Dave Arthur has been working, on and off, on a biography of Lloyd for quite a time. Whether he'll ever finish it we don't know, but some material from it appears in the insert for the cd Classic A L Lloyd: Traditional Songs (Fellside FECD98, 1994; still available) and in Ian Russell (ed), Singer, Song and Scholar; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1986. Out of print but well worth tracking down. It also includes contributions relating to Lloyd from Vic Gammon, Roy Palmer and Leslie Shepard.

See also David E Gregory's two papers from Canadian Journal for Traditional Music / Revue de musique folklorique canadienne. Both are available online.

A. L. Lloyd and the English Folk Song Revival, 1934-44
Starting Over: A. L. Lloyd and the Search for a New Folk Music, 1945-49

Some biographies and autobiographies that come to mind:

Ewan MacColl, Journeyman. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1990. ISBN 0283060360

Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger, Till Doomsday in the Afternoon: The Folklore of a Family of Scots Travellers, the Stewarts of Blairgowrie. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1986. ISBN 0719018471 (note: the Stewarts were unhappy about certain aspects of this book).

James Porter & Herschel Gower, Jeannie Robertson: Emergent Singer, Transformative Voice. East Linton (Edinburgh): Tuckwell Press, 1995. ISBN 1898410844

Betsy Whyte, The Yellow on the Broom, 1986. Reprinted Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2001, ISBN: 1841581356.
Betsy Whyte, Red Rowans and Wild Honey, 1990. Reprinted Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2000, ISBN: 1841580708.

Sheila Douglas, The Sang's the Thing: Voices from Lowland Scotland. Edinburgh: Polygon, 1992, ISBN 07486611900. Biographies of a number of traditional singers, with examples of their songs.
Sheila Douglas, Herd Laddie o' the Glen - Songs of a Border Shepherd (Willie Scott, Liddesdale shepherd and singer). Tryst Publications, 1988.

Reg Hall, I Never Played to Many Posh Dances - Scan Tester 1887-1972. Rochford, Musical Traditions, 1990. ISSN 02655063

See also the excellent booklets provided with the Musical Traditions series of cds of traditional singers. The full text of every booklet can be seen at their website.


There are more, of course; largely out of print. On the whole, there are more books devoted to Irish singers and musicians than to those from the countries of the UK; where Scotland seems to score highest. Academic journals such as Tocher and Folk Music Journal are also good sources.