Allan Barty

Allan Barty (1 October 1949 - 17 November 2008) was a professional musician based in Dundee, Scotland. He was a well-known and respected figure within the Scottish folk music scene, playing the fiddle and mandolin predominantly. Performed throughout Scotland during the folk revival of the 1960s and 1970s as the lead member of 'Barty's Bow' folk group and performed intermittently as a session musician for TV and radio programmes. At the peak of his career, he toured as part of the 'Makem & Clancy' Irish folk group act but had many other notable musical collaborations.
The early years
Born 1 October 1949 to Lewis Stephen Barty and Barbara Barty (née Gallie) at Clement Park Nursing Home, Dundee, Scotland. A brother, Ross, was born in March 1953. The family lived in a small flat in the Hilltown area of the city and it was here that most of Barty's childhood was spent before the family moved to Foggyley Gardens in the Lochee area. As a child and a young man, Barty lived within a close family circle on his mother's side. Barty learned to play his first instrument, the violin (fiddle), from a young age; his parents funded lessons throughout his primary school years and these focussed on classical violin training. Attending Dens Road Primary School, and then Morgan Academy secondary school in Dundee, public performances became a regular feature and he was a prominent member of his school orchestra. In addition to his musical interests, Barty enjoyed playing hockey and following the results of Dundee FC throughout his school years. While his musical talent eventually led him to a career as a professional musician, Barty initially left high school to study accountancy at college, however, he soon decided that the nine-to-five lifestyle was not for him, and he felt that there was more money to be made by concentrating on his music.
His Own Family
Barty was first introduced to his wife, Margaret, through a blind date. The introduction led to a wedding in 1975; a son was born in 1978 followed soon after by a daughter in 1979. The family lived happily together in the Ardler area of Dundee until 1988 when Barty and his wife separated. Barty retained close contact with his children but the marriage separation and events leading up to it led Barty to suffer a nervous breakdown and continued depression from which he never fully recovered.
Musical career
Barty's first notable performances began with the group 'Barty's Bow' in the late 1960s and, as well as local gigs at the Dundee Folk Club, they travelled to perform at many other folk clubs around Scotland. Barty's next notable run of performances were with The Lowland Folk, another Dundee-based folk group, whom he would work with in the 1970s and later again in the 1980s. With an ever growing reputation for his skills, Barty went on to play a long list of television and radio gigs and was eventually introduced to Archie Fisher, an established folk musician moving in similar circles at the time. Fisher would eventually go on to be a part of the Irish Folk group, Makem and Clancy, and it was this link which eventually saw Barty join the group playing the fiddle and mandolin through the late 1970s and early 1980s. Performing with Makem and Clancy, Barty spent prolonged periods on tour during his children's formative years and it was this reason that led to him leaving the group in 1983 to spend more time at home with family in Dundee.
Based permanently back in Dundee, Barty began to perform locally again with The Lowland Folk and local musicians Russ Paterson and Ian Moore throughout the rest of the 1980s. Through the 1990s, Barty's skills remained in demand and he went on to work with The Careful Movers, a local rock/cover group before collaborating with George Getty, an ex band member of local Dundee act, The Wally Dugs. With Getty based in Hamburg, Germany, Barty and Getty formed Droon The Miller to play seasonal gigs around Germany in a range of festivals and events. This collaboration would be Barty's last before a combination of events led him to pack up his bow and retire.
Boozers' Home Brew
Barty had a knack for turning his hobbies into profitable enterprises alongside his musical career. He ran an event photography business in the early 1970s and then developed his love of home brew into a successful retail business during the early 1980s to replace the income that he had given up in ending his involvement with Makem and Clancy. Barty's home brew shop 'Boozers' Home Brew' was located in the market hall of the Wellgate Centre in Dundee for several years and he quickly established the business (and himself) as a specialist source of supplies and knowledge for home brew enthusiasts in the area. With the continued rise of the home brew phenomenon, national retailers, such as Boots and Superdrug, began to sell home brew kits at prices which were impossible for Barty's small business to compete with. With such unsustainable competition on the doorstep, 'Boozers Home Brew' was soon making a loss. Having always known success through his musical career, Barty found it hard to cope with the onset of business failure and he began to drink more heavily. The problems continued and 'Boozers Home Brew' ceased trading in 1985, with Barty declaring bankruptcy during the process of winding up the business.
Alcoholism and Depression
Barty suffered from alcoholism for long spells of his life and died 17 November 2008 at home in Dundee as a result of the illness. While he drank through most of his career, it only seriously interfered with his work as his levels of consumption increased for a period as a result of depression after his marriage ended. The disease would later re-emerge to the detriment of Barty's health and family life after his mother died in 2003. From then until Barty's death in 2008, Barty suffered immensely from depression and the alcoholism.
Notable musical collaborations
Barty's Bow, Scottish Folk Group, Dundee, Scotland
Makem and Clancy, Irish Folk Group, International
The Lowland Folk, Scottish Folk Group, Dundee, Scotland
The Singing Kettle, Children's Music Group, Scotland
The Careful Movers, Local Rock/Cover Group, Dundee, Scotland
Droon the Miller, Scottish and Irish Folk Group, International

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