A pair of rare tracks we recorded from a young Fraser Fifield twenty years ago. Fraser has recently been appointed Traditional Artist in Residence at the University of Edinburgh.

https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/fraser-fifield

Fraser Fifield

Three tracks from the master Irish fiddler at the Scots Fiddle Festival, Edinburgh, November 2005.

Tommy Peoples

Start the new year with some historic tracks from the archives of this long-standing Scottish fiddle orchestra.

Aberdeen Strathspey and Reel Society

2022 saw rareTunes draw 17,500 views and 8,000 visitors to the rareTunes site. These figures are slightly lower than in 2021 but satisfactory given that the site received little attention from the curator over the period due to illness.

The most popular pages by number of visitor are listed below:

Sarah Hoy and Fin Moore 292
Tony Cuffe 279
Alf Edwards 259
The Whistlebinkies 237
James Scott Skinner 230
Jean Redpath 206
Simon Bradley Trio 205
Newhaven Fisher Lasses 205
Jock Tamson’s Bairns 185
Molendinar 167
Davy Hutchison 165
Paul Robeson 159
Gizzenbriggs 156
Yehudi Menuhin 146
Jessie Niven MacLachlan 145
Roddy MacMillan 145
Dena Graham 139
The Easy Club 134

..to Eileen Goodall for correcting the birth year we have given for the great William Mackenzie Murdoch. Eileen has recently transcribed the violin nist’s gravestone at Sighthill Cemetery, Glasgow.

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Will Ye No Come Back Again – Recorded at the 1954 Edinburgh International Festival.

Listen here to four fine tracks from yet another obscure Scottish fiddler.

Early recordings by a great Scottish violinist – and the father of another famous David McCallum.

Some great new tracks, images and information now online here.

Willie Kemp sings the classic cornkister in this recording from 1929.

KIndly donated by the Colin Bathe Collection.