Eachdraidh-beatha

Belle Stewart was one of the greatest tradition-bearers of Scots ballads and folktales and became known as 'Queen Amang the Heather' after one of the songs with which she was closely associated. She made a large number of recordings for the School of Scottish Studies Archives, over 200 of which are available on our website.

Belle Stewart (née McGregor) was born in a bow tent on the banks of the Tay at Caputh, near Blairgowrie, in 1906. She came from a family of Travelling people who had a rich oral tradition which they passed down through the generations. Her father, Dan McGregor, was a tinsmith and pearl-fisher and was reputed to be the best ballad singer among the Perthshire Travellers. Her mother Martha's maiden name was Stewart and she belonged to a Travelling family of pipers, singers and storytellers.

Growing up surrounded by stories and songs that had been passed down over the centuries, Bella learnt her first song 'The Twa Brothers' when she was six years old. Belle met her husband-to-be, Alex Stewart, when she was seventeen and they were married in 1925.

The couple had four of a family and eventually settled in Blairgowrie, but still travelled in the summer to do pearl-fishing and agricultural work. Alex also rented berry fields in the area and other Travellers from all over Scotland came to pick them. It was this annual gathering of Travelling people which inspired Belle to write the song 'The Berryfields o Blair' in 1947, one of her most famous compositions.

Hamish Henderson of the School of Scottish Studies first visited the Stewart family in 1954 to record Belle's father-in-law, Jock Stewart, who had been a national piping champion in his time. Hamish discovered that Belle had a wealth of ballads and songs and that she had also inherited an intensity of melody in her singing style, known as 'the coniach'. Hamish started to invite Belle, Alex, and two of their daughters, Cathie and Sheila, to perform at concerts and would also record them and other Travellers at berry-picking time.

Belle and her family became popular on the folk scene, where they were known as the 'Stewarts o Blair', and performed extensively in Europe and America. As word of Belle's amazing ability to recall songs spread, she was frequently visited by folksong collectors, musicians and musicologists. Hamish Henderson also recorded a large collection of songs by Belle, her husband and daughters Cathie and Sheila at the School of Scottish Studies studio. She received the British Empire Medal for services to traditional music in 1981.