Ewan MacColl

Ewan MacColl was born Jimmie Miller in Salford, Lancashire, in 1915. His father, William Miller, was an iron-moulder, militant trade-unionist and communist who had left his native Stirlingshire in his mid-twenties. His mother, Betsy Hendry, was from Auchterarder, Perthshire. Both parents were active left-wing socialists and from his earliest days, MacColl was familiar with the cut-and-thrust of political discussion and argument. Equally important in the life of the household were the songs and stories his parents brought from Scotland - a huge repertoire with which his father and mother kept themselves and their friends entertained.