All About Scotland

For many in Scotland, traditional music had skipped a generation and they had to make a conscious effort to learn about it. At first, the main influences were largely American - skiffle music and artists like Pete Seeger - but soon people started to look to their own traditions, taking inspiration from the Gaelic songs of Cathy-Ann McPhee, then still current in rural outposts, or the old travelling singers like the Stewarts of Blairgowrie, Isla Cameron, Lizzie Higgins, and the greatest of them all, Lizzie’s mother, Jeannie Robertson.

On the instrumental front, there were fewer obvious role models despite the continued presence of a great many people playing in Scottish dance bands, pipe bands and Strathspey and Reel Societies (fiddle orchestras). In the 1960s the action was coming out of Ireland and the recorded repertoire of bands like The Chieftains became the core of many a pub session in Scotland. Even in the early 1970s, folk fiddle players were rare, although Aly Bain made a huge impression when he arrived from Shetland and, soon after, Shetland Reels started to creep into the general folk repertoire.

The 'Celtic Folk Band' was a creation of the 1960s. Previously the art of a traditional musician was essentially a solo one. These days, however, there is a more or less standard formula with a melody lead – usually fiddle or pipes – plus guitar, bouzouki and a singer. The singer is often just another sound in the band whereas before it was the song that was the focus. Instrumental in these developments was a Glasgow folk group, The Clutha, who in a folk scene dominated by singers and guitarists, boasted not one but two fiddlers, along with a concertina, and four strong singers – including the superb Gordeanna McCulloch.

The Clutha were hugely influential and became even more successful when Jimmy Anderson introduced a set of chamber pipes into the line-up. Jimmy was not only a great piper but was also a pipe maker and he 'invented' a set of pipes to be played in the key of D which sounded much quieter than the Highland pipes. This was essential at that time, as virtually all the venues were acoustic and sound systems were not up to the job of balancing out the sounds of pipes, fiddle and voices.

Key, too, to developments were the Boys of the Lough, a Scots-Irish group led by the Shetland fiddler Aly Bain and The Whistlebinkies. Developing in the Glasgow folk scene alongside The Clutha, both these groups took a strong instrumental line, rather than The Clutha’s song-based approach. These two bands were in many ways Scotland's equivalent of Ireland’s The Chieftains and through their musical ability and recognition outside the folk clubs, played an important part in breaking down musical barriers.

The Whistlebinkies were notable for employing only traditional instruments, including fine clarsach (Celtic harp) from Judith Peacock. However, the most important, and definingly Scottish, element of all three of these bands was the presence of bagpipes. Clutha had piper Jimmy Anderson, the Whistlebinkies featured Rab Wallace, who had a firm background in the Scots piping scene, while The Boys also had an experienced piper in Robin Morton. They were pioneers for what was to become a revolution in the late 1970s with bands like Battlefield Band, Tannahill Weavers, Silly Wizard, Boys of the Lough and Ossian.