Jeannie Robertson was a member of a Scots Tinker clan, a gypsy-like extended family of singers and musicians. After she was discovered in Aberdeen by the folklorist
Alan Lomax in the early '50s,
Robertson went on to make several albums of traditional Scots and English songs. This set, recorded with
Josh MacCrae on guitar in 1959, is typical in that it includes variants of several of the Child ballads as well as other familiar texts, all of them delivered in
Robertson's extremely distinctive voice. Blessed with one of the thickest Scots burrs ever captured on audiotape,
Robertson's voice is a rich, deep instrument far removed from the twee soprano most commonly associated with traditional folk music of Great Britain in some listeners' minds. The song selection ranges from the murder ballad "The Butcher Boy," given a chillingly deadpan reading, to the lighthearted wit of "The Bonnie Wee Lassie Who Never Said No," a saucy tale of said lassie pulling one over on the lad who thinks he's taking advantage of her. Though lesser known than
Robertson's original
Lomax tapes, this album is every bit their equal. ~ Stewart Mason