Willie Atkinson
by J.C.
Willie Atkinson was born at Crookham Eastfield on January 21st 1908, and was 8 years old when his father was killed in the ‘14-18 War.
The musical influence during his early years arose from his mother’s side of the family, as there were four fiddle players out of the nine family members and at that time his musical ability was expressed by playing the mouth organ. His father’s side of the family were not musically inclined.
It was when he was fourteen years old that he left school and his prowess as a musician developed rapidly when he became employed, and lodged with his grandparents, as a shepherd. He is very much indebted to them for their encouragement which was shown by them organising musical evenings in their home with the family members and friends who performed, and when records and a gramophone were obtained, they then learned new tunes.
This arrangement led to Willie becoming proficient with a two rowed button keyed melodeon, progressing to a three row chromatic, and locally, travelling by pushbike to play at kirns.
He purchased his musical instruments from J. M. Cameron’s Music Shop in Greenlaw, and this was his main source for finding out which artists were performing at the Border’s venues. This enabled him to hear all the top notchers of that era, including Will Hannah, Eddie Quinn and eventually Will Starr and Jimmy Shand and all the other stars.
Bill met a local lass, Isabella Douglas at a dance, whom he married and they produced a daughter and four sons.
He vividly recalls the first time he heard Jimmy Shand’s Band which included the left-handed fiddler, Dave Ireland, playing at a Greenlaw dance. Sitting there listening open mouthed, being so impressed with the high standard of playing, that at the end of the night, obtaining permission to have a tune with Jimmy’s accordion, was so excited, he (in Willie’s words) “couldn’t get a tune out of the damned thing!” Mind you, that was only the first time. Bill often played Jimmy’s accordion at dances during the interval.
Such was their friendship, that while Willie and Isabella were at Cupar on holiday, they read a poster stating that Jimmy Shand was to be playing at Coupar Angus that evening. Bill phoned Jimmy, who said “Och man, just come to the house, we will see you get there all right” so after crossing on the Newport Ferry, they eventually arrived at the Shand home in Dundee and on entering the house they smelt fried kippers, and when asked if they would like kippers for tea, Willie then said “yes, on one condition”. “What’s that” said Jimmy “well I can use my fingers like you are” says Willie. “Of course” says Jimmy “that’s the best way!”
The first dance that Willie played at was in 1926, which consisted of travelling with a pushbike with the accordion case strapped on the back.
This procedure led to some unforgettable moments like the night cycling over the Moor, on a road thinking he knew it better than he did, when having passed over a rise, being suddenly confronted with a five barred gate, somersaulting, while sailing through the air and landing on the soft verge, miraculously unhurt with the accordion still on his back.
Not so the pushbike; the front wheel and forks and the frame were badly bent. Eventually struggling to make it manageable to continue, the frame was replaced and the other parts were straightened while he was playing at the dance. The surprising thing about that particular episode was that the front wheel tyre was not damaged.
Another occasion was when Willie’s kind-hearted neighbour offered him his new pride and joy, a now handlebar job (as Willie now says “with your backside sticking up in the air”) racing type bike and of course with hindsight this journey of 22 miles turned into a nightmare. Once he had travelled too far, because of the time constraint, to turn back, he suddenly began to feel the strain of leaning over the low handlebars, while the accordion on his back was wanting to come forward over his head and all the while sitting on as uncomfortable a seat as you can imagine, there was terrific relief when he got to his venue. His thought, while playing at the dance that night, was about the homeward journey, which was mostly down hill, he admits, adversely affected his playing, but not so his choice of words for the neighbour when he returned the bike.
Such was Willie’s tenacity, that on learning that a visitor was to be entertained at his uncle’s home 20 miles away in West Bolton, he ventured forth and had a very enjoyable evening. He travelled home as usual by pushbike through a snowstorm, getting a lift part of the way, arriving home at 7 a.m. The surprising fact about that night was that it was 1938, he was 30 years old and it was the first time he had heard the Northumbrian Pipes.
The artiste who impressed Willie most locally was called Tommy Marshall, who was Willie Taylor’s wife’s grandfather, a small built man with an easy style of playing that had he been living now, with modern equipment, would really have made a name for himself.
It’s about 20 years ago that Willie reverted to playing the mouth-organ and entered Festival Competitions all over the country, winning cups and medals for playing and composing tunes, some of which have been published in the Alnwick Pipers’ Society Music Book. His composing of tunes called the “Anthony Robb Hornpipe”, “Reedswire Hornpipe” and “Glen Allan Hornpipe” could result in the conclusion that the hornpipe was his favourite tempo.
Among his long, long list of accomplishments has been to provide backing for the champion clog dancer, Johnson Ellwood from Hexham, guesting at all types of Clubs, workshop instruction and has only last month at Festivals like Sidmouth sit on stage playing intermittently for 7 hours over 2 days with the other musicians, spain, Orkney and Spain in recent times.
For a beginner intending to learn the mouth organ, Willie’s advice is to look for an instrument that will provide a regular volume of sound when all the notes are played from top to bottom of the scale. The frame should have a flat face with a 16th of an inch raised comb, and must be easy to blow, and much to Willie’s regret that he did not learn to read music.
We are very much looking forward to having Willie and his friends – billed as “The Shepherd’s” – as guests at Kelso Club on Wednesday, December 16th, 1992.
Box and Fiddle
October 1992
The musical influence during his early years arose from his mother’s side of the family, as there were four fiddle players out of the nine family members and at that time his musical ability was expressed by playing the mouth organ. His father’s side of the family were not musically inclined.
It was when he was fourteen years old that he left school and his prowess as a musician developed rapidly when he became employed, and lodged with his grandparents, as a shepherd. He is very much indebted to them for their encouragement which was shown by them organising musical evenings in their home with the family members and friends who performed, and when records and a gramophone were obtained, they then learned new tunes.
This arrangement led to Willie becoming proficient with a two rowed button keyed melodeon, progressing to a three row chromatic, and locally, travelling by pushbike to play at kirns.
He purchased his musical instruments from J. M. Cameron’s Music Shop in Greenlaw, and this was his main source for finding out which artists were performing at the Border’s venues. This enabled him to hear all the top notchers of that era, including Will Hannah, Eddie Quinn and eventually Will Starr and Jimmy Shand and all the other stars.
Bill met a local lass, Isabella Douglas at a dance, whom he married and they produced a daughter and four sons.
He vividly recalls the first time he heard Jimmy Shand’s Band which included the left-handed fiddler, Dave Ireland, playing at a Greenlaw dance. Sitting there listening open mouthed, being so impressed with the high standard of playing, that at the end of the night, obtaining permission to have a tune with Jimmy’s accordion, was so excited, he (in Willie’s words) “couldn’t get a tune out of the damned thing!” Mind you, that was only the first time. Bill often played Jimmy’s accordion at dances during the interval.
Such was their friendship, that while Willie and Isabella were at Cupar on holiday, they read a poster stating that Jimmy Shand was to be playing at Coupar Angus that evening. Bill phoned Jimmy, who said “Och man, just come to the house, we will see you get there all right” so after crossing on the Newport Ferry, they eventually arrived at the Shand home in Dundee and on entering the house they smelt fried kippers, and when asked if they would like kippers for tea, Willie then said “yes, on one condition”. “What’s that” said Jimmy “well I can use my fingers like you are” says Willie. “Of course” says Jimmy “that’s the best way!”
The first dance that Willie played at was in 1926, which consisted of travelling with a pushbike with the accordion case strapped on the back.
This procedure led to some unforgettable moments like the night cycling over the Moor, on a road thinking he knew it better than he did, when having passed over a rise, being suddenly confronted with a five barred gate, somersaulting, while sailing through the air and landing on the soft verge, miraculously unhurt with the accordion still on his back.
Not so the pushbike; the front wheel and forks and the frame were badly bent. Eventually struggling to make it manageable to continue, the frame was replaced and the other parts were straightened while he was playing at the dance. The surprising thing about that particular episode was that the front wheel tyre was not damaged.
Another occasion was when Willie’s kind-hearted neighbour offered him his new pride and joy, a now handlebar job (as Willie now says “with your backside sticking up in the air”) racing type bike and of course with hindsight this journey of 22 miles turned into a nightmare. Once he had travelled too far, because of the time constraint, to turn back, he suddenly began to feel the strain of leaning over the low handlebars, while the accordion on his back was wanting to come forward over his head and all the while sitting on as uncomfortable a seat as you can imagine, there was terrific relief when he got to his venue. His thought, while playing at the dance that night, was about the homeward journey, which was mostly down hill, he admits, adversely affected his playing, but not so his choice of words for the neighbour when he returned the bike.
Such was Willie’s tenacity, that on learning that a visitor was to be entertained at his uncle’s home 20 miles away in West Bolton, he ventured forth and had a very enjoyable evening. He travelled home as usual by pushbike through a snowstorm, getting a lift part of the way, arriving home at 7 a.m. The surprising fact about that night was that it was 1938, he was 30 years old and it was the first time he had heard the Northumbrian Pipes.
The artiste who impressed Willie most locally was called Tommy Marshall, who was Willie Taylor’s wife’s grandfather, a small built man with an easy style of playing that had he been living now, with modern equipment, would really have made a name for himself.
It’s about 20 years ago that Willie reverted to playing the mouth-organ and entered Festival Competitions all over the country, winning cups and medals for playing and composing tunes, some of which have been published in the Alnwick Pipers’ Society Music Book. His composing of tunes called the “Anthony Robb Hornpipe”, “Reedswire Hornpipe” and “Glen Allan Hornpipe” could result in the conclusion that the hornpipe was his favourite tempo.
Among his long, long list of accomplishments has been to provide backing for the champion clog dancer, Johnson Ellwood from Hexham, guesting at all types of Clubs, workshop instruction and has only last month at Festivals like Sidmouth sit on stage playing intermittently for 7 hours over 2 days with the other musicians, spain, Orkney and Spain in recent times.
For a beginner intending to learn the mouth organ, Willie’s advice is to look for an instrument that will provide a regular volume of sound when all the notes are played from top to bottom of the scale. The frame should have a flat face with a 16th of an inch raised comb, and must be easy to blow, and much to Willie’s regret that he did not learn to read music.
We are very much looking forward to having Willie and his friends – billed as “The Shepherd’s” – as guests at Kelso Club on Wednesday, December 16th, 1992.
Box and Fiddle
October 1992