Obit:; Janey Buchan 1926-2012

Subject: Obit:; Janey Buchan 13/4/26-14/1/12
From: Vic Smith
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 06:10 AM

Obituary of Janey Buchan in today's The Guardian and on-line at http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/18/janey-buchan?INTCMP=SRCH

Many top names from the folk scene are name-checked in this piece by Michael White.

I was introduced to Norman & Janey Buchan by Isabel Sutherland, sometime in the mid-1960s and I was bowled over by the pair of them. Everything about them seemed right - their politics, their all-embracing friendship, their enthusiam for life, their love of the Scots folk song & music tradition and their attitudes to life and parenthood; I wanted to be like them.

I felt rather ashamed to read that Janey's last home was in Brighton - only 8 miles away from me.l I simply did not know that or I would have been in contact with her.

Subject: RE: Obit:; Janey Buchan 13/4/26-14/1/12
From: Anne Neilson
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 06:17 PM

I count myself so privileged to have been in Norman's English class in Rutherglen Academy in my first year at secondary school in 1956 -- and to have still been in his class when he proposed the Ballads Club in 1957. This was a real breakthrough in bringing young people in to traditional music - in the widest sense - and had IMO a real influence in producing singers for the future.
But none of this would have been possible without Norman's wife Janey behind him!

Janey was the unseen support, and the acknowledged organiser of all sorts of events in Glasgow (concerts by Pete Seeger, the Weavers, Cisco Houston, Flora MacNeil, Jeannie Robertson etc.).

She was a great hostess, a generous friend (both personally and artistically) and a great sounding board on all cultural matters, because she was always in tune.

But more than all of that, she was a concerned individual -- caring for all her friends, regardless of their backgrounds. She had an instinctive sympathy for the disadvantaged and the underprivileged, and worked tirelessly for a better future for people like these.

I count myself fortunate to have been a friend!

Anne Neilson.

Subject: RE: Obit:; Janey Buchan 13/4/26-14/1/12
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 20 Jan 12 - 04:47 AM

My condolences to all who miss her.

I have added Janey to the Mudcat "In Memoriam" Thread.

Peter

Subject: RE: Obit:; Janey Buchan 1926-2012
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 21 Jan 12 - 01:31 PM

Never met her, but going by what I heard from Scottish friends she must have been a formidable lady. Wasn't she one of the people behind the Centre for Political Song at Glasgow University some years back? RIP, Janey!

Subject: RE: Obit:; Janey Buchan 1926-2012
From: Anne Neilson
Date: 21 Jan 12 - 05:30 PM

Susanne, she wasn't "one of the people behind...." -- she was the moving force! When the idea became reality, following her massive donation of LPs, CDs, magazines, pamphlets and articles, many other like-minded people came on board, and the Centre was heavily involved when the Edinburgh International Festival proposed a series of concerts on political song (in the official programme) in 2002.

She was a formidable lady for all sorts of reasons -- her willingness to roll up her sleeves and 'get tore in', both morally and physically; her unswerving sense of what was right, and her tenacity in pursuing it; her delight in a good joke, and her ability to tell one; her loyalty to friends both great and small; her delight in art and classical music; her support of the arts in the face of economic and philistine attacks etc.
The list is long!

Subject: RE: Obit:; Janey Buchan 1926-2012
From: Vic Smith
Date: 22 Jan 12 - 05:53 PM

A lovely piece by Adam MacNaughtan on Janey on the Musical Traditions website at http://www.mustrad.org.uk/obits.htm

Subject: RE: Obit:; Janey Buchan 1926-2012
From: GUEST,flying cat
Date: 23 Jan 12 - 06:03 AM

So sorry to hear that of Janey's death. I never met her but was very concious and appreciative of her influence on all aspects of life. After Norman died Janey put up some of his books for sale and we were very lucky to have been able to purchase the "child" collection with nameplates. I feel very honoured to have them.
Sad loss.
Moira and Malc

Subject: RE: Obit:; Janey Buchan 1926-2012
From: Anne Neilson
Date: 23 Jan 12 - 07:28 PM

A story that I've long cherished -- Janey was behind the book purchasing in the Buchan household, establishing links with specialist booksellers all over the UK who were on the lookout for their particular interests (Scottish collections of traditional song; traditional song from elsewhere; Thomas Muir material; pamphlets on the 1820 Weavers' uprising; political song; Labour history etc. etc.). And early on she made the decision that if material such as Motherwell's 'Minstrelsy' came on the market at a reasonable price, she would purchase it even if they already had a copy -- "because there would always be someone they knew who would want it".
I myself was on the receiving end of this foresight when, years after I'd left school, I accompanied Norman to Keith Folk Festival in Aberdeenshire to meet up with Arthur Argo (the great-grandson of Gavin Greig and, coincidentally, the brother of my best friend) to discuss their plans for a future tv programme that was eventually put out on BBC as "Buchan on Buchan" -- an exploration of the wealth of folksong that came from that area of the north-east of Scotland, including one third of Child's A texts and the immense range of material collected later by Greig and Duncan. We were talking over the whole extraordinary circumstance on the way back home in the car and Norman casually asked me if I had a copy of Keith's "Last Leaves and Airs of Traditional Ballads", which was all the Child ballad material collected by Greig, published posthumously in limited edition. (I had begun to buy available books, but not of the rare variety, and he knew I had the Dover edition of Child along with some other reprints.) When I said that I knew the book but couldn't ever imagine finding one, he took me to his house when we reached Glasgow and brought through a copy of said book for me! And this was only possible because of Janey's enlightened/mad? purchasing policy.
Much later Janey used to enjoy telling how she frequently misled Norman about the prices she paid for all these necessary books, and she was convinced that he never knew!

Subject: RE: Obit:; Janey Buchan 1926-2012
From: EBarnacle
Date: 23 Jan 12 - 10:46 PM

Is this the Janey who occasionally contributed here? If so, I enjoyed our occasional thread meetings.

Subject: RE: Obit:; Janey Buchan 1926-2012
From: maeve
Date: 23 Jan 12 - 11:42 PM

I believe you are thinking of our own wise Janie, who is still, thankfully, wholly with us.

Subject: RE: Obit:; Janey Buchan 1926-2012
From: Anne Neilson
Date: 24 Jan 12 - 12:38 AM

@ EBarnacle -- Janey Buchan was many things, but not if it was linked to computers!
So, please continue to cherish your own wise Janie.

Subject: RE: Obit:; Janey Buchan 1926-2012
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 24 Jan 12 - 09:29 PM

Thanks for your reminiscences, Anne. I remember Iain Mackintosh once talking about Janey and the fact that she had her enemies and detractors, not least because apparently she didn't suffer fools gladly. In his quiet way he rounded it up with "I've always liked Janey."

She is definitely a candidate for the 'In Memoriam' thread.