Belle Stewart - If I Was a Blackbird (Roud 387) [traditional Scottish gypsy folk song]
This is a recording from 1955 of the Scottish singer Belle Stewart (1906-1997) singing a traditional folk song called “The Blackbird” (Roud 387), which was popular throughout the British Isles, particularly in traveller communities. Belle Stewart, a Scottish traveller, would probably have learnt the song in her youth from family members.
This version of the song inspired a popular recording made by the Scottish folk band Silly Wizard, which they learnt from Belle Stewart’s great nephew, Andy Stewart (1952-2015). • Silly Wizard- If I Were a Blackbird (A Sco...
This recording will be featured in a video on my main channel, the fourth part of my Phonograph to Folk Revival series: • Phonograph to Folk Revival [PART 1/6] – a ...
CORRECTION:
I wrote that Silly Wizard learnt the song from Belle Stewart's great-nephew Andy Stewart... It turns out Andy Stewart was in fact the frontman of Silly Wizard, so both versions are performed by members of the Stewart family.