strangers on their patch and when things started to get a bit uncomfortable Sir John again felt the need to move on.

He was drawn to Atlanta, Georgia; a place steeped in blues tradition and was soon frequenting bars and clubs where blues players would hang out. He met a girl, Ellie Mae McIntyre; they fell in love and lived together for a couple of years until Sir John received a letter from home. An elderly family benefactor had offered support for re-establishing the family estate and asked if he would return home to resume his position and run the estate. Two months later he had gone, amidst much sadness and many tears, vowing to return and take Ellie back to England… but neither of them knew that Ellie was pregnant.

Robert was born in a glorious late summer of 1950 and, loving Sir John as she did and hoping to join him soon, Ellie gave him the family name Hamilton. She loved Robert and tried to keep him close and free from harm but as he grew he was fascinated by the sounds from the nearby railway yard and when his mother was at work, would sneak through a hole in the fence and spend time there whenever he could. There was a lot of music around the railway and Robert loved to sit and watch old bluesmen playing in the back of boxcars and quiet station rooms but it was always drums and percussion that fascinated him – the rhythm of the trains on the rails must have got into his blood. With no money for a proper drum kit he started playing with an old bass drum pedal one of the guys had given him, fixed to a bracket on an outhouse wall, a tin can for a snare drum and a big metal disc for a cymbal and practised ‘til his hands bled. Ellie realised you can’t stop the inevitable and encouraged him in his passion by bringing home books on blues history and old 78’s of early blues recordings.

In 1975 Robert moved to England to look for his Father, who was overjoyed to learn he had son and gave Robert a small cottage on the estate to live in and play his music. He joined a very young band, Reverent Swamp, which was likened by a local music critic to the early Rolling Stones. Much of the 80’s were spent with infamous Captain Webb, later the Dave Bell trio, playing a mixture of blues, pop and rock music. In 1996 Christophe called and along with Paul J. Pristine they formed Fat Hen, playing irresistible rhythm and blues, and then Mr. Mojo with American singer Charley Crow. Later the band became Dr Mojo with singer Elmore P. Johnson at the front

Sir John, by then Lord John, died in 1998 and Robert acquired the title. He persuaded Ellie to join him in England and now she lives in ‘the big house’ showing tourists around, helping to run the farm and looking after things. So, she is reunited with Robert and in many ways with Sir John – her one true love.

Robert couldn’t leave the cottage – his American roots were just too strong, so he still lives there, playing the blues with his friends from BluesTrain. So there it is – the unlikely connection between the English aristocracy and American blues music. BluesTrain and Lord Robert Hamilton – well I’ll Dust My Broom!