Donald Angus Beaton

Donald Angus Beaton
Birth name	Donald Angus Beaton
Born	1912
Origin	Mabou, Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada[1]
Died	1981 (aged 68-69)
Occupation(s)	blacksmith, fiddler, composer

Donald Angus Beaton (1912–1981) was a Canadian blacksmith and a Cape Breton-style fiddler.^[2]

Early life

Beaton was the son of Angus R. Beaton (Aonghas Raonuill) and Annie Belle Campbell.^[1]

Career

Beaton performed traditional fiddle tunes, as well as more than 50 of his own compositions.^[3][4] He was well-known as a dance fiddler.^[5][6]

He often played and recorded with family members. The albums The Beatons Of Mabou - Marches, Jigs, Strathspeys & Reels of the Highland Scot and Cape Breton Fiddle and Piano Music, The Beaton Family of Mabou feature his compositions played by his family.^[7] He also published a book of his tunes.

Discography

• The Beatons Of Mabou - Marches, Jigs, Strathspeys & Reels of the Highland Scot . Rounder LP 7011 ^[8][9] The Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
• Cape Breton Fiddle and Piano Music, The Beaton Family of Mabou Smithsonian Folkways 40507
• Live at the House^[10]

Publications

• Donald Angus Beaton's Cape Breton Scottish Violin Music. Cranford Publishers. Englishtown, Nova Scotia. 1987.^[11]

Personal

His son is the popular Cape Breton fiddler Kinnon Beaton.^[12] Andrea Beaton, Kinnon's daughter is also a fiddler.^[13]

References

1. MacGillivary, Allister (1981). The Cape Breton Fiddler. p. 80. ISBN 0-920336-12-4.
2. Fintan Vallely (1 September 1999). The Companion to Irish Traditional Music. NYU Press. pp. 52–. ISBN 978-0-8147-8802-8.
3. June Skinner Sawyers (2001). Celtic Music: A Complete Guide. Perseus (for Hbg). pp. 76–. ISBN 978-0-306-81007-7.
4. "Willie Fraser’s dancing feet carried Gaelic traditions through Nova Scotia". ALLISON LAWLOR The Globe and Mail, Apr. 15, 2015
5. Old Time Herald. Old-Time Music Group. 2005. pp. 104–105.
6. Bob Mersereau (1 March 2015). The History of Canadian Rock 'n' Roll. Backbeat Books. pp. 168–. ISBN 978-1-4950-2890-8.
7. Folkways
8. Ryan J. Thomson (1985). The Fiddler's Almanac. Captain Fiddle Publications. pp. 104–. ISBN 978-0-931877-00-1.
9. Rounder Lps
10. Lori Henry (1 January 2012). Dancing Through History: In Search of the Stories That Define Canada. Dancing Traveller Publishing. pp. 47–. ISBN 978-0-9876897-7-1.
11. Drew Beisswenger (31 May 2011). North American Fiddle Music: A Research and Information Guide. Routledge. pp. 285–. ISBN 978-1-135-84722-7.
12. Carol Corbin; Judith A. Rolls (1996). The Centre of the World at the Edge of a Continent. Cape Breton University Press. pp. 214–. ISBN 978-0-920336-82-3.
13. Ian Russell; Mary Anne Alburger (2008). Driving the Bow: Fiddle and Dance Studies from Around the North Atlantic 2. Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen. pp. 145–148. ISBN 978-0-9545682-5-2.