Introduction

This introductory chapter presents the subject matter of the book and the research questions on which the ethnography is based. Included in the chapter are a discussion of previous and related literature and information on the field research and methodology employed during fieldwork. A historical overview is included which covers music in worship in North-East Scotland from the Reformation of the sixteenth century to the rise of Evangelicalism in the nineteenth century and key events within that time. The chapter closes with a discussion of North-East Scottish fishing communities themselves in terms of their history and culture.