The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Lasting musical memories
Andrew Lendrum gets in touch to tell of an upcoming celebration of Angus’s legendary Jim Cameron Band – the first such event in living memory in their home town.
The Kirriemuir outfit, shown right, was Scotland’s premier dance band both before and after the Second World War, and Andrew says: “Jim was a natural fiddler who took the unusual step of introducing the cornet to his line-up.
“The resulting ‘sound’ was a huge success. He played with his three brothers, Will, Stewart and George, known as the Cameron Men, and with a variety of others as ‘The Occasionals’.
“The band probably made over 100 recordings for the very popular Beltona label and were without a doubt the company’s biggest name in the post-war period. The band won international recognition.
“Later, Will Cameron’s son, Angus, began to emerge as one of the most talented young fiddle players of his generation in the 1950s.
“In 1963, he was responsible for forming the Angus Strathspey and Reel Society, one of their most memorable appearances being in Blair Castle in 1973 with the worldfamous violinist Yehudi Menuhin.
“The Saltire Society Kirriemuir branch will present, on Thursday February 24 at 7.30pm in Kirriemuir Parish Church Hall, an evening devoted to the Camerons.
“Ewan Cameron will outline the history of the band and the family members involved, showing many historical mementoes of those times. Malcolm Cameron will talk about his father Angus, and Lindsay Downie will play various tunes associated with the family on the violins of Jim and Angus.
“There will also be some recordings of the band on 78s. I also wonder if any of your readers might know what became of Dod Michie and Henry Webster?
“May Cameron was Jim’s daughter and only died a few months ago. It is her nephews who are presenting this event.”
1930s saw cargo records set
An illustrated news item in The Courier
caught the attention of a regular Craigie reader who has taken a keen interest in Tayside ports and shipping for many years.
The subject was the cargo ship Ha Long Bay, which recently discharged a substantial consignment of packaged plywood at Dundee. At 32,000 tons deadweight and 177m in length, she is one of the largest dry cargo ships to have berthed in the port.
He emails: “A few months ago I received from a relative a news cuttings book mainly covering the years 1935-36 with most of the articles on the subject of Dundee harbour and its shipping, personnel, industries, etc.
“In particular was an item headed ‘Shipping Activity in the Tay – Dundee’s Busiest Month Since the War’.
“The largest cargo of all was 8,000 tons of crude oil by the Tynefield. Two vessels brought 8,250 tons of sugar and odd craft, 1,077 tons of flax, fully 2,000 tons of oilcake and 700 tons of bran and flour.
“Three coasters landed slag and three cement. Other cargoes included whiting, gravel, beet pulp, pitch pine logs, salt, machinery, linseed, batching oil and china clay. Outwards five vessels loaded approximately 4,500 tons of stone chips, while there were also exported eight cargoes of potatoes and two each of grain and – for the first time in almost two years – liquid tar.
“Foreign flag vessels, 17 in number, captured a fair proportion of the traffic. Those included six Dutchmen all engaged in the coastal trade, three German, two
American, three Swedes, a Norwegian, a Russian, an Estonian and a Finn.
“The article then went on to report on the jute trade and local shipbuilding. Storms were also reported on, with details of ships on route to Dundee sheltering at anchorages to the north including Scrabster, Dunnet Bay and Longhope, while the Dutch coaster Ida remained for a few days at Banff.
“A further news item appeared later that year headed ‘Newburgh Booms as a Port’, which reported on the upriver traffic to the Fife harbour. It read, ‘All shipping records at Newburgh were broken during October when 23 ships arrived to load stone chips for the south. The trade has been captured by Dutch motor coasters, only six of the larger cargoes in British bottoms. Of the total tonnage of 3,600, only 1,350 was British.’
“The article continued, ‘The phenomenal progress of Newburgh as a port of call for seagoing cargo-carrying vessels can best be judged when it is recalled that only four vessels visited the piers in 1932 and one in 1933. The stone trade started about 1935. The Dutchmen made a good start for November when the motor ship Pallas went upstream on the first of the month’.”
Our reader concludes: “The British steamer Border Firth was reported loading the day the article was published. It would be interesting to know how many of the companies in the Dundee area involved in handling the aforementioned cargoes are still in business today?”