Information about local musicians and kenspeckle characters....
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1952.12.A2
Original Tape ID
Summary
Information about local musicians and kenspeckle characters.
Lordie [Hay] is still alive [1952], but Francie Markiss is dead. He was a great man who once raced a train, and he was a glutton, eating a bucket of tatties for his dinner. He was a fiddler, and travelled with a singer known as the 'Wonderful Boy'. Francie sang at Turra [Turriff] Market but when he saw the police he stopped. They had 'rough' songs that could not be sung on the streets. MacBeath is still singing and making a living at Keith. Hamish Henderson asks if Francie was a piper, as Dr Hunter had mentioned this, but Willie Mathieson never heard him play the pipes. Once when Francie was left to look after the family dinner he kept tasting the turkey to see if it was ready and ate it all. A good feed did not stop him running a race; he won races at Banchory or Braemar and at Edinburgh.
Item Subject/Person
Markiss, Francie; Hay, 'Lordie'; Sim, Joseph [the Wonderful Boy]
Recording Location
County - Aberdeenshire
Parish - Ellon
Village/Place - Ellon
Language
Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good