Jeannie Robertson
Subtitle: emergent singer, transformative voice
By: James Porter, Herschel Gower.
Contributors: Gower, Herschel.
Edition: 1st ed.
Series: Publications of the American Folklore Society. New series; Publications of the American Folklore Society.
Publisher: University of Tennessee Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Knoxville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 357
Subjects: Robertson, Jeannie, 1908-1975.; Folk singers -- Scotland -- Biography.
Description: Combining biography, folklore, oral history, and ethnomusicology, this book explores the life and repertoire of the Scottish traditional singer Jeannie Robertson (1908-1975) - an artist whom Alan Lomax hailed as "a monumental figure in twentieth-century folksong.".

Utilizing numerous quotations from Robertson's own oral accounts of her life, James Porter and Herschel Gower trace her career as a member of the marginal nomadic group in Northeast Scotland known as "travellers," whose origin is obscure. They explain the importance of traditional song in Robertson's family and community and include eighty of her songs, complete with musical notation.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 327-348) and index.
Discography: p. 349-351.
Table of contents: title: "The bonnie bunch o' roses" : traveller kith and kin; title: "The lady o' the lake" : childhood and courtship; title: "A gift o' some kind" : Jeemsie, Lizzie, and second sight; title: "The flure o' ma family" : Jeemsie; title: "Intil the country" : renewal and discovery; title: "The pleasure of Scotland" : fame; title: "An' nivir sung better" : London and the MBE; title: "A fine air and a good story" : aesthetics; title: "Farewell to my Jean" : a singer's legacy; title: Songs in part II; title: About the songs; title: Songs of childhood, 1-12; title: Songs of freedom, 13-22; title: Songs of social conflict, 23-32; title: Songs of love affirmed, 33-45; title: The humors of love, 46-55; title: Songs of love's ironies, 56-65; title: Songs of love denied, 66-74; title: Songs of fraught relationships, 75-80.