘im-hm’, it’s no a nice wird
When printit on paper it’s perfect absurd
So if you’re ower lazy tae open yer maw
Jist haud o yer tongue an say nothing ava
But niver say ‘im-hm’, that daft-like wird ‘im-hm’
That auld-farrant ‘im-hm’, ye ken it means ‘aye’.

Festival Organisers

The festival is organised by: Tracey Walker (Anne’s daughter) and Eric Walker (Treasurer), Scott Gardiner, Ian Russell (Director), Norma Russell (Secretary), Robin Dempsey, and Morag Dempsey

The Singing Weekend is a joint project between Cullerlie Farm Park and The Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, MacRobert Building, King’s College, Aberdeen AB24 5UA Tel: 01224 272996 Email: elphinstone@abdn.ac.uk

A big ‘Thank You’ to our Sponsors
Breedon Aggregates
Coupers (Fish Procesors) of Aberdeen
Joyce and Geordie Murison
The Friends of the Elphinstone Institute
And to other much appreciated donors