Florence MacBride

4 tracks from Scotland’s first professional concert, broadcasting and recording female fiddler.

These recordings were made in Edinburgh around 1978 by New Jersey fiddler Richard Klein who is now living in New Zealand. They feature Richard and Tony playing together and some fine solo guitar, including an early folk version of the recently composed bagpipe tune Farewell to Nigg by Duncan Johnstone.

Tony Cuffe

A distinguished concert violinist from Galashiels, Scottish Borders. One of the first woman in Scotland to make commercial recordings of Scottish traditional fiddle music.

Dorothy Alwynne

Making sense of a recording of the fiddling poet made by Alan Lomax in Edinburgh in 1951, with a perspective from his friend Seamus Heaney.

Norman MacCaig

A fiddler active in the first half of the twentieth century. A regular broadcaster on BBC and in theatrical productions. Listen here to his 1959 playing in the Theatre Workshop performance of Brendan Behan’s The Hostage:

George Harvey-Webb

We have now added another two restored tracks by pioneering clarsach player/singer Héloïse Russell-Fergusson, Eriskay Lullaby and Dunvegan Bridal Procession, from the private collection of Hélène Witcher.

Héloïse Russell-Fergusson

To coincide with @edinharpfest the Virtual Edinburgh International Harp Festival 2020 we have added four recordings of pioneer professional harper and singer Héloïse Russell-Fergusson recorded in Edinburgh in 1933 for release on the Beltona label. These have been restored by Stuart Eydmann from original records held in private collections.

Héloïse Russell-Fergusson

Ms Russell-Fergusson had a role in establishing the Clarsach Society in the early 1930s and the tracks are among the oldest recordings of the small harp in Scotland. They were preceded only by those by Patuffa Kennedy-Fraser from 1929, which can also be heard on rareTunes.

We will be adding further archival tracks by Héloïse and more harp-related material in due course so register to follow rareTunes if you wish to receive notice of this and other additions.

Might this be the oldest surviving non-commercial recording of Scottish fiddle music. Explored here: https://raretunes.org/professor-maclellan-of-berkeley/