Willie Beattie

Willie Beattie: lives in a house which stands on the side of the B6357, which runs through Liddesdale and is only two fields away from Cumbria.  It turned out that Willie had previously been recorded by Hamish Henderson and others on behalf of the School of Scottish Studies in Edinburgh.  On one occasion he had been invited to the School to sing his unique version of Johnnie Armstrong during a ballad conference.

These old Border ballads certainly hold deep meanings for Willie.  He had, for example, worked all his life as a forester on the Buccleuch Estates, which are owned by the same family who organised the rescue of Kinmont Willie from Carlisle Castle; while Gilnockie Tower, one-time home of Johnnie Armstrong, lies less than four miles away.

Part of the booklet notes, written by Mike Yates, to the Musical Traditions Records CDs Up in the North and Down in the South (MTCD311-2)