Welcome to the North East Ballad School
Supported by the Doric Board
Doric
The North East o Scotland is hame tae een o the fordersome traditions o Ballad Singing in the U.K. Ballads or “Muckle Sangs” are braw tales sung as sangs. They were haunnit doon fae ginneration tae ginneration, an singer tae singer ower hunners o years, in thir ain land and in thir ain vyce.
Since the middle o the 19th Cintury fowk hiv workit here i the North East, finin local singers fa kent the sangs, notatin, recordin and publishin thim in collections sic as the, “English and Scottish Popular Ballads” bi Francis James Child, “The Ballad and the Folk”, “A Scottish Ballad Book” bi David Buchan, “The Greg-Duncan Folk Song Collection” an “The James Madison Carpenter Collection”. This wye the sangs his bin preservit, fyles wi musical notation an fyles wi soond recordins, fir fowk thit’s interestit in the reets o thir ain traditions.
The North East Ballad Skweel wis founnit tae share this tradition, far sangs are gien fae singer tae singer, heid tae heid, vyce tae vyce an hairt tae hairt.
This skweel is a langtime dream o Janice Clark, a weel respectit traditional singer fae Aiberdeen, fa wints tae kennle a love o’ ballads in spleet-new singers an tae support them tae lairn an tak the sangs oot bonnie in thir ain wird, tae bring the tradition o singing back tae life.
English
The North East of Scotland is home to one of the richest traditions of Ballad Singing in the U.K. Ballads or “Muckle Sangs” are big, dramatic stories sung as songs. These were passed from generation to generation and singer to singer for hundreds of years, in their local communities and in their native language and style.
Since middle of the 19th Century researchers have worked here in the North East, finding local singers who knew the songs, notating, recording and publishing them in collections like, “The English and Scottish Popular Ballads” by Francis James Child, “The Ballad and the Folk” and “A Scottish Ballad Book” by David Buchan, “The Grieg-Duncan Folk Song Collection” and “The James Madison Carpenter Collection”. This has meant that the songs have been preserved, sometimes with musical notation and sometimes with sound recordings, for folk that are interested in the roots of their local traditions.
The North East Ballad School has been set up to share this tradition where songs are passed from singer to singer, head to head, voice to voice and heart to heart.
The school is a lifelong dream of Janice Clark, a well respected traditional singer from Aberdeen who aims to inspire a love of ballads in a new singers and to support them to learn and perform the songs in their own authentic, creative voice bringing the tradition of singing back to life in the communities where it originated.