Image: cover, Jock Duncan: The Man and his Songs, compiled and edited by Peter Shepheard (Perth: Rymer Books, 2024)
Jock Duncan (1925-2021) was a legendary ballad singer born into the farming community of New Deer and then Fyvie, Aberdeenshire – in the heartland of the north eastern bothy ballad tradition. This collection has been put together by Peter Shepheard, himself a singer, a founder of the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland (TMSA), creator of independent traditional music label Springthyme Records, and well known as both performer and organiser of singing workshops and festivals round Fife, Tayside and further afield. Back in 1996, Shepheard recorded an album (Ye Shine whar ye stan!) of Jock Duncan singing, with Brian McNeill on fiddle (and other stringed instruments), Shepheard himself on melodeon, Gordon Duncan on Pipes, and others on additional vocals (see Further Listening and Reading). This book is something of a late-coming companion to the album, and while the Springthyme website has some great track notes for the album, the book now brings a material solidity to this important tradition bearer and his repertoire.
Bothy ballads (or cornkisters) were songs created by agricultural workers in their after-hours spent in the labourer’s bothies (or chaumers, basic living chambers) of the Scottish north-east, largely intended for unaccompanied singing, and reflecting their experiences of life in the “ferm toun” communities. Topics include good and bad farmers, horses, love, and – famously – nicky tams, trousers with twine tied just below the knees, to keep the ends of your breaks out of the mud.
Because these songs were largely unaccompanied, the power of the singer was and is to use the human voice to communicate pathos, affection, energy, humour … whatever emotion the song required. A good performer is a storyteller capable of connecting with and moving an audience. Jock Duncan was such a performer: the editor’s forward testifies to his winning many competitions (notably the Champion of Champions in Elgin in 1994). His repertoire of songs was particularly rich in the bothy ballads of Aberdeenshire, but also included many other ‘muckle sangs’ of older Scottish provenance.
The collection in the book includes not only the Springthyme tracks but also transcriptions of recordings made at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival at Auchtermuchty, and for Scottish radio broadcasts.
Introductory material includes a note from Shepheard about the unique musical traditions of Aberdeenshire, discussing how awareness of these songs beyond their original community thanks to early collectors (Child, Greig and Duncan, Ord) and recordings (particularly Beltona). Jock clearly was a singer who learned his craft orally as well as from printed sources; a careful researcher and curator of the songs he loved. A handy map shows sites mentioned in the songs, and a glossary of Scots and Doric assists those who might need this aid.
The rich biographical section (pp.7-48) (with photographs following) draws upon Jock Duncan’s own interviews and extensive writings on his life and times, deftly editing shorter fragments into a narrative that shows how songs emerge from lived experience. Jock’s mother (p.7) was also musical – a pianist and hostess to many house ceilidhs where social singing could be heard. An older sister also sang, and a brother was a decent fiddler, while Jock also learned the pipes. This contains many anecdotes about the places and many, many named people from whom Duncan first learned classic songs such as “Rhynie”. Read this, and you get a keen sense of what life was like for a farming family in the earlier decades of the 20th century, dogs, ducks, horses, mills, and all.
Episodes break down the different tasks in a farming year, from ploughing (with horses then tractors) to haymaking. If you want to know how to make sowens (oat husk porridge) see pp.14-15. This section provides a really useful background to the culture out of which many of these songs emerged, including (p.22-3) a description of the ‘chammer’ at the ferm toun Netherton of Millbrex. Memories of singers note that each brought something unique to their songs, which could be noted and absorbed into practice by an attentive listener.
Threaded in between stories of farm life are others about the local places associated with songs, such as Gight Castle on the Ythan river, home to legendary curse placed by Thomas the Rhymer (p.35-6). A traditional singer needs to know not just the songs but also the stories behind the songs, and Duncan was clearly deeply knowledgeable about all these, from particular farms to the battle of Harlaw fought just outside of Inverurie in 1411.
Times were, however, changing: while Duncan started life working in farms, he also did war service, and in the 1960s worked with the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, before finally moving to Pitlochry. His entry into more public performance seemed to be in the 1970s and 80s, when he emerged as a formidable competitor in bothy ballad singing competitions. His first album (Ye Shine Whar Ye Stan!) was released at the ripe age of 71. While the folk revival may have created new audiences for these songs, clearly for this singer the songs were part of the fabric of his life.
Following the biography, the editor has included a section on ‘The Music of the Songs’ which is a listening guide to various issues of style gleaned from careful listening to Duncan’s recordings, and also a guide to his editorial decisions. While this book – very usefully – provides music as well as lyrics, we are reminded that a good singer will typically (p.49) vary from verse to verse to suit the evolution of the words; that tempo is unlikely to be strict (p.50), instead representing a kind of musical story telling; that the pentatonic scale of 5 notes sits within other modes as a basic “structural skeleton” (p.51); that grace notes are normal, and more.
The rest of the book comprises 60 songs, with music, texts, further notes on vocabulary, and a generous end-note section with a gloss on each and every song, including standard reference information for other traditional song indexes, the back-story and context, a note on any recordings, and some musical notes particularly on the modes used, which clearly Shepheard has thought deeply about. Where he can, the editor also includes a short quote or anecdote from Duncan’s writings.
And there is a good bibliography, and indexes of first lines and titles.
This is a great book, rich in detail, and a must-have on the shelves of anyone who wants to learn more about this repertoire and its singers. Well done to Rymour Books, and Shepheard, for pulling it all together.
Further Listening and Reading
- Springthyme Records – tracks by Jock Duncan and others
- Jock Duncan, ‘Ye Shine Whar Ye Stan!’, album (Fife: Springthyme Records, sprcd 1039, 1996), with track listing and order page – a very useful webpage which includes notes about the songs and interview material with Ducan and other musicians on the album
- Gavin Greig & James Duncan, Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collections, vols 1-8 (Aberdeen University Press, 1981-2002) (originally collected 1902-1920s, published as a selection in 1925, and in whole later) –
- John Ord, Bothy Songs and Ballads of Aberdeen Banff & Moray, Angus and the Mearns (1930) – a collection of lyrics only – more recently edited by Alexander Fenton (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1995)