I’m chuffed to be able to post about a project I’ve been working on for the past few months with Ewan McVicar (Writer, folklorist, songmaker and publisher) and some of my favourite North East singers – Natalie Chalrmers, Scott Gardiner, Christine Kydd and Tripple.

Ewan got in contact last year to ask if I’d be interested in listening to and re-telling some of Lucy Stewart’s stories which were recorded by American Ken Goldstein during his visit to the North East of Scotland in 1959/1960. I quickly learned that Lucy’s stories were just the tip of the iceberg. Not only did Lucy turn out to be a source of ballads in addition to the stories, but Goldstein interviewed many fowk during his stay and recorded songs, ballads, stories, rhymes, snippets of folklore and old wives tales.

Many of these recordings were shared at the time with the School of Scottish Studies. (Ken had introductions to many of his subjects through Hamish Henderson.) These recordings are available by searching “Ken Goldstein” on the Kist O Riches web page – https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/ . However many recordings were stashed away at the Ole Miss – the University of Mississippi in the USA – unavailable except to interested visitors. That all changed when Ewan spoke to Ole Miss archivist Greg Johnson and with Greg’s help support, Ewan has worked to identify and share song titles, information about singers and storytellers, and their communities.

Part of the project involved creating, collecting and sharing New For Auld songs and stories – Natalie Chalmers got to work contacting local singers and musicians who recorded some of the ballads and tunes Goldstein collected. Click here for Natalie’s recordings of songs taught to her by Elizabeth Stewart – along with a couple of Elizabeth’s recordings – https://goldsteinandscotland.com/elizabeth-stewart

You can hear my retellings of some of Lucy Stewart’s tales here – https://faefishietaeaikey.com/tales-fae-lucy-and-pauline

To share Goldstein’s collections with the world, Ewan has created two new web pages
https://goldsteinandscotland.com/ – which tells of Goldstein’s visit and the treasures he recorded, and
https://faefishietaeaikey.com/ – which focuses on recordings from the area around Mintlaw – Aikey Fair, Fetterangus (Fishie) and in particular the Stewarts of Fetterangus.

On the 3rd of May I’ll be sharing some of Lucy’s stories along with the others involved in the project –

Ewan says
“On the 3rd May 2025, there will be an informal celebration of the Fae Fishie Tae Aikey project in the Aden Museum theatre, Mintlaw, from 1.30pm onwards.
Christine Kydd, Natalie Chalmers, Pauline Cordiner, Scott Gardiner have all promised to come. Hoping Andy Shanks will make it. Tripple send their apologies. Or come earlier and look into the museum.

All folkies welcome. First forty get home-made shortbread. If you represent a folk club or festival ask for the pack of booklet copies as a fundraiser. The Fishie project is funded by TRACS.