Duncan Williamson's stunning repertoire of ballads and stories was greeted with the same scepticism.

In 1976 Williamson married the American-born musicologist/folklorist Linda Headlee, who had been working at the School of Scottish Studies. For the first four years of their marriage they lived in a tent, following which they lived in a cottage in Fife. It was largely through her that Duncan came into demand as a storyteller in Scottish schools, as well a featured performer at storytelling festivals both in the UK and abroad. She was the editor of several of his books of stories.
I have many recordings of Duncan made by myself and others dating from when I first heard him in Blairgowrie both as a singer and as storyteller in 1969. The pre- and post-Linda storytelling are very different, not better, not worse, just an entirely different approach. The later Duncan used a much smaller number of words in Travellers' cant than the earlier one. The later Duncan used much more explanation of context and language than the earlier one. None of this affected his powerful force as a storyteller but it did make him more accessible to a wider audience. Undoubtedly it helped his career as a professional storyteller from the mid-1970s. Numerous people have suggested that it was Linda's influence that brought about these changes.
The first time that I heard Duncan sing stands like a beacon in my memory. At the Blairgowrie Festivals there was usually a Sunday afternoon event - "The Archie Fisher Invitation Concert" where he was allowed to choose anyone that he had met during the weekend - festival guests, friends, interesting singers and musicians that he has met during the weekend. Duncan was one of the invitees. I don't suppose that he had ever been in a stage before and he was going to make the most of this opportunity.
He chose to sing the Waterloo-Cup song Master McGrath and he sang it to the tune of Villikins and His Dinah. The singing style was Frank Sinatra-crooner. Arms spread wide or clutching his heart, down on one knee with a sob in his voice, the full works.... There was some sniggering around me, but I couldn't join in; I was entranced.
After the marriage to Linda, lots of ballads came out that had not been heard from him before. This could have been because she encouraged him to try to engage with his earlier repertoire though it has been suggested (certainly without proof) that she may have introduced some ballads to him. I am certainly not going to express an opinion on this and in most ways I would not count it as centrally important. Duncan sang them, brought a lot of himelf into the performance and that is what matters to me. However, I hope this explains why his stunning repertoire of ballads and stories was greeted with...... scepticism.