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CORRIES, The

Scots folk group formed mid-'60s around Ronnie Brown (guitar, vocals), Bill Smith (guitar, vocals) and Roy Williamson (guitar, vocals, mandolin, kazoo, percussion); as the Corrie Folk Trio they recorded for Waverley. The Promise Of The Day '65 featured vocalist Paddie Bell. Those Wild Corries '66 followed; then they adopted the abbreviated name. They were an exciting live act and after Bonnet, Belt And Sword '67 and Kishmul's Galley '68, The Corries In Concert '69 brought their name to a wider folk audience. During the '60s--70s they maintained a steady flow of albums and won a place in the hearts of Scots everywhere. The Corries represent a Scots tradition that dates back to the mid- 1700s; after the Battle of Culloden in April 1746 the Jacobites inspired many songs and much poetry from Burns and Hogg among others, and such themes, played out in the songs of the Corries and Andy Hunter, appeal to the very real issues of Scottish nationhood, independence and cultural identity. Roy Williamson's most famous song, 'Flower Of Scotland', is often described as Scotland's unofficial national anthem, likened to 'Jerusalem' by the poet, visionary and mystic William Blake (1757--1827) for the English. ('Flower Of Scotland' appears on Live From Scotland, Volume 1 and The Compact Collection.) Williamson succumbed to cancer on 12 Aug. '90 and left a yawning gap in the Scottish scene. Afterwards The Long Journey South appeared on Moidart Music (a work described as a collection of Roy Williamson's 'solo work produced during the final years of his life') and his daughter Karen Williamson's affectionate memoir Flower Of Scotland, published '93. As a general introduction to their recorded work The Compact Collection on Lismor '87 is recommended with its selection ranging from 'The Massacre At Glencoe' to Ewan MacColl's 'Shoals of Herring' to Burns's 'A Man's A Man' and the patriotic 'Scotland Will Flourish' -- and, of course, 'Flower Of Scotland'.