The Elliots of Birtley: A Musical Portrait of a Durham Mining Family

The Elliot family of England was recorded by Peggy Seeger and Evan MacColl on three separate occasions in the summer of 1961 in the kitchen of Em and Jack Elliot. Some 17 people, all of whose lives were intimately tied to the local coal mines, participated in the recording sessions. The music captures the world of the North-East music hall—a world of "pawnshops and epic street-outings, of Saturday night fist-fights, of evictions, of five-in-a-bed to keep warm, of dog fights and quayside belles... It is a world where the policeman and the pitman are always on opposite sides." Liner notes include photographs of the family and short descriptions of each member as well as notes from Seeger and MacColl on the recording sessions. Song lyrics are also included.

Track Listing

101	Family History / Stanley Market	The Elliots of Birtley	06:18
102	Begging Rhymes, Guisers, Lullabies, Children’s Songs and Rhymes, Henry My Son	The Elliots of Birtley	09:35
103	The Three Welshmen / Old Johnnie Booker / Hunting of the Wren / The Sucking Pig	The Elliots of Birtley	06:35
104	Finger Games, Hand-Warming Games, Children’s Street Songs, Skipping and Ball-Bouncing Games, Taunts, Chants	The Elliots of Birtley	09:35
201	Anecdotes, Local History, Pit-Poetry, the Depression, Our Gudeman	The Elliots of Birtley	10:08
202	Pit-Lore, Big Hewer Legends, Tales, Anecdotes, the Celebrated Working-Man, Little Chance	The Elliots of Birtley	16:08
203	Miner’s Wit and Humour, Jokes, Local Tales, Parodies, the Collier’s Rant	The Elliots of Birtley	03:42