Dr Thomas McKean

Dr Thomas McKean The University of Aberdeen School of Education Research Fellow work +44 (0)1224 273882 work +44 (0)1224 272996 work fax +44(0)1224 272728 pref t.a.mckean@abdn.ac.uk pref The Elphinstone Institute MacRobert Building King's College Aberdeen AB24 5UA

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Biography

I am a general folklorist specializing in Scots and Gaelic song, along with custom and belief, and fieldwork methodology. Of particular interest is the relationship of traditional practices to the individual, the role of creativity in tradition and in how singers acquire and adapt material to their own circumstances.

As part of the James Madison Carpenter Project team, I have catalogued and transcribed cylinder and disc recordings of North East singers made between 1929 and 1935, leading towards publication of the critical edition, beginning in 2012. The project has been funded by the British Academy and the National Endowment for the Humanities under the auspices of the American Folklore Society, and in association with the Library of Congress, Washington, DC (www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/carpenter).

My postgraduate teaching includes Custom and Belief, Scots and Gaelic Song, along with Fieldwork and Archiving methodology, and I'm in charge of the Elphinstone Institute Archives.

In August, 2007, the Institute hosted the Kommission für Volksdichtung's annual ballad conference. Eight years ago, I organized the conference in Aberdeen. This time around, we gave participants a taste of Scotland's other half, hosting the conference at Balmacara on the west coast. 65 delegates presented papers on "songs of people on the move and in the margins"; a selection of refereed papers is currently in preparation for publication in 2010.

In 1993, I established the North East Folklore Archive at Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire as part of my work as Traditional Music Resident for Banff and Buchan District Council (now Aberdeeenshire), 1993-1996. The archive has continued to develop under the direction of Gavin Sutherland and much of my fieldwork material is now available on the web at the Banff and Buchan Collection.

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Current Research

Current research includes:

• Scotland's fire festivals, particularly the burning of the Clavie in Burghead, Moray;
• creativity within traditional forms
• New England vernacular architecture;
• the effects of field collection in the North East;
• macaronic song traditions;
• the relationship of memory and song in west coast Gaelic communities. 

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Publications

Contributions to Journals

Articles

• McKean, T. (2001). 'The Fieldwork Legacy of James Macpherson'. Journal of American Folklore, vol 114, no. 454, pp. 447-463.
  [Online] DOI: 10.2307/542050

Reviews of Books, Films and Articles

• McKean, T. (2008). 'David Atkinson, The English Traditional Ballad: Theory, Method, and Practice'. Estudos de Literatura Oral, vol 13-14, pp. 349-351.

Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings

Chapters

• McKean, T. (2008). 'Le souvenir des cultures disparues dans l’Écosse gaélique: tradition orale, James Macpherson et la nature de la mémoire'. J Rio, F Chappe & F Postic (eds), in: Memory, Orality and Culture in the Celtic Countries: Arthurian Legend and Celticism. Presses universitaires de Rennes, Rennes, France, pp. 147.
• McKean, T. (2007). 'Gettin the Wey o a Sang: Creativity in Ballad Singing'. F Fischer & S Rieuwerts (eds), in: Emily Lyle: The Persistent Scholar. BASIS, vol. 5, WVT, Trier, Germany, pp. 154-168.

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