This album is a cheap reissue of Alan Lomax's "Heather and Glen" album. It recently came up in discussion on the Ballad-L listserve. Going back to the archives for November 2002, look in the threads entitled:
John Strachan's "Jock McGraw, the Stootest man in the Forty Twa"
and
Heather and/& Glen

Here's some of what was said:

Ewan McVicar (11/13/02)
It's an interesting mixture. A lot of it would have been 1951, but neither Jeannie Robertson nor Davie Stewart were 'found' then by the folklorists.

Jeannie was recorded by Lomax in London in 1953, [the occasion I think when she was to be part of a Lomax BBC TV broadcast, but was taken ill?] and Davie in 1957. Lomax did a radio series in 1957 - A Ballad-Hunter Looks At Britain, an 8 part series. Perhaps Davie was brought down for this?

Fred McCormick (11/13/02)
I've just hoiked the disc out again and there is a note saying that "Most of the songs were recorded in the summer of 1951 with the help of Calum Maclean and Hamish Henderson. Unfortunately, that is as specific as Lomax gets.

I tried to clear the matter up by looking at Roud. He has seven entries for for Davy Stewart's version of MacPherson's Rant. Between them there are three or possibly four recording dates;- - 1951 Lomax - (Heather and Glen). - 1954 Hamish Henderson (Topic 12T 293) - 1956 Lomax and Peter Kennedy (`Songs of the Travelling People Saydisc CD-SDL 407) - 1956 Kennedy - Folksongs of Britain & Ireland All locations are listed as Scotland, either Aberdeenshire or Dundee.

It seems to me:- 1. The 1951 and 1956 dates refer to the same recording session and I'd guess that the confusion arises from Lomax's lack of specificity. 2. It is quite possible that the date was 1957 and not 1956. Both the productions which give this date were by Peter Kennedy, and I have seen him make this kind of mistake before.

Paul Stamler (11/13/02)
I asked my contact at the Alan Lomax Archive whether "Heather and Glen" would be reissued; he replied:

"While we're not going to be reissuing Heather and Glen in its original form, all the songs will eventually be released in our Scottish series. Some of the material has already been released in the Portraits albums of John Strachan, Davey Stewart, and Jeannie Robertson."

Abby Sale (11/13/02)
In the meantime, all prior caveats in mind, all of 'Heather & Glen' is available as "Scots Drinking & Pipe Songs" from Legacy International.

(The prior caveats being complaints in the John Strachan thread about the lack of info in the discount reissues, and errors/vagueness in some of the Lomax and Kennedy notes.)

~ Becky N.