Tam Reid

about

Tam Reid was the Aberdeenshire folk singer whose contribution to the traditional culture of north-east Scotland earned praise from academics and musicians alike. He gained the crown of Bothy Ballad King 30 years ago when Methlick farmer and broadcaster Charlie Allan and musician Marc Ellington, of Towie Barclay castle, staged a contest for the title. The event attracted two dozen competitors and an audience of 10,000 at the Turriff venue. Reid was outright winner. Tam's stage entrance would be a deliberate hirple, with a trademark cheery wave at the end, farmer's bonnet in hand. Yet, behind the brosie-faced folk-singing fairmer lay the reality of someone outstanding at his craft. He worked closely with Aberdeen University's Elphinstone Institute, and was due to travel to Washington this summer to sing at a festival organised by the Smithsonian Institute. His Aberdeenshire farm at Cullerlie was the setting for an annual traditional singing festival. Organised in partnership with the Elphinstone Institute, it brought leading folk singers from throughout the UK and abroad. He sang or competed at many venues and helped to revive Ellon's Bothy Ballad Contest after a gap of 60 years. He would have been a leading contender at the forthcoming Macallan Bothy Ballad Championships. He was ever associated with songs such as Princie and Jean and The Muckle Gawkit Gype. Princie and Jean he picked up from the columns of the long-dead Aberdeenshire weekly People's Journal, and even tracked d

top songs

albums

similar artists