Cultural Crofter is a very apt description for Nancy Nicolson - she is a Sottish folk singer and a tradition bearer, a songwriter and a storyteller and a melodeon player. Brought up on a croft in Caithness, the former Edinburgh teacher has worked with the BBC, Celtic Connections, and the New Makars Trust. It was high time that her songs were collected and published, and Grace Note Publications has done just that, to coincide with her 75th birthday in 2016. They sent a Wumman: The Collected Songs of Nancy Nicolson contains an autobiographical piece by Nancy herself, as well as contributions by her fellow-Caithnessian writer George Gunn, by singer, songwriter, actor and director Gerda Stevenson and the folk singer, songwriter and publisher Ewan McVicar. But the focus is, as editor Paddy Bort writes in his introduction, firmly on the songs, in all their glorious diversity. Like few others, Nancy Nicolson has the gift - as writer, singer and storyteller - to communicate the life and culture of Scotland, with rare warmth and energy and her very own brand of wit and wisdom. As can be seen in this volume, Nancy Nicolson covers (nearly) every subject under the sun - from bootleg whisky to the Miners' Strike, from bairns' play to the grim and cruel games of war, and from 'hauf-hinget' Maggie to 'Maggie's Pit Ponies'. Some of her songs have assumed almost 'traditional' status by now - among them Nancy's greatest hits: "Listen tae the Teacher', 'The Moon in the Morning', 'The Brickie's Ballad' and, of course, 'They Sent a Wumman'. Among others, Gerda Stevenson, The McCalmans and Ed Miller have recorded her songs.

This publication commemorates the 1951 Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh and collects views and perspectives on the way the Folk Revival has evolved over the past sixty years. 'Tis Sixty Years Since: The 1951 Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh and the Scottish Folk Revival -Sixty years ago, in 1951, the first Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh at Oddfellows' Hall kick-started the modern Scottish Folk Revival. It was presided over by Hamish Henderson and recorded by Alan Lomax. Sixty years ago, the School of Scottish Studies was founded at the University of Edinburgh. The 10th Carrying Stream Festival in November 2011, organised by Edinburgh Folk Club in cooperation with the School of Scottish Studies and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, celebrated these anniversaries.