Performing at Folk at the Salmon Bothy’s 16th Haal in Portsoy in June will double as an ancestral pilgrimage for A Wheen o’ Wimmin singer Elspeth Cowie, an inductee of the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.
Her fisherman great-grandfather George Cowie (to name ‘Dod’) left Buckie to marry an Eyemouth widow in 1889. His father James (born 1813) was a fisherman and a publican at a bar in County Road in Buckie, where his roots stretched back into the early 18th Century. George’s mother was Isabella Innes from Portgordon, a granddaughter of the village’s first harbour master and pilot.
“I’ll be searching out connected places and graves along the Banffshire coast while I’m in the area. I would love it if any other Cowie ‘Dod’ descendants still in the area could point me in the right directions,” said Elspeth.
“I’m very excited to be performing at a festival rated as one of the strongest torch bearers of our traditional music,” added the singer, a former National Organiser of the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland.
If you can help Elspeth, please contact her at elspeth@elspethcowie.com
A Wheen o’ Wimmin will perform in Portsoy on Sunday 7 June from 1pm – 3pm at the Portsoy Church Centre, located on Seafield Street in the town, as part of the Haal music festival which takes place from 5 – 7 June.
Tickets priced £15, can be bought in advance from Folk at the Salmon Bothy chairman, Bob Philips bobportsoy@gmail.com or 07968 872217, or paid at the door upon entry to the performance on the day.
