Biography
Many of Scotland’s traditional folk songs and stories owe their survival to Belle Stewart, who entered the world as Belle Perthshire. Her brothers Donald and Andy passed along her father’s collection of material, allowing her to emerge as a national treasure. Listeners first encountered Scotland’s rich musical heritage through her recordings, among them The Stewarts of Blair from 1965 and Queen Among the Heather: Scots Traditional Songs and Ballads issued in 1976. As the offspring of traveling folk—nomadic artisans whose forebears crafted arms and decorations for the old Highland clans—Stewart took on the role of preserving that group’s spoken heritage. Her father, Donald “Dan” MacGregor, worked as a tinsmith and fisherman while singing ballads as a hobby; he passed away when Belle was only seven months old. Her mother ended the wandering existence by establishing a household in Blairgowrie so the family could remain united. After marrying Alec Stewart in 1925, she joined him on occasional journeys to his family’s roots in Ireland, though she otherwise stayed close to home. During one of those early visits in the 1920s she discovered that numerous relatives on her husband’s side performed as pipers, dancers, singers, and narrators, with his own father having earned the title of national champion piper.
Folklorists began to notice Stewart around the mid-1960s after Hamish Henderson, a collector affiliated with the School of Scottish Studies, arrived in Blairgowrie in search of someone familiar with the traditional piece “The Berryfields of Blair.” Once led to her, Henderson uncovered an extraordinary storehouse: Stewart not only knew that song but maintained an immense store of classic ballads together with pieces she composed herself for special events such as weddings. Impressed, he arranged studio sessions at the School of Scottish Studies Sound Archives where she performed as many numbers as she could recall alongside her husband—who succumbed to leukemia in 1981—and their daughters Sheila and Cathie. News of her remarkable memory quickly attracted frequent visits from song collectors, performers, and scholars. When the inaugural Traditional Music and Song Association Festival took place in Blairgowrie, the Stewart family appeared as featured artists. Their reach reached England once Ewan MacColl included them in a Radio Ballad; MacColl and his wife and collaborator Peggy Seeger later produced the family biography titled ’Til Doomsday in the Afternoon, issued by Manchester University Press. Stewart’s enduring contribution as “custodian of the Perthshire family’s folklore” now rests with Sheila, who keeps the songs and tales of Scotland’s Traveller culture alive through performance. Ardeen University Press brought out a volume of her narratives, The King o’ the Black Art, in 1987.
Folklorists began to notice Stewart around the mid-1960s after Hamish Henderson, a collector affiliated with the School of Scottish Studies, arrived in Blairgowrie in search of someone familiar with the traditional piece “The Berryfields of Blair.” Once led to her, Henderson uncovered an extraordinary storehouse: Stewart not only knew that song but maintained an immense store of classic ballads together with pieces she composed herself for special events such as weddings. Impressed, he arranged studio sessions at the School of Scottish Studies Sound Archives where she performed as many numbers as she could recall alongside her husband—who succumbed to leukemia in 1981—and their daughters Sheila and Cathie. News of her remarkable memory quickly attracted frequent visits from song collectors, performers, and scholars. When the inaugural Traditional Music and Song Association Festival took place in Blairgowrie, the Stewart family appeared as featured artists. Their reach reached England once Ewan MacColl included them in a Radio Ballad; MacColl and his wife and collaborator Peggy Seeger later produced the family biography titled ’Til Doomsday in the Afternoon, issued by Manchester University Press. Stewart’s enduring contribution as “custodian of the Perthshire family’s folklore” now rests with Sheila, who keeps the songs and tales of Scotland’s Traveller culture alive through performance. Ardeen University Press brought out a volume of her narratives, The King o’ the Black Art, in 1987.
Albums