Susannes Folksong-Notizen
[1983:] Betsy Whyte's book about her childhood inspired me to write this song with the same title. The tune is The Female Drummer as sung by Harry Cox. (Notes Adam McNaughtan, 'WordsWordsWords')
[1985:] For many years it had been traditional for country folk and travelling people to harvest the acres of soft fruit in Perthshire, but [in the Second World War] many of them were called up or placed in essential work. and so it fell to school children to do the berry-picking. "We went every summer for about four years to the berry-picking at Blairgowrie. We got paid a penny-a-pound for rasps, and some got quite quick at it, but not like some of the tinks that were the real pickers. They could fill two or three luggies for every one of ours. They were interesting people and they used to sing and play fiddle music in the bothy-place at night." (Blair, Tea at Miss Cranston's 193)
[1989:] [A] song version of Bessie White's prose autobiography [...] informed by my love of traditional songs and especially the other "broom" refrains: Lay the bent to the bonnie broom; she'll never gang doon to the broom ony mair; the birk and the broom bloom bonnie. (Adam McNaughtan in Bell, Poetry 119)
[1990:] The travellers all move into Brechin and winter there, but they can't wait to get back on the road in springtime. The townspeople call them tinkers, the tinkers call them scaldies in return, that's just an equally insulting term. They call themselves travelling people. First they help farmers planting, then they go to the River Tay to look for shellfish, and if they're lucky they find a few pearls, take them to the jewellers in Perth and make a little money that way. And when the raspberries and strawberries are ripe they all go to Blairgowrie - that's the heart of the fruit-growing area in Scotland. It's a big festival time for them all. (Intro Iain MacKintosh)
[1990:] Adam McNaughtan wrote these stirring words, set to the traditional tune of 'The Female Drummer', after reading Betsy Whyte's autobiography [...]. Betsy was proudly of the travelling people, a gifted story-teller and a warm, wonderful lady. She died suddenly at the Auchtermuchty Folk Festival in August 1988 [...]. (Notes Sheena Wellington, 'Clearsong')
[1992:] At a traditional song festival some years ago, Betsy Whyte herself sang Adam's song. But after the song was over she was feeling unwell. She went home, and within an hour she was dead. So the last thing she did was sing the song about the book that she wrote. (Iain MacKintosh, intro Wesselburen)
Cf Betsy Whyte, The Yellow On the Broom; same, Red Rowans and Wild Honey
Further notes see 'Terror Time'
Tune: The Female Drummer
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