Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Renowned storyteller, ballad singer and piper Stanley Robertson (1940-2009) of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland visits his family's camping grounds at the Old Road of Lumphanan. Stanley was born into a Traveller family in Aberdeen and he was the nephew of famous Scottish traditional singer Jeannie Robertson. It became illegal to camp on the Auld Road o' Lumphanan in 1954, and Stanley's family ceased travelling that year, but he fondly remembered his childhood joy at leaving the city of Aberdeen each summer for one of his family's traditional camping sites. Filmed and recorded by David Kotyk as part of the John D. Niles folklore research team for the "Scottish Voices" project in August 1986.
The original movie can be watched here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AP2SXRJLSEK2VB8C
And here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A6INRW6JUCJX3E9C
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.
Stanley Robertson on his childhood:
"I hated living in the city of Aberdeen. There was a terrible prejudice, and the schools were just awful. You couldn't believe how awful it was to be at school as a Travelling child. But when I saw ma father getting his horse and cart ready, all gaily painted up, always like a showpiece, we knew it wis time to go! I can taste every season. I just know instinctively, the time that you should be going away".
Renowned storyteller, ballad singer and piper Stanley Robertson (1940-2009) of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland visits his family's camping grounds at the Old Road of Lumphanan. Stanley was born into a Traveller family in Aberdeen and he was the nephew of famous Scottish traditional singer Jeannie Robertson. It became illegal to camp on the Auld Road o' Lumphanan in 1954, and Stanley's family ceased travelling that year, but he fondly remembered his childhood joy at leaving the city of Aberdeen each summer for one of his family's traditional camping sites. Filmed and recorded by David Kotyk as part of the John D. Niles folklore research team for the "Scottish Voices" project in August 1986.
The original movie can be watched here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AP2SXRJLSEK2VB8C
And here:
https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A6INRW6JUCJX3E9C
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.
Stanley Robertson on his childhood:
"I hated living in the city of Aberdeen. There was a terrible prejudice, and the schools were just awful. You couldn't believe how awful it was to be at school as a Travelling child. But when I saw ma father getting his horse and cart ready, all gaily painted up, always like a showpiece, we knew it wis time to go! I can taste every season. I just know instinctively, the time that you should be going away".
