Bob Hobkirk - Obituary
(1921 - 17/11/2002)
by Karin Ingram
Bob Hobkirk was born in 1921 in Westerkirk, near Langholm. His mother was from Lockerbie, and she played the melodeon, and his father (a piper) came from Eilrig near Roberton and lived in the borders area for most of his life although the family also spent several years in Moffat.
Bob’s father could play a passable slow air on the fiddle, but it wasn’t until Bob was about 14 and heard Jimmy Potts from Ettrick playing that he decided that he would like to learn. He persuaded his sister to buy him a fiddle (costing the princely sum of 25/-) and proved to be a natural. There was always music in the house and Bob also went along to local dances with his parents. He picked up tunes by ear, and once heard, the young Bob rarely forgot them.
Bob said of his first public appearance, “That was at Waterbeck at a Coronation Dance. I was 16 years old and I had no idea what to play for dances, but there was a woman there played the organ at the church and she played the piano as well, so she knew the tunes and I followed on. Of course I had a great memory for tunes, I’d any amount of tunes!”
Bob’s first job was as a shepherd near Teviothead. He met up with another shepherd, Watt Swanson, who played the accordion and Bob joined him to play at the Teviothead and Newmill dances.
When war broke out bob volunteered to join up, but shepherds were scarce and he was told that he had to stay and work on the land. The Borders weren’t as affected by war as some other areas of the country, and Bob was out most weekends playing for dances. He had this to say about traveling to the village halls, “In war time we used bicycles. I had a motorbike and you got about a gallon and a half of petrol a month so you didnae get very far with that and you werenae allowed to take it to dances. You used it, if necessary, for your work, so you used to motor to the nearest place where it was off the road and bring the bike into a shed or something and walk the rest you see. That’s what we had to dae. It was awkward. But most of the time I traveled by bike. Fiddle case in an old legging pulled over the top in case it rained, and that was us, off we went. I mind once coming doon Newmill to play to a dance and I was biking doon by Stobs there and the planes were woo, wooing, (ken that never ending noise of them going over?) and Hawick was all in blackout and we came down and went into The Bridge Bar and everybody was in there. That was the air raid shelter, nae worry about what the bombs were hitting, so we went up to Newmill and came back and they were still going over. There were no bombs dropped but that was the big raid on Clydebank at Glasgow. They were over the next night and a’, that’s where they were going but if we’d shown a light there would have been a bomb dropped. I know there was a bit at Hoscote, over there at a shepherd’s house, somebody had opened the door and the light had been shining out and there had been a bomb dropped and it landed on the hill and did nae harm, but there was quite an explosion.”
In those days dances would go on all night. It was at one such dance at Hyndlee that Bob met Lil, the girl that he was to marry in 1950. She was working in London at the time so their’s was no whirlwind romance – but it lasted a lifetime.
In about 1960 Bob became a waterman at the local filters station that served Hawick and moved to Dodburn with Lil and his son John and daughter Mary. The house had a big wooden-floored room that originally served as the boardroom (for meetings of the Water Committee) and it was just perfect for parties! Said Bob, “We had some big nights. We used to have Burns Nights. At New Year time they a’ came and brought their bottles and stayed a’ night. And Lil made their breakfast before they went away in the morning. There’s naebody got maliciously drunk or anything, they were a’ needing someone to drive the car. We played a’ night and sang and danced”.
Bob was Scottish Fiddle Champion in 1965, ’67 and ’68. At that time he was playing regularly with Eric Goodfellow and Ian (Spud) Thomson in the Trviot Vallry Dance Band. He also played with Jock borthwick, Roger Dobson, Iain MacPhail and Ray Milbourne. He was with Ray’s band for ten or twelve years, until Ray moved down south. During Bob’s lifetime he played at many functions and with many notable musicians, including Yehudi Menuhin when he visited the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh in 1985. (Aly Bain and Ron Gonella also played with them that night). He was in demand for both village hall dances and grander occasions. With Roger Dobson he played at the young Earl of Dalkeith’s wedding when he married Elizabeth Ker, Lord Lothian’s daughter. Lady Lothian also asked him to play at a party at Ferniehurst Castle to celebrate Nigel Tranter’s 80th birthday. For that occasion he wrote a tune – The Voice of Scotland.
In the late ‘70s / early ‘80s Bob visited Russia three times with a group organised by Tommy Kettles. He spoke of his first visit, “The first time we went we landed at Kiev and we were at Leningrad and went right up to Tallin in Estonia. The dances there, we got involved in them. It was very warm up there, It was September and it’s real hot weather in that area for all it’s a bit cold in the winter time. I had the kilt on then, I used to wear the kilt on thae occasions and they was dancing away and suddenly there’s yin o’ the girls came out and pulled somebody in o’ the group and eventually somebody pulled me in. I was getting pushed that way, shoved another way…no idea where I was going!”
For many years Bob was the leader of The Border Strathspey and Reel Society. He struck up an association with the equivalent society in Orkney, and was a frequent visitor there. He was also a regular attendee and judge at the Keith Festival.
Bob retired in 1986 and moved down to the town. The Water Board sold the house with the big party room and there were no more all night music sessions.
In February 1992 Bob was involved in a dreadful car crash when travelling home from playing at a charity event. He was lucky to be alive, but his first words upon regaining conscientiousness were, “Where’s my fiddle?” He spent three months in hospital, and for weeks his family didn’t dare to tell him that his beloved fiddle had been smashed to smithereens. As a result of the accident Bob was struck down with a severe stroke. Again he struggled to survive, and his music seemed to give him the will to live. His favourite tunes were pipe marches, 6/8s and 2/4s for the Barn Dances that he had learned from his father, and gradually through sheer determination he began to play again.
When I worded for The Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust researching traditional dance and dance music in the Borders, Bob was one of the first people that I interviewed. I found him to be a delightful man – full of funny stories and interesting snippets of local information. When we had our first meeting of The Newmill Box and Fiddle Club in March 1999 Bob was there as a supporting player.
In 2000 Dr Fred Freeman produced and compiled a CD entitled Border Fiddles. He used tracks that Bob had recorded at home in 1973, and enhanced two of them with accordion accompaniment from Ian Lowthian. When Fred played the CD to Bob for the first time, his reaction was, “I didnae think I could play that good!” Bob played at the launch of the CD in the Cross Keys in Denholm, along with Jimmy Nagle, Wattie Robson, Iain Fraser and Ian Lowthian.
Bob’s young granddaughter Jane plays the fiddle, but only in the last few months had she been letting him hear her play. Perhaps there will be another well-known borders fiddler by the name of Hobkirk in years to come.
A couple of years ago there was a New Year’s party in Bob and Lil’s old house. The big room rang again to the sound of accordions and fiddles. Bob was in his usual place right in the middle, a dram at his elbow and surrounded by good friends, Eric Goodfellow, Roger Dobson, David Anderson, Drew Dalgleish, Spud Thomson and many other fine musicians. That will be my everlasting memory of a lovely man and a fine fiddler. Lil sat in the corner with a proud smile on her face and she turned to me and said, “You know lass, this is what this house has been waiting for, and it’s as if the years have just rolled back”. I hope there will be many more nights of music and dancing in Filters House – I’ve lived there for five years now….
With thanks to The Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust for permission to use interview quotes.
Box and Fiddle
December 2002
Bob’s father could play a passable slow air on the fiddle, but it wasn’t until Bob was about 14 and heard Jimmy Potts from Ettrick playing that he decided that he would like to learn. He persuaded his sister to buy him a fiddle (costing the princely sum of 25/-) and proved to be a natural. There was always music in the house and Bob also went along to local dances with his parents. He picked up tunes by ear, and once heard, the young Bob rarely forgot them.
Bob said of his first public appearance, “That was at Waterbeck at a Coronation Dance. I was 16 years old and I had no idea what to play for dances, but there was a woman there played the organ at the church and she played the piano as well, so she knew the tunes and I followed on. Of course I had a great memory for tunes, I’d any amount of tunes!”
Bob’s first job was as a shepherd near Teviothead. He met up with another shepherd, Watt Swanson, who played the accordion and Bob joined him to play at the Teviothead and Newmill dances.
When war broke out bob volunteered to join up, but shepherds were scarce and he was told that he had to stay and work on the land. The Borders weren’t as affected by war as some other areas of the country, and Bob was out most weekends playing for dances. He had this to say about traveling to the village halls, “In war time we used bicycles. I had a motorbike and you got about a gallon and a half of petrol a month so you didnae get very far with that and you werenae allowed to take it to dances. You used it, if necessary, for your work, so you used to motor to the nearest place where it was off the road and bring the bike into a shed or something and walk the rest you see. That’s what we had to dae. It was awkward. But most of the time I traveled by bike. Fiddle case in an old legging pulled over the top in case it rained, and that was us, off we went. I mind once coming doon Newmill to play to a dance and I was biking doon by Stobs there and the planes were woo, wooing, (ken that never ending noise of them going over?) and Hawick was all in blackout and we came down and went into The Bridge Bar and everybody was in there. That was the air raid shelter, nae worry about what the bombs were hitting, so we went up to Newmill and came back and they were still going over. There were no bombs dropped but that was the big raid on Clydebank at Glasgow. They were over the next night and a’, that’s where they were going but if we’d shown a light there would have been a bomb dropped. I know there was a bit at Hoscote, over there at a shepherd’s house, somebody had opened the door and the light had been shining out and there had been a bomb dropped and it landed on the hill and did nae harm, but there was quite an explosion.”
In those days dances would go on all night. It was at one such dance at Hyndlee that Bob met Lil, the girl that he was to marry in 1950. She was working in London at the time so their’s was no whirlwind romance – but it lasted a lifetime.
In about 1960 Bob became a waterman at the local filters station that served Hawick and moved to Dodburn with Lil and his son John and daughter Mary. The house had a big wooden-floored room that originally served as the boardroom (for meetings of the Water Committee) and it was just perfect for parties! Said Bob, “We had some big nights. We used to have Burns Nights. At New Year time they a’ came and brought their bottles and stayed a’ night. And Lil made their breakfast before they went away in the morning. There’s naebody got maliciously drunk or anything, they were a’ needing someone to drive the car. We played a’ night and sang and danced”.
Bob was Scottish Fiddle Champion in 1965, ’67 and ’68. At that time he was playing regularly with Eric Goodfellow and Ian (Spud) Thomson in the Trviot Vallry Dance Band. He also played with Jock borthwick, Roger Dobson, Iain MacPhail and Ray Milbourne. He was with Ray’s band for ten or twelve years, until Ray moved down south. During Bob’s lifetime he played at many functions and with many notable musicians, including Yehudi Menuhin when he visited the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh in 1985. (Aly Bain and Ron Gonella also played with them that night). He was in demand for both village hall dances and grander occasions. With Roger Dobson he played at the young Earl of Dalkeith’s wedding when he married Elizabeth Ker, Lord Lothian’s daughter. Lady Lothian also asked him to play at a party at Ferniehurst Castle to celebrate Nigel Tranter’s 80th birthday. For that occasion he wrote a tune – The Voice of Scotland.
In the late ‘70s / early ‘80s Bob visited Russia three times with a group organised by Tommy Kettles. He spoke of his first visit, “The first time we went we landed at Kiev and we were at Leningrad and went right up to Tallin in Estonia. The dances there, we got involved in them. It was very warm up there, It was September and it’s real hot weather in that area for all it’s a bit cold in the winter time. I had the kilt on then, I used to wear the kilt on thae occasions and they was dancing away and suddenly there’s yin o’ the girls came out and pulled somebody in o’ the group and eventually somebody pulled me in. I was getting pushed that way, shoved another way…no idea where I was going!”
For many years Bob was the leader of The Border Strathspey and Reel Society. He struck up an association with the equivalent society in Orkney, and was a frequent visitor there. He was also a regular attendee and judge at the Keith Festival.
Bob retired in 1986 and moved down to the town. The Water Board sold the house with the big party room and there were no more all night music sessions.
In February 1992 Bob was involved in a dreadful car crash when travelling home from playing at a charity event. He was lucky to be alive, but his first words upon regaining conscientiousness were, “Where’s my fiddle?” He spent three months in hospital, and for weeks his family didn’t dare to tell him that his beloved fiddle had been smashed to smithereens. As a result of the accident Bob was struck down with a severe stroke. Again he struggled to survive, and his music seemed to give him the will to live. His favourite tunes were pipe marches, 6/8s and 2/4s for the Barn Dances that he had learned from his father, and gradually through sheer determination he began to play again.
When I worded for The Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust researching traditional dance and dance music in the Borders, Bob was one of the first people that I interviewed. I found him to be a delightful man – full of funny stories and interesting snippets of local information. When we had our first meeting of The Newmill Box and Fiddle Club in March 1999 Bob was there as a supporting player.
In 2000 Dr Fred Freeman produced and compiled a CD entitled Border Fiddles. He used tracks that Bob had recorded at home in 1973, and enhanced two of them with accordion accompaniment from Ian Lowthian. When Fred played the CD to Bob for the first time, his reaction was, “I didnae think I could play that good!” Bob played at the launch of the CD in the Cross Keys in Denholm, along with Jimmy Nagle, Wattie Robson, Iain Fraser and Ian Lowthian.
Bob’s young granddaughter Jane plays the fiddle, but only in the last few months had she been letting him hear her play. Perhaps there will be another well-known borders fiddler by the name of Hobkirk in years to come.
A couple of years ago there was a New Year’s party in Bob and Lil’s old house. The big room rang again to the sound of accordions and fiddles. Bob was in his usual place right in the middle, a dram at his elbow and surrounded by good friends, Eric Goodfellow, Roger Dobson, David Anderson, Drew Dalgleish, Spud Thomson and many other fine musicians. That will be my everlasting memory of a lovely man and a fine fiddler. Lil sat in the corner with a proud smile on her face and she turned to me and said, “You know lass, this is what this house has been waiting for, and it’s as if the years have just rolled back”. I hope there will be many more nights of music and dancing in Filters House – I’ve lived there for five years now….
With thanks to The Scottish Traditions of Dance Trust for permission to use interview quotes.
Box and Fiddle
December 2002
