Minstrel Heart: A Life in Story

by David Campbell, Tom Pow (Preface)

Guruji 'Sing not the song that others have sung. Sing only what you yourself have realised in your own heart.'

What I've realised in my own heart is that its song is for many, that it sings for whom it meets on its way. It does not remain at home, but is a wandering minstrel heart.

This book is the engaging and colourful memoir of celebrated Scottish storyteller David Campbell. It is an exploration of the nature of love in its many guises, and of David's lifelong love of story. Join David as he tells his story from childhood in wartime Fraserburgh to a holiday job with a dramatic and life-changing conclusion, through a pivotal role as a BBC radio producer at the time of the Scottish renaissance of writing, drama and folk traditions, and finally to his international career as an acclaimed storyteller, mentored by celebrated tinker-traveller Duncan Williamson.

The roots of things in my life have always been the love of words, stories, poetry and people, and the joy of bringing them together; it is there that I find the deepest meaning and the sweetest music.

420 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 8, 2021

About the author

David Campbell was born in Edinburgh and spent his childhood in the story, and song, rich North-East of Scotland, where he gained a lifelong passion for the poetry and power of the word. His secondary education was at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh and he graduated with honours in English from the University of Edinburgh. He worked in BBC Scotland for many years, devising, scripting and directing a wide variety of radio programmes. He has also reviewed books and drama extensively in the Scottish press and published poems and short stories in Scottish literary magazines such as Chapman, Words and Textualities. He co-wrote a children's book, The Three Donalds, wrote two collections of stories, and authored a literary ceilidh of the great traveller, Duncan Williamson. As a popular ambassador of Scottish lore and literature, he has toured extensively with his repertoire of talks and stories. He currently lives in Edinburgh.