Various Artists
Album: Favourite Scottish Songs
Label: Greentrax
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.greentrax.com

This is Volume 16 of the ongoing Celtic Collections series put out by Scotland's premier label, and its appearance results from discussions between label boss Ian Green and piper/pipe-maker Hamish Moore about the need for a CD of "favourite Scottish songs" to be available in Scottish schools as a simple tool for teachers to introduce Scotland's rich song heritage to their pupils. And I honestly couldn't wish for a better collection, on the grounds of choice of material alone.

Scottish tradition, Burns and contemporary songwriting are all duly represented - and by what many would consider among the very finest versions available on record. So, to a great extent, this is a "what it says on the tin" job, but actually it's way more than that, due principally to the sheer quality and authenticity of the performances, which have been so very carefully chosen by the expert compilers (the two men mentioned above) from the wealth of recordings curated by the label. Except, that is, for two recordings made specially for the compilation: Rod Paterson singing Burns' Ae Fond Kiss and Tom Laurie performing the Proclaimers' widely-sung Scotland's Story.

The generous selection of a cappella tracks here (five out of the eleven) is completed by Sheena Wellington's immensely stirring and historically important recording of A Man's A Man which she sang at the reopening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999; Fiona Forbes' excellent account of Sic A Parcel O' Rogues In A Nation (sourced from The Sangsters' Sharp And Sweet album); and Gordeanna McCulloch's spirited interpretation of In Freendship's Name. Amongst the solid-gold classics also included on this collection, we find Davy Steele's account of My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose from the early Ceolbeg album An Unfair Dance), Jim Reid's persuasive rendition of The Freedom Come All Ye; and perhaps the finest of Dick Gaughan's several recordings of his iconic Both Sides The Tweed (culled from the now-deleted STUC Centenary Album). And what a brilliant decision to include Karine Polwart's sublime Follow The Heron, now a deserved repertoire standard worthy of a pole position in anyone's list of favourite Scottish songs.

My only quarrel with this album is that at 39 minutes it's way too short. But hey, does it fulfil its purpose? You bet - and I honestly can't think of a better ambassador for its country's song tradition, nor a more apposite collection that will surely encourage a key section of its target audience (children) to further investigate the massive treasury of Scottish song outwith the boundaries of tourist cliché.

David Kidman