Music and dancing in the Pentland Hills before the First Wor...
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1969.188.A9
Original Tape ID
Summary
Music and dancing in the Pentland Hills before the First World War.
Andrew Gibson taught himself to play the fiddle about the age of twenty. He would play at barn dances from 8.00 p.m. till 4.00 a.m., perhaps with a melodeon player giving him breaks. He quotes: "A dance in the barn's worth ten in the hall, / Wi the lads that was reared among heather." He would get home, change his clothes, have a bite of breakfast and be away to the hill before daylight. Mr Gibson used to play the fiddle for Highland dancers, at Beltane, at the Peebles cattle show. These were girls at the tippy [stylish] age of 12-14.
Andrew taught himself to play melodeon at six years old. He was given an old box by a ploughman, and his mother repaired it with bits of kid glove. Singing and playing at night by the fireside was their entertainment.
Item Notes
'The Lads that were Reared among Heather' is a traditional song.
Item Subject/Person
Gibson, Andrew
Item Location
County - Peeblesshire
Village/Place - Pentland Hills
Language
Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good