No one else has mentioned it so far, so I thought I'd better! Mairi Campbell and I made a song a few years back called 'The Piper and the Maker' (music by Mairi, words by me) which seems to go down well whenever we perform it. We recorded it on our album 'Colours of Lichen' under our nom de stage of The Cast (Culburnie CUL109). There are one or two lines in the recorded version that have been improved, and I could pass these on to you, Ellen, if you want to take it any further.
You might want to check out a recent album by Ashley Hutchings on Topic Records where he has attempted to re-present ballad story-lines in modern contexts. (Guest performers include Dick Gaughan) Opinions vary on the success of this, but I think it's an interesting road to explore. Otherwise I'd certainly second the suggestions made so far: other stuff worth looking out for is some of the work of John Tams, Pete Morton, Stan Rogers and Davy Steele (esp. the latter's The Ballad of Jimmy Steele, and the Heroes of St Valery). Best wishes David Francis [EMAIL PROTECTED] Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
