Alec Sim’s Scottish Septet
Alec Sim has lived in his native Aberdeen for the greater part of his life and has been playing the violin for as long as he can remember. He disagrees with advocates of the bagpipe, claiming that the fiddle is the true national instrument of Scotland. He has played his own violin before the King and Queen at Balmoral, has appeared at Queen’s Hall, London, was violinist in Lena Ashwell’s first Scottish Firing-Line Concert Party which toured the North of France for two months during the Great War, was for several years leader of the now defunct Aberdeen University Orchestra, and is now conductor of the Aberdeen Strathspey and Reel Society. His Septet is a permanent combination consisting entirely of strings. Sim is critical of the older generation of Scottish fiddlers. “You know how the old fiddler sawed up and murdered our music”, he says. “We are trying to get away from this and to play it with the same care that one would play Bach or Beethoven.”
Scottish Dance Music BBC Radio Times for 7 August 1939.

Pipe-Major WILLIAM Ross and HEAN FINDLAY (violin)
Our listeners will now be aware that every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday they may listen to Scottish dance music. The increase of Scottish dance music in our programmes will not be at the expense of lovers of jazz ; the latter will find something very much to their taste in the National Programme. Pipe-Major Ross is instructor in the school of Army pipers in Edinburgh Castle, and for four successive years held the title of champion piper of Scotland.
Piping and Fiddling BBC Radio Times for 15 October 1934

Fiddle master Alastair Hardie makes a point on the music of Niel Gow to presenter Ronnie Gibson at the 2014 Scots Fiddle Festival.

Fiddler James Scott Skinner would certainly have had a pretty poor view of contemporary developments in traditional music whereby elements of Scottish folk and modern jazz are brought together in ‘fusion’. Indeed, one of his artistic aims was to kill jazz through fiddle music:

 New York Times 14 March 1926

Unfortunately/fortunately (please delete according to your own taste) he did not live long enough to complete his task:

 New York Times 18 March 1927

Back in the early 1980s I was asked to write the preface for a facsimile reprint of The Beauties of Niel Gow published by Celtic Music. I found my old copy the other day and reproduce my text here. Curiously, with my reference to the revival, this is now, in itself, a historic document.

I came across this battered violin tutor in a second-hand bookshop in London. It appears to have been used, if not owned, by a soldier, Harry S. Smith of the Scots Guards. As it is marked ‘Ward 20’ I wonder if he was a war casualty who passed some of his time in convalescence learning to play the fiddle. A Google search tells me that the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion was formed at Chelsea Barracks in August 1914, though would not see service abroad, would remain in the UK for the duration of the war, and was disbanded in 1919. Perhaps a military historian might wish to follow this up.

The concept of pibroch played on the fiddle (or of a distinct genre of pibroch-style fiddle music) as discussed in detail by the late David Johnson is slowly gaining attention and it is always great to encounter players exploring the possibilities of this field. Simon Chadwick, better known for his work in the revival of the wire-strung clarsach, has posted this video of his work in this regard.

I will be posting on another musician’s fiddle pibroch playing soon.

Two images from the recent referendum campaign in the week before the vote. One from the BBC, the second taken on Edinburgh’s High Street where a fiddler walked the tightrope. Both offered without comment or caption.

Great news! I have been informed that a private family recording of Mary Brooksbank, probably from the early 1950s, has recently come to light. I look forward to hearing it in due course. There is information on Mary here and here.

Photographs (of the fiddlers only) from an excellent concert held in memory of the fiddler Ian Hardie. A full report of the concert will be posted in due course.

  Duncan Chisholm  Duncan Chisholm  Macgillivray Fiddlers  Mike Vass  Mairi Campbell Mairi Campbell