Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Diddles Roughie's Rant (A Pipe Tune) - Diddled in the canntairach style by Lizzie Higgins (Elizabeth Ann Youlden, 1929-1993) of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Daughter of settled Travellers, the famous Scottish traditional singer Jeannie Robertson and Donald "Donty" Higgins, an accomplished piper. Filmed and recorded by David Kotyk as part of the John D. Niles folklore research team for the "Scottish Voices" project in the sitting room of Lizzie's home in Aberdeen in August 1986.
00:00:00 Tells the Story
00:04:06 Meaning of the Name Roughie's Rant
00:06:54 Roughie's Rant (Diddles)
00:09:21 Ends
The original movie can be watched here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/ATUPI53FY24R3M8B
I used my knowledge on video editing to share the films on Youtube in the highest possible quality, I used manual video upscaling (no AI was used!) for this, to further document variants of traditional ballads and songs which has been my hobby for many years. I claim no ownership of the video, all the rights belong with the University of Wisconsin which houses the John D. Niles Collection.
Note by Kevin W.:
I was delighted to discover these videos of Scotland's great tradition bearers in the John D. Niles Collection. The often poorly treated Scottish Travellers honor the memories of their ancestors through songs, music and storytelling. They are proud of their culture and kept old traditions alive for hundreds of years. Many of our most gifted traditional singers and storytellers are Travellers.
Scottish Travellers are an indigenous ethnic minority in Scotland who live or traditionally lived a nomadic lifestyle and for centuries were unfairly shunned by the settled population. For that reason the singing culture of the Travelling people had not been well documented before the 20th century when non-Travellers with an interest in folklore visited and befriended Travellers and started recording their songs, music and stories.
Lizzie's slow style of singing which she based on her father's and her uncle Isaac "Seely" Higgins' bagpipe playing is beautiful and highly demanding with lots of ornamentation. Interestingly Lizzie used the pipe style decorations for her father's songs but sang closer to her mother's style for Jeannie's songs.
For more information on Lizzie Higgins the booklet notes to "In Memory of Lizzie Higgins 1929-1993" (2006) Musical Traditions MTCD337-8 are essential reading (and the album is well worth getting): mustrad.org.uk/articles/higgins.htm
Lizzie explains that "Roughie" is a Traveller cant word meaning the devil. Canntairach is an ancient method of teaching, learning and memorising pipe tunes. The teacher sings or hums the tune to the pupil, sometimes using specific syllables which signify the sounds to be produced by the bagpipe.
Diddles Roughie's Rant (A Pipe Tune) - Diddled in the canntairach style by Lizzie Higgins (Elizabeth Ann Youlden, 1929-1993) of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Daughter of settled Travellers, the famous Scottish traditional singer Jeannie Robertson and Donald "Donty" Higgins, an accomplished piper. Filmed and recorded by David Kotyk as part of the John D. Niles folklore research team for the "Scottish Voices" project in the sitting room of Lizzie's home in Aberdeen in August 1986.
00:00:00 Tells the Story
00:04:06 Meaning of the Name Roughie's Rant
00:06:54 Roughie's Rant (Diddles)
00:09:21 Ends
The original movie can be watched here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/ATUPI53FY24R3M8B
I used my knowledge on video editing to share the films on Youtube in the highest possible quality, I used manual video upscaling (no AI was used!) for this, to further document variants of traditional ballads and songs which has been my hobby for many years. I claim no ownership of the video, all the rights belong with the University of Wisconsin which houses the John D. Niles Collection.
Note by Kevin W.:
I was delighted to discover these videos of Scotland's great tradition bearers in the John D. Niles Collection. The often poorly treated Scottish Travellers honor the memories of their ancestors through songs, music and storytelling. They are proud of their culture and kept old traditions alive for hundreds of years. Many of our most gifted traditional singers and storytellers are Travellers.
Scottish Travellers are an indigenous ethnic minority in Scotland who live or traditionally lived a nomadic lifestyle and for centuries were unfairly shunned by the settled population. For that reason the singing culture of the Travelling people had not been well documented before the 20th century when non-Travellers with an interest in folklore visited and befriended Travellers and started recording their songs, music and stories.
Lizzie's slow style of singing which she based on her father's and her uncle Isaac "Seely" Higgins' bagpipe playing is beautiful and highly demanding with lots of ornamentation. Interestingly Lizzie used the pipe style decorations for her father's songs but sang closer to her mother's style for Jeannie's songs.
For more information on Lizzie Higgins the booklet notes to "In Memory of Lizzie Higgins 1929-1993" (2006) Musical Traditions MTCD337-8 are essential reading (and the album is well worth getting): mustrad.org.uk/articles/higgins.htm
Lizzie explains that "Roughie" is a Traveller cant word meaning the devil. Canntairach is an ancient method of teaching, learning and memorising pipe tunes. The teacher sings or hums the tune to the pupil, sometimes using specific syllables which signify the sounds to be produced by the bagpipe.
