Nora given Hall of Fame place
The ‘ Hands Up for Trad’ organisation has announced that Linlithgow’s Nora Devine will be inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.
The event will take place at the 2020 Scots Trad Music Awards in the Caird Hall, Dundee on Saturday, December 5.
She will be included in the ‘Services to Community’ section, where the nominees are all individuals who have worked tirelessly to help their community and enrich the lives of others through selfless service or charitable work.
This section of the Hall of Fame started in 2015.
From the mid-1960s, Nora ran the famous Linlithgow Folk Club, which started at the ‘ Football and Cricketers’ Arms’ and welcomed some of the biggest names in traditional music at that time.
The club was also credited with giving an early performing opportunity to young musicians and singers who went on to greater things.
Included among these were people like Aly Bain, Barbara Dickson and the McCalmans.
Nora acted as an adviser to the steering group which set up the Linlithgow Folk Festival, but sadly passed away just two weeks before the first event in September 1999.
A memorial concert, featuring many of Nora’s musical friends and associates, took place in 2000 and among those taking part was the acclaimed singer and songwriter, Ian Walker.
Ian was closely involved with Linlithgow Folk Club in the early part of his career and knew Nora well.
He was delighted to hear about the Hall of Fame announcement.
He said: “Nora Devine was the warmhearted, unassuming host at Linlithgow Folk Club. In fact, Nora was Linlithgow Folk Club and Linlithgow Folk Club was Nora. In contrast to many other clubs, there was no committee or panel to decide which acts to book or which “policies” to have - there was just Nora. I was involved from around 1982 to 1995 when the club was in The
Star and Garter and The Black Bitch. Nora was always located by the door and would welcome people with a genuine smile and an affectionate twinkle in her eye. She had a profound love of folk music in all its forms from traditional to contemporary and she always seemed genuinely pleased to have this love shared by all who attended. She booked a diverse range of artists from well weathered performers, like The McCalmans and Dick Gaughan, to unknown upcoming acts for whom she unstintingly offered a platform to showcase their talents. Nora also liked to encourage members to help in the running of the folk club.”
Ian added thay Nora’s freindly nature meant the club was always well run and said she would have been delighted to get her award.
He said: “I don’t recall any serious squabbles, tussles or rammies about the choice of acts or the way the club was run. The ethos she engendered meant that no one grandstanded or stepped over marks as everyone recognised that Nora, in her typically benevolent way, was ultimately the first word and the last. For Nora to have been inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame is simply fantastic. The award ‘recognises individuals that work tirelessly to help their community and enrich the lives of others through selfless or charitable work’. Nora was never one for being in the limelight and would have been modestly astonished at receiving this award.”
Ian wrote a song about Nora which has been recorded by many artists and is always the opening number on Linlithgow Folk Festival’s outdoor Nora Devine Stage at the cross.
This initiative allows young talent the opportunity to perform right at the heart of the folk festival and is always one of the highlights of the five- day musical extravaganza in September.
The folk festival will not take place this year, but the festival association continues to organise regular sessions and other online events and full details can be found on the Facebook page and the website www. linlithgowfolk.com.