Biography
Scotland's Travelling people, itinerant artisans whose forebears forged arms and decorative metalwork for the old Highland clans, preserved a rich legacy of music and narrative that would otherwise have vanished had the Stewart Family not maintained it through generations of oral transmission. Belle and Alec Stewart, together with their daughters Sheila and Cathie, became the first family members whose performances were captured; they committed extensive portions of their repertoire to tape during prolonged sessions held at the School of Scottish Studies Sound Archive. The songs and tales originated with Belle's father, Donald "Dan" MacGregor, who relayed them to his sons; after his passing, the brothers passed the material on to Belle. The family kept recording collaboratively until 1968, the year they issued their last studio album, The Travelling Stewarts. Although Alec succumbed to leukemia in 1981 and Cathie withdrew from performing, Belle sustained the tradition until her own death in 1997, after which Sheila continued it alone. Late folksinger and radio host Ewan MacColl brought the Stewarts to English listeners by featuring them in a radio ballad; he and his wife and musical collaborator Peggy Seeger subsequently authored the family biography 'Til Doomsday in the Afternoon, issued by Manchester University Press.
Albums
