Recorded 1951 by Alan Lomax, with assistance from the Macleans of Raasay, Hamish Henderson, William Montgomerie, and the cooperation of the British Broadcasting Corporation

Original notes by Alan Lomax

Newly edited and with an introduction by Hamish Henderson and Margaret Bennett. Gaelic texts and notes edited by Margaret Bennett and John MacInnes

This first recorded survey of Scottish folk song docuements moving renditions of ancient ballads, Gaelic work songs, children’s songs, dance and piping tunes, and contemporary folk songs performed by figures central to Scotland’s traditional musical heritage: Ewan MacColl, Hamish Henderson, Jimmy Shand, Flora MacNeil, and Jimmy MacBeath.

“With the passing of time, the Lomax recordings have become the more valuable to a culture that is now experiencing a revival; the recordings remain as a testimony to the new generation that the songs and music of their forebears grew out of a way of life that was rooted in the soil and weathered in the elements.” 

—Hamish Henderson and Margaret Bennett