According to the Internet source given below, James Henry Miller, better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was an English folk singer, songwriter, communist, labour activist, actor, poet, playwright and record producer.
MacColl was born in Broughton, Salford, Lancashire, to Scottish parents. Living amongst a group of Scots he was brought up in an atmosphere of fierce political debate interspersed with the large repertoire of songs and stories his parents had brought from Scotland. He was educated at Grecian Street School in Broughton.
In 1953 he changed the focus of his career from acting and playwriting to singing and composing folk and topical songs. MacColl recorded and produced upwards of a hundred albums, many with English folk song collector and singer A.L. Lloyd
His falling in love with and subsequent marriage to the 21-year-old Peggy Seeger was controversial. His song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was used by Seeger for a play she was appearing in.
Dirty Old Town, one of his many songs of note, was written in 1949 and made popular by the The Dubliners
MacColl died in the Brompton Hospital, in London. His autobiography Journeyman was published in 1990. The lifetime archive of his work with Peggy Seeger and others was passed on to Ruskin College in Oxford.

Websites:
	Ewan MacColl	Biography by wikipedia.org.