The Stewart Family

The musical and storytelling traditions of Scotland's Travellers, nomadic craftsmen whose descendants made weapons and ornamentation for the ancient clans of the Highlands, would have been lost forever without the efforts of the Stewart Family, who passed them down orally through several centuries. The first members of the family to be recorded were Belle and Alec Stewart and their daughters, Sheila and Cathie, who documented much of their repertoire during lengthy sessions at the studios of the School of Scottish Studies Sound Archive. The Stewarts' collection of songs and stories was passed down by Belle's father, Donald "Dan" MacGregor, through her brothers, who taught them to her after her father's death. The family continued recording together until 1968 when they released their final studio album, The Travelling Stewarts. Although Alec died of leukemia in 1981 and Cathie retired from music, the family tradition was carried on by Belle until her death in 1997, and by Sheila after that. The Stewart Family was introduced to audiences in England by late folksinger and radio host Ewan MacColl, who involved them in a radio ballad. He and his wife and musical collaborator, Peggy Seeger, later wrote a biography of the Stewart Family, 'Til Doomsday in the Afternoon, published by Manchester University Press.