| Biography | Marc Floyd Ellington OStJ DL HonFRIAS (16 December 1945-17 February 2021) was an American-born British folk and folk-rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bagpiper. He recorded in Britain in the late 1960s and 1970s, and became active in conservation work in Scotland, restoring his home at Towie Barclay Castle, Aberdeenshire.
Ellington moved to Britain to avoid the Vietnam War draft, and in 1967, he was married in London.
A singer-songwriter and guitarist, Ellington made his first recordings in London for Philips Records in 1968. He also provided backing vocals on Fairport Convention's third album, Unhalfbricking, in 1969, and appeared on former Fairport Convention member Ian Matthews' debut solo album Matthews' Southern Comfort. Ellington recorded his second solo album, Rains/Reins of Changes in 1971, for the B&C label. He then returned to the Philips label for two further albums, A Question of Roads (1972) and Restoration (1974). His final solo album, Marc Time, was issued by Transatlantic Records in 1975. Marc Time was also the name of a folk music series presented by Ellington on Grampian Television in the 1970s.
He became a British citizen in 1979 through the naturalization process. He continued to perform, often working on recordings with Richard and Linda Thompson, and occasionally performing at Fairport Convention's Cropredy Festival. In later years he performed in local Scottish clubs, and to help promote tourism in Scotland. He developed close ties with Scotland he played bagpipes on recordings, and dedicated one track to the National Trust for Scotland. In the late 1960s, he and his wife Karen bought Towie Barclay Castle, near Turriff in Aberdeenshire, which had fallen into "a desperate state of disrepair". The restoration, which was financed by Ellington's music work, took several years to complete, and won a Saltire Award in 1973. Ellington and his wife and family continued to live in the castle. Later, Marc and Karen Ellington took over Lairdship of the villages of Gardenstown and Crovie, and the Tomnaverie stone circle, one of the recumbent stone circles characteristic of Northeast Scotland.
Marc Ellington was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Aberdeen in 2015 because of his conservation work, and was appointed the Deputy Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire on 26 October 1984, and a member of the Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for Scotland. He was also a board member of the Historic Buildings Council (19801988), the Grampian Enterprise and the British Heritage Committee. He was a non-executive director of Historic Scotland (20052011), a board member of Banff and Buchan College and a Trustee of the National Galleries of Scotland (20022010). He set up the Scottish Traditional Skills Training Centre.
In 2015, he led a project to erect a cairn to those from the Cabrach area who lost their lives during the First World War, which was inaugurated by the Prince of Wales. A keen sailor, he also commentated at the annual Portsoy Small Boats Festival. |