'Tis Sixty Years Since
The 1951 Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh and the Scottish Folk Revival

This publication commemorates the 1951 Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh and collects views and perspectives on the way the Folk Revival has evolved over the past sixty years. Sixty years ago, the first Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh at Oddfellows' Hall kick-started the modern Scottish Folk Revival.

This publication commemorates the 1951 Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh and collects views and perspectives on the way the Folk Revival has evolved over the past sixty years. 'Tis Sixty Years Since: The 1951 Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh and the Scottish Folk Revival -Sixty years ago, in 1951, the first Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh at Oddfellows' Hall kick-started the modern Scottish Folk Revival. It was presided over by Hamish Henderson and recorded by Alan Lomax. Sixty years ago, the School of Scottish Studies was founded at the University of Edinburgh. The 10th Carrying Stream Festival in November 2011, organised by Edinburgh Folk Club in cooperation with the School of Scottish Studies and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, celebrated these anniversaries.

Contents Acknowledgments viii Introduction 1951 and all that Eberhard Bort 1 The People's Festival The Edinburgh People's Festival, 1951-1954 Hamish Henderson 35 'Dunking their Heels in the Corn and Custard': About Alan Lomax in Scotland Ewan McVicar 45 The Singer behind the Song and the Man behind the Microphone Margaret Bennett 60 Orain Floraidh: The Songs of Flora MacNeil Peter Urpeth 75 The Scottish Folk Revival: Reflections and Perspectives The Poets and the Folk Revival
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A Reflection Adam McNaughtan 83 The Survival of Folk Music in Scotland: A Personal Comment Jean Bechhofer 93 Corner House Cafe Alastair McDonald 99 Landscape with Fiddles Jim Gilchrist 102 Piping and the Folk Revival Gary West 108 'The Past is a Different Country - ' Nick Keir 111 Hold The Arts Page: Personal Reflections on Twenty-odd Years (some of them very odd) Covering Folk Music for the Press Rob Adams 116 Quick Jump To Now Norman Chalmers 124 Legacies of the Highland Traditional Music Festival 1981 to 2002 Rita Hunter and Rob Gibson 128 The Folk Revival
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So Far So Good? John Barrow 132 Hamish Henderson and the Scottish Folk Revival Hamish Henderson: The Grand Old Man of Scottish Folk Culture Christopher Harvie 142 Hamish of the Songs Maurice Fleming 148 Scotland's Internationale David Stenhouse 153 At the Vigil: Hamish Henderson and the Campaign for a Scottish Parliament Ivor Birnie 157 'Literature must desire to be life, not an idea of life': Hamish Henderson's Vision 'Poetry Becomes People Tessa Ransford 159 'All Art is Collaboration' Tom Hubbard 166 Working on the Hamish Henderson Papers Steve Byrne 172 Coda The 1951 Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh Ewan McVicar 189 Contributors 235