Sydney MacEwan

Who was Sydney MacEwan?

Canon Sydney Alfred MacEwan was a Scottish tenor and singer of traditional Scottish and Irish songs.

He was born and brought up in the Springburn area of Glasgow by his mother alone after his father left the family. Sydney was the younger of two brothers. His mother was Irish, from near Portadown, and his father was born in Partick. The family were poor but Sydney's mother managed to pay for music lessons for both her sons and both won bursaries to good schools. Sydney attended the renowned Jesuit St Aloysius' College in the Garnethill area of the city from 1919 to 1924, before transferring to Hillhead Academy. When he was 12, Sydney's brother entered him into an end-of-the-pier talent show in Dunoon. Come the Grand Final of the contest at the end of the summer, Sydney was the clear winner, receiving a prize of five shillings and half a crown.

At the age of 18, Sydney MacEwan entered training to become a Jesuit priest at Manresa House in Roehampton, London, but left after a deeply unsatisfactory first term. He chose to study at Glasgow University instead. While at university, his vocal talents were noticed and he began a singing career on the advice of Sir Compton Mackenzie and John McCormack. He began recording for Parlophone in 1934 while still attending the Royal Academy of Music in London. He toured in 1936, playing to audiences in Canada, the United States and Australia, and the tour was repeated in 1938 with even greater success.