Dr Karen McAulay explores the history of Scottish music collecting, publishing and national identity from the 18th to 20th centuries. Research Fellow at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, author of two Routledge monographs.
Once used in an Edinburgh school, a wee Scots song book (pupil’s edition) found its way to a shop on the Isle of Arran, then back to the mainland to me in Glasgow.
If you ever find any of these in the back of a school cupboard, or bookshop, or car boot sale, or Granny’s attic …
… please do let me know! I’m trying to get complete set! There were four books for the kids, and four for teachers.
As regular readers will know, my IASH Fellowship concerns the history of the Nelson’s Scots Song Books.
I’ve seen all four of the teacher’s books in libraries; and possess one teacher’s edition of my own, plus one pupil’s edition – not the same volume number. And I’m going to some lengths to track down the other three of each edition. I want to be able to show them when I talk about them, so I simply must keep looking.
Today, I headed to town, feeling as though I ought to be riding a pony and tootling a hunter’s horn, to the sound of La Chasse or the William Tell Overture. (The heavens opened between subway and second-hand bookshop, somewhat spoiling my fantasy. Urghh!)
But hunting with a pack of hounds would have been no good at all, for you have to creep up on these rare beasts very, very softly. Pretend to be looking at something else, as you slowly extend your arm towards the shelf. And then, whilst it’s relaxed with its defences down, grasp it quickly and hold on tight.
I examined it disbelievingly. Yes! I now have the teacher’s edition to go with my pupil’s edition of Vol.2. (Actually, I also found some other useful material that wasn’t published by Thomas Nelson.)
And then I turned round. On a table, if you please, there sat another Nelson music book that I’ve been reading about. Not a song book, but interesting just because it was published around the same time, by the same Nelson editors. It was as though it was waiting for me to find it.
Did I celebrate with a coffee? Now, what do you think!
A few weeks ago, I led a community ‘Scottish song’ event. I found myself singing a solo – well, to say ‘found myself ‘ is inaccurate, because I HAD planned and rehearsed it with a pianist.
But it seemed to go down well enough, so, emboldened by this, I sang a couple of examples from Nelson’s Scots Song Book at my Work in Progress talk on Wednesday. This time, I prerecorded my accompaniment myself. (Three cheers for the decent mic I had purchased during lockdown!)
I reminded myself that my esteemed audience were a mixture of musicians and non-musicians, and I was there as a researcher rather than a star turn, so hopefully they’d listen kindly rather than critically!
And it was fine. I suppose the more often you do something, the easier it gets. I have played in public, conducted in public, and sung in a choir numerous times, but singing solo? That’s something new.
I have another talk coming up in a few weeks. Of the two songs I sang this week, I much preferred one to the other – the range was more comfortable. So I looked through NSSB4 again last night, and hit upon a favourite – ‘I’ll aye ca’ in by yon toun.’ I took it to the piano for a first play through. Yes, I like Easson’s setting. It’s reasonably modern, and playable.
At this point – just as I’d finished the chorus – I was obliged to stop.
‘But, I was …’
You’d be alarmed at how routine governs my activities. No point causing upset by continuing to play, so the song will wait for another time. Supper couldn’t wait!
However, I thought I’d look for a YouTube rendition, to accompany my breakfast this morning, and what did I find, but a Topic recording of Jean Redpath performing it in the American Serge Hovey’s setting. I never heard Jean sing live, but she got an honorary DMus from the University of Glasgow (my Alma Mater), and her enthusiasm for Scottish song was influenced by her time at the University of Edinburgh – as I sit with a cuppa in the Library cafe, I’m literally looking out at the School of Scottish Studies building where she’d have talked with Hamish Henderson.
Having heard Redpath’s beautiful singing, I am less sure that my singing is a good idea, but there’s only one way I can share Easson’s setting, and that’s by playing it. Which, without a singer, wouldn’t work at all. I’d better get practising!
As I’ve mentioned, I’m currently Heritage Collections Research Fellow at IASH, the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, at the University of Edinburgh. All guest fellows are invited to give a work-in-progress seminar, and it’s my turn on Wednesday 26 March at 1 pm. You can attend in person, or online – more details on the link below. The abstract tells you what my talk is about.
I’ll explain what I’m looking for, and introduce you to some of the individuals I’ve been finding out about. The one thing I can’t predict, is whether I shall by then have found the answer to my prime question!
Karen McAulay, Musicologist 