REVIEW FROM www.livingtradition.co.uk

BOOK: The Elliots Of Birtley
by PETE WOOD
Herron Publishing
ISBN:978-095406-823-3

In the preface to his expanded and revised second edition of Come All Ye Bold Miners (1978), AL Lloyd wrote, in acknowledgement of their specific contributions to the book,
“I signal my gratitude to the Elliot family of Birtley, Co Durham, splendid bearers of the traditional folklore of mining.”

Pete Wood has chronicled this, in many ways unique, singing family, from Frank Elliot (1832-1903) to the present day.  He has achieved this with skill and his portrait provides an insightful, informed, and well-balanced narrative.  Lively controversy is not ignored and certain issues are not side stepped.  The account is infused with much good humour.  It is well researched and draws on valuable contributions from the many who have been, and are, inspired by the family, including Jim Bainbridge, Bob Davenport, Johnny Handle, Roy Harris,  Louis Killen, Ted Poole and Ray Fisher - to name but a few.   However the book’s main strength comes from within the family and in particular Doreen Henderson (nee Elliot) and husband Bryan.

The history of the family is placed within well defined social, political and economic contexts.  We are given the wider perspectives as well as the all important local picture.  Certain family members receive well merited extra attention, notably the legendary Jack (1907-1966) and his “fiery” son Pete (1925-2000).  In addition to, but not divorced from, their singing, these characters held firmly and passionately to their socialist/humanist beliefs.

The main emphasis is on the last fifty or so years and such issues or areas of interest as the family’s fruitful interaction with the Revival, commercialisation and the role of the “professional” folk singer, and much more are all explored.  Of particular interest to me was the creation by the family of the now famed Birtley Folksong Club in 1962, which is still going strong and is now under the guidance and direction of Doreen and Bryan.  The club’s structure, organisation and philosophy became a model of its kind.  Peggy Seeger in her preface to the book describes it as “...an inclusive and sharing sing around club, where many singers found their feet, their voice and their confidence.”  This non-elitist approach and attitude has been, and is, an admirable family trait.

The appendices include 20 songs, with notation, from local pit songs to Child ballads.  These were the main “family songs”, that is, the ones they sang before the sixties Revival got going.  These include such gems as: The Miners Life, Celebrated Working Man and the richly comic We  Went Along A Bit Further.

This is a hugely enjoyable read - honest, informative and thought provoking - of a proud working class family that knows and celebrates its values and roots.

Geordie McIntyre