Biography
Roy Murdoch Buchanan Williamson (1936 - 1990) was a Scottish songwriter and folk musician. Born on June 25, 1936 in Edinburgh, his father was a lawyer who committed suicide in 1944. His mother was a talented pianist who often took her two sons to music events. Roy began naval studies before attending the Edinburgh College of Art, where in 1955 he met Ronnie Browne, with whom he would create "The Corries". The band will be announced at the Edinburgh Festival, in their first performance they had 8 spectators only until the end of the festival they filled the halls in each of their performances. They were playing traditional folk music and soon they became very successful.
The traditional music club scene flourished in Scotland at the time, the two musicians were teaching in high schools during the day and playing in clubs at night, which gradually became increasingly difficult. When they started appearing on television and becoming famous, they were able to drop out of teaching and focus on their music. In their performances they had a carefree and comfortable style, however, in order to achieve that, they needed exhausting rehearsals and a lot of work. Roy was in charge of organising the songs and the music, Brown took care of the finance. Roy beisdes else, he wrote "Flower of Scotland", which is used as the Scottish anthem at international sporting events.
As a young man, Roy Williamson played rugby for the Edinburgh Wanderers but he suffered from asthma throughout his life. He married twice and had 2 daughters. He continued performing until the end of 1989, when he became seriously ill and eventually died of a brain tumor on August 12, 1990.