Belle Stewart
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Belle Stewart (18th July, 1906 - 4th September 1997) was a Scottish traditional singer.
Little was known about Belle Stewart until 2006, when her daughter, Sheila Stewart wrote the biography "Queen Amang the Heather: the Life of Belle Stewart". Her birthdate is frequently given as 17th July, but Sheila makes it clear that it was the 18th.
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[edit] Early years
Belle McGregor was born on the banks of the River Tay at Caputh, near Blairgowrie. She was born into a family of Scottish Travellers, who lived in bow-tents. These are similar to dome tents. As a result of their life-style, the whole family was subject to insult and abuse. Her father died when she was only 9 months old. Afraid that social workers might take her children from her, her mother stopped being a Traveller, and settled in Perthshire. The family tried to teach her how to read palms (fortune telling), but she didn't take to this. The family frequently went to Northern Ireland to do pearl-fishing. In the evenings they would gather at ceilidhs to exchange folk songs.
[edit] Marriage
Belle's version of "If I Was a Blackbird" inspired Alex Stewart, a bagpiper, to propose to her. They married in secret on 17th August 1925 in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland. He was her second cousin, and for a time there were fears that this would affect the health of their children, but this proved false. For a few months she had Bell's palsy. Alex left her and returned to Ireland. After treatment she made a complete recovery, and Alex returned to her. On 7th July 1935, Sheila was born. Belle also had another daughter Cathie, and two sons, Andy and John. They made their living by selling scrap metal and pearl fishing. During the Second World War Alex Stewart was conscripted. His Captain, a "Naken," or Non-Traveller, was also from Blairgowrie. The Captain was wounded in action and Alex carried him to the Red Cross camp. When the Captain was told who had saved his life, he replied by saying that he would rather have been left to die than to have been saved by a "Tink". Alex and his wife wrote letters in the Traveller cant known as Beurla-reagaird. The British Army postal censors were unable to understand it, and ordered them to stop. In 1952 they paid a builder to build them a house.
[edit] Scottish Travellers
The Scottish Travellers referred to palm-reading as "drookerin" in cant. A non-traveller was described as a "naken". When the Stewarts of Blairgowrie went to the Sidmouth festival they encountered "New Age travellers" for the first time, selling jewellery. Belle Stewart noticed how dirty the New Agers were. They said they were travellers but Belle replied "No, you're not. We are." The New Age Travellers said "But you're dressed too fine to be travellers." The photographs in Sheila Stewart's book show how concerned the Stewarts were with personal appearance. At festivals the whole family would wear tartan kilts and the pipers among them wore full regalia. Belle's repetoire of folk tales frequently refer to the supernatural, including changelings. A collection of her stories was published as "The King o' the Black Art" in 1987. When Alex Stewart died, the Church of Scotland minister at Blairgowrie refused to allow the funeral service to be held in his church, because Alex had been a Traveller. A Dundee minister phoned them and offered them a service in his church.
[edit] Celebrity
While John Stewart was in Hatfield working on a building site they got a visit from a friend of Ewan MacColl. The following week they had a visit from Ewan and his then wife. Soon the younger members of the family made recordings of ballads in London. A few months later the whole family were invited to perform at MacColl's "Singers' Club" in London. In March 1954 Hamish Henderson invited the travellers family to do a concert in Edinburgh. "Auld Galoot" (Davie Stewart), Jeannie Robertson and Jimmy MacBeath were also invited. Later in 1954 Douglas Kennedy and Peter Kennedy visited them, and made recordings. This was the beginning of their career performing in folk clubs. They were treated with respect, unlike the way they were treated by the rest of urban society.
As well as singing the songs she heard from other travellers, Belle was expected to write a new song for Hogmanay. Her most famous composition is "The Berry Fields o Blair". In 1966 Peter Shepherd and Jimmy Hutchinson started the Blair Folk Festival. Sheila Stewart won the singing competition with "The Twa Brothers". After 1969 the annual festival was relocated to Kinross. Later in the 60s Alex Stewart made his living in the summer months by playing bagpipes to tourists in Glen Coe and Oban. Belle knew all the songs and decided which of the other members of the family were allowed to sing which songs. Ian Stewart became a bagpiper like his father. Belle Stewart was awarded the "British Empire Medal" in 1981. Her daughter Sheila later received an MBE. "The Overgate" is a version of the folksong Seventeen Come Sunday which is particularly associated with the Robertson/ Higgins/ Stewart family of travellers. Belle recorded it in 1976. In 1965 the family recorded an album called "The Stewarts of Blair", which was embraced by the Scottish folk scene.
In 1975 another Scottish Traveller, Jeannie Robertson, released an album called "The Queen Among the Heather". It was a compilation of tracks from 1953 onwards. In 1976 Belle Stewart released an album with an almost identical title "Queen Among the Heather". There was a certain rivalry between the two. Alan Lomax preferred Robertson's singing, and Sheila, semi-apologetically, agrees with him in her biography.
In about 1970 the family spent a month performing in America. They made several appearances at the Edinburgh Folk Festival and folk clubs around the UK. Ewan MacColl featured them in a Radio Ballad. Ewan and Peggy also wrote a biography of Belle, called "'Til Doomsday in the Afternoon" (Manchester University Press). After the death of Alex, they continued to tour, and appeared at a folk festival in Bologna in 1980 and Lake Como in 1980, with Ian taking the place as chief piper. Belle Stewart died aged 91. Hundreds attended her funeral. Six RAF jets flew in formation overhead during the funeral. This was a coincidence, not a tribute, but some felt it was very appropriate.
[edit] See also
[edit] Discography
- "The Stewarts of Blair" (1965)
- "The Travelling Stewarts" (1968)
- "Queen Among the Heather" (1976)
Anthologies:
- "Back o' Benachie - Songs and Ballads from the Lowland East of Scotland" (1967)
- "Festival at Blairgowrie" (recorded 1967)
- "The Voice of the People Volume 20 - There is a Man Upon the Farm" (two songs - "The Overgate" and "The Berry Fields O' Blair")
