Jeannie Robertson, MBE

died 3/13/1975
(born 1908)

Of whom Dick Gaughan says: "The best singer of the Muckle Sangs (classic Scots ballads) I ever heard. She possessed a supreme artistry and what would now be called professionalism with a skill comparable to that of a Shakespearean actor. When she sang, she knew and understood every nuance of the relationships between the characters in the story, their motives and the consequences of their actions - and by the time she'd finished, so did the listener...Far from the common perception of her as some kind of untrained traveller woman singer, her singing - and that of most travelling people - was the result of a powerful artistic intelligence and knowledge and the accumulated experience and history of generations informed her work."

I sang her version of "MacCrimmon's Lament" at a favorite local club the other night. I was much gratified people applauded; it was my intention to honor a paragon.

ALSO:
In the public street in the Kew Gardens section of the Borough of Queens in New York City:
Kitty Genovese was repeatedly stabbed for 1/2 hour until she died
3/13/1964
No one helped.
No one even called the police.

          Oh look outside the window, there's a woman being grabbed
          They drag her to the bushes and now she's being stabbed
          Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain
          But Monopoly is so much fun, I'd hate to blow the game
          And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody
          Outside of a small circle of friends
  
                  "Small Circle Of Friends," Phil Ochs
                  [thanx Steve Suffet who has more to tell on it]

Copyright © 2005, Abby Sale - all rights reserved
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