Judith Linton
By Ella Linton
Our daughter Judith was born in 1963 and showed no signs of musical talent until she was about ten years old (does she yet?!?)
One of her earliest hobbies was cycling – until she fell off and broke both her wrists. She spent several weeks in plaster in Leith hospital. Next she tried her had at orienteering. Her weekends were spent running through the woods with map and compass, but she soon tired of this and decided that Wimbledon beckoned. She persuaded us to buy her a tennis racquet and shoes and, after about three practice sessions, considered herself a fully fledged tennis player. The racquet and shoes disappeared back into their boxes, never to see the light of day!
Next Judith attended Highland, tap and ballet dancing classes in Duns. Again she had to have all the gear – Highland pumps, and tap and ballet shoes. They’re probably still in their boxes to this day! (She was a size three then and a very dainty dancer. Don’t believe her if she tries to tell you that she can’t dance!)
Living in the country Judith could ride a horse from a fairly early age. She was never really comfortable with the idea of hunting, but thought she’s better give it a try to see if she was being unfairly judgmental. She certainly looked the business, all decked out in full hunting regalia, but as usual things did not run smoothly. Her horse, Sox, took a dislike to one of the hounds, which did not greatly impress the Master of the Foxhounds. Sox had evidently decided that he disapproved of hunting too and poor Judith spent more time lying on the ground than sitting on horseback.
My nephew gave us a very old, but powerful, motorbike for our son, John. Judith’s brother never mastered the bike, but Judith was a wizard on it – riding flat out through the fields (occasionally, like her horse, the bike threw her to the ground too!) In later years she mastered the skills of Land Rover, tractor and quad bike driving. She used to drive through deep snow drifts from our isolated farm to Duns to bring home shopping. To this day bad weather won’t put her off reaching her destination. She always drove her quad bike very fast in the fields. One time she and her four border collies all ended up upside down in the burn and had to walk home soaking wet. The tractor was needed to remove said bike from the burn – those collies must have had nerves of steel!
And so to music….Judith decided that she quite fancied being a trumpet player. My ears have never really recovered from the noise – thankfully that hobby was short-lived too. I was so pleased to see the trumpet lying peacefully in its box.
Next on the hobby agenda came dog showing. Judith had a great affinity with animals (she was an extremely good shepherd) and trained out Doberman Pinscher, Simba, who had been rescued from the Cat and Dog Home. She exhibited Simba with reasonable success – at her first Show she won Reserve Best in Show. Full of confidence, the pair entered another show. It was a wet day and the judge was kitted out in oilskin coat and hat. Simba obviously didn’t think much of the judge’s fashion taste and tried to bite a chunk out of the coat! Her glittering show career came to an abrupt end, but she was Judith’s pride and joy and lived to a ripe old age, happy on the farm (although always rather quick with her teeth).
Judith also had brief dalliances with Shetland pony showing and gymnastics.
One day Judith arrived home from school proudly clutching a violin. The noise resembled the trumpet! My aunt played the violin beautifully, but we despaired of Judith ever following suit. Many months of screeching and scraping followed before she played anything vaguely recognizable. Judith begged us to buy her a fiddle, which we agreed to do one Christmas. Remembering how short-lived her previous hobbies had been, we had no intention of spending a lot of money. Her first fiddle cost the princely sum of £15 and we waited for it to be thrown in the cupboard beside the tennis racquet and trumpet. How wrong we were!
Judith trained at the International Cello Centre with the late Jane Cowan, first weekly, then later, after leaving school, as a residential pupil for three years. She devoted hours and hours of practice to classical music. I remember once going to hear Judith play a classical piece in a church in Duns. I listened proudly and applauded her enthusiastically, then all of a sudden she started playing again – apparently this was known as a ‘movement’ and poor Judith was “black-affronted” to hear her ignorant mother making such an idiot of herself! All eyes in the church seemed to be looking at me, and the man sitting next to me told me to be quiet. I never fully appreciated Judith’s classical talent – and I attended no more concerts!
At last Judith moved to Scottish traditional music. This was our heritage, and we could understand it. I enjoyed listening to the dance music on the radio, and was a great fan of Jimmy Shand. My late cousin, Bill Stenhouse, had his own Scottish Dance Band. He so much admired Judith, and kept up-to-date with all she was achieving in the Scottish Music scene. My aunt was a beautiful singer, as well as playing the fiddle, and was extremely proud of Judith. She gave her lots of the music that she had acquired over the years.
One piece of advice that I can give to parents is that the more I told Judith to put the noisy fiddle away in its case and help in the house, the more she practised. When I was learning to play the piano as a child, my parents insistence that I practised only had the effect of putting me off for life. In 1980 Judith spent three weeks with the late Tom Anderson in Shetland. She had met Tom in Edinburgh at a fiddle course that she had attended to gain experience – what better way to start than with Shetland music! Tom invited her to Shetland to join in with the Shetland Sessions and have some lessons from him.
In 1985 she met up with the Scottish pianist Muriel Johnstone, a prolific composer, who for many years has been associated with the musical arrangements of the RSCDS publications of music and dances. She gave Judith her first opportunity to play in a real Scottish Dance Band. This was all new to Judith, for having played classical music for so many years, her bowing technique for Scottish fiddle music was all wrong, and she says it took her about eight years to be able to play a strathspey in a Scottish style and not in the style of Bach (who wasn’t exactly noted for his strathspeys!)
In 1987 she started to enter fiddle competitions – winning some and losing others. The losing didn’t put her off, as she knew the other competitors had been on the circuit for years. At the age of twenty-four she found herself the oldest competitor, yet the one with the least experience of playing Scottish fiddle music. Her biggest competition was the Glenfiddich Fiddle Championship in 1991, where she was one of the seven finalists. As a result of reaching the finals, the Director of BBC Scotland’s TV farming programme ‘Landward’ asked if she would be interested in doing a documentary about her fiddling and farming. Judith jumped at the offer and it was broadcast in April 1992.
We are all very proud of Judith’s musical career and all she has achieved. Unfortunately my mother did not live long enough to witness her success, but Judith dedicated her first cassette to her. Judith’s late grandparents adored her and they greatly encouraged her talents when she was younger.
Judith’s playing has taken her all over the world. She has performed in the USA, Israel, Russia, Malaysia – the list is endless. She is in great demand to play (as well as record and broadcast) with Scottish Dance Bands; she has a ceilidh band – the Kadugan Ceilidh Band – and she runs her own music promotions agency. She also teaches fiddle at the RSCDS Summer School and has a regular guest spot on BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Take the Floor’ reviewing recent CD releases. Add to this the hours spent doing Reviews for the Box and Fiddle each month and we begin to wonder where she finds the time to see us all!
Happy Birthday Judith, now you’ve reached the grand old age of forty. We hope you have many more years of playing the fiddle to come. All the noise and practising have been worthwhile.
Box and Fiddle
September 2003
One of her earliest hobbies was cycling – until she fell off and broke both her wrists. She spent several weeks in plaster in Leith hospital. Next she tried her had at orienteering. Her weekends were spent running through the woods with map and compass, but she soon tired of this and decided that Wimbledon beckoned. She persuaded us to buy her a tennis racquet and shoes and, after about three practice sessions, considered herself a fully fledged tennis player. The racquet and shoes disappeared back into their boxes, never to see the light of day!
Next Judith attended Highland, tap and ballet dancing classes in Duns. Again she had to have all the gear – Highland pumps, and tap and ballet shoes. They’re probably still in their boxes to this day! (She was a size three then and a very dainty dancer. Don’t believe her if she tries to tell you that she can’t dance!)
Living in the country Judith could ride a horse from a fairly early age. She was never really comfortable with the idea of hunting, but thought she’s better give it a try to see if she was being unfairly judgmental. She certainly looked the business, all decked out in full hunting regalia, but as usual things did not run smoothly. Her horse, Sox, took a dislike to one of the hounds, which did not greatly impress the Master of the Foxhounds. Sox had evidently decided that he disapproved of hunting too and poor Judith spent more time lying on the ground than sitting on horseback.
My nephew gave us a very old, but powerful, motorbike for our son, John. Judith’s brother never mastered the bike, but Judith was a wizard on it – riding flat out through the fields (occasionally, like her horse, the bike threw her to the ground too!) In later years she mastered the skills of Land Rover, tractor and quad bike driving. She used to drive through deep snow drifts from our isolated farm to Duns to bring home shopping. To this day bad weather won’t put her off reaching her destination. She always drove her quad bike very fast in the fields. One time she and her four border collies all ended up upside down in the burn and had to walk home soaking wet. The tractor was needed to remove said bike from the burn – those collies must have had nerves of steel!
And so to music….Judith decided that she quite fancied being a trumpet player. My ears have never really recovered from the noise – thankfully that hobby was short-lived too. I was so pleased to see the trumpet lying peacefully in its box.
Next on the hobby agenda came dog showing. Judith had a great affinity with animals (she was an extremely good shepherd) and trained out Doberman Pinscher, Simba, who had been rescued from the Cat and Dog Home. She exhibited Simba with reasonable success – at her first Show she won Reserve Best in Show. Full of confidence, the pair entered another show. It was a wet day and the judge was kitted out in oilskin coat and hat. Simba obviously didn’t think much of the judge’s fashion taste and tried to bite a chunk out of the coat! Her glittering show career came to an abrupt end, but she was Judith’s pride and joy and lived to a ripe old age, happy on the farm (although always rather quick with her teeth).
Judith also had brief dalliances with Shetland pony showing and gymnastics.
One day Judith arrived home from school proudly clutching a violin. The noise resembled the trumpet! My aunt played the violin beautifully, but we despaired of Judith ever following suit. Many months of screeching and scraping followed before she played anything vaguely recognizable. Judith begged us to buy her a fiddle, which we agreed to do one Christmas. Remembering how short-lived her previous hobbies had been, we had no intention of spending a lot of money. Her first fiddle cost the princely sum of £15 and we waited for it to be thrown in the cupboard beside the tennis racquet and trumpet. How wrong we were!
Judith trained at the International Cello Centre with the late Jane Cowan, first weekly, then later, after leaving school, as a residential pupil for three years. She devoted hours and hours of practice to classical music. I remember once going to hear Judith play a classical piece in a church in Duns. I listened proudly and applauded her enthusiastically, then all of a sudden she started playing again – apparently this was known as a ‘movement’ and poor Judith was “black-affronted” to hear her ignorant mother making such an idiot of herself! All eyes in the church seemed to be looking at me, and the man sitting next to me told me to be quiet. I never fully appreciated Judith’s classical talent – and I attended no more concerts!
At last Judith moved to Scottish traditional music. This was our heritage, and we could understand it. I enjoyed listening to the dance music on the radio, and was a great fan of Jimmy Shand. My late cousin, Bill Stenhouse, had his own Scottish Dance Band. He so much admired Judith, and kept up-to-date with all she was achieving in the Scottish Music scene. My aunt was a beautiful singer, as well as playing the fiddle, and was extremely proud of Judith. She gave her lots of the music that she had acquired over the years.
One piece of advice that I can give to parents is that the more I told Judith to put the noisy fiddle away in its case and help in the house, the more she practised. When I was learning to play the piano as a child, my parents insistence that I practised only had the effect of putting me off for life. In 1980 Judith spent three weeks with the late Tom Anderson in Shetland. She had met Tom in Edinburgh at a fiddle course that she had attended to gain experience – what better way to start than with Shetland music! Tom invited her to Shetland to join in with the Shetland Sessions and have some lessons from him.
In 1985 she met up with the Scottish pianist Muriel Johnstone, a prolific composer, who for many years has been associated with the musical arrangements of the RSCDS publications of music and dances. She gave Judith her first opportunity to play in a real Scottish Dance Band. This was all new to Judith, for having played classical music for so many years, her bowing technique for Scottish fiddle music was all wrong, and she says it took her about eight years to be able to play a strathspey in a Scottish style and not in the style of Bach (who wasn’t exactly noted for his strathspeys!)
In 1987 she started to enter fiddle competitions – winning some and losing others. The losing didn’t put her off, as she knew the other competitors had been on the circuit for years. At the age of twenty-four she found herself the oldest competitor, yet the one with the least experience of playing Scottish fiddle music. Her biggest competition was the Glenfiddich Fiddle Championship in 1991, where she was one of the seven finalists. As a result of reaching the finals, the Director of BBC Scotland’s TV farming programme ‘Landward’ asked if she would be interested in doing a documentary about her fiddling and farming. Judith jumped at the offer and it was broadcast in April 1992.
We are all very proud of Judith’s musical career and all she has achieved. Unfortunately my mother did not live long enough to witness her success, but Judith dedicated her first cassette to her. Judith’s late grandparents adored her and they greatly encouraged her talents when she was younger.
Judith’s playing has taken her all over the world. She has performed in the USA, Israel, Russia, Malaysia – the list is endless. She is in great demand to play (as well as record and broadcast) with Scottish Dance Bands; she has a ceilidh band – the Kadugan Ceilidh Band – and she runs her own music promotions agency. She also teaches fiddle at the RSCDS Summer School and has a regular guest spot on BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Take the Floor’ reviewing recent CD releases. Add to this the hours spent doing Reviews for the Box and Fiddle each month and we begin to wonder where she finds the time to see us all!
Happy Birthday Judith, now you’ve reached the grand old age of forty. We hope you have many more years of playing the fiddle to come. All the noise and practising have been worthwhile.
Box and Fiddle
September 2003