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Eilean: The Island Photography of Margaret Fay Shaw
Margaret Fay Shaw took her first photographs of the Hebrides in 1924 whilst travelling through the islands by bicycle. It was her photography which first brought her to the attention of folklorist John Lorne Campbell, and after their marriage in 1935 they began their unique career together, creating the world's finest treasury of Hebridean song, story, image and folklore.Her collection of some 9,000 photographs and film were taken mainly on the Hebridean islands of Uist, Barra, Mingulay, Eriskay, Canna and the Irish Aran Islands, and form a key part of the magnificent Campbell collections at Canna House, where she and John made their home for 60 years. In 1981 they gifted the island of Canna and its collections to the National Trust for Scotland, who now curate the material for future generations to enjoy.This book features over 100 of the best of Margaret Fay Shaw's Hebridean photographs, with extended captions by Fiona J. Mackenzie and an introductory essay by the collection's former archivist Magdalena Sagarzazu.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2018
15 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Fay Shaw
9 books2 followersMargaret Fay Shaw was born in Pennsylvania in 1903 and became an orphan when she was just eleven years old. She first crossed the Atlantic to Scotland to visit family friends when she was sixteen, and stayed on to attend school in Helensburgh for a year, where she was introduced to and became enthralled by Gaelic music and culture.
She studied music in New York and then in Paris, but longed to return to Scotland, which she felt was her spiritual home. She embarked on a bicycle tour of the UK from Oxford to the Isle of Skye, supporting herself by selling her photographs to newspapers and magazines such as the Listener.
Finally she arrived on South Uist, a place of which she later said, "There was something about [it] that just won me; it was like falling in love; it was the island that I wanted to go back to." She lived on the island in Lochboisdale for six years with two sisters, Mairi and Peigi Macrae, whose family maintained a strong Gaelic oral tradition. The sisters shared this tradition with Margaret, who transcribed and learned their songs and tales with great enthusiasm. This collection of song and lore was eventually published by Routledge and Kegan Paul in 1955 as Folksongs and Folklore of South Uist. Providing a valuable insight into life in the small crofting community of South Uist in the 1930s, the book has never since been out of print, and a new edition was published by Birlinn in 1999.
Margaret Fay Shaw met the folklorist John Lorne Campbell when he was co-producing The Book of Barra, a collection of the island’s history and traditions. In need of striking illustrations for the book, and having heard of Margaret’s photography, the young Campbell volunteered to go to meet her. The two were married a year later in 1935 and initially lived on Barra before buying Canna, a small Hebridean island to the south-west of Skye. In 1981 they gave the island to the National Trust for Scotland.
She studied music in New York and then in Paris, but longed to return to Scotland, which she felt was her spiritual home. She embarked on a bicycle tour of the UK from Oxford to the Isle of Skye, supporting herself by selling her photographs to newspapers and magazines such as the Listener.
Finally she arrived on South Uist, a place of which she later said, "There was something about [it] that just won me; it was like falling in love; it was the island that I wanted to go back to." She lived on the island in Lochboisdale for six years with two sisters, Mairi and Peigi Macrae, whose family maintained a strong Gaelic oral tradition. The sisters shared this tradition with Margaret, who transcribed and learned their songs and tales with great enthusiasm. This collection of song and lore was eventually published by Routledge and Kegan Paul in 1955 as Folksongs and Folklore of South Uist. Providing a valuable insight into life in the small crofting community of South Uist in the 1930s, the book has never since been out of print, and a new edition was published by Birlinn in 1999.
Margaret Fay Shaw met the folklorist John Lorne Campbell when he was co-producing The Book of Barra, a collection of the island’s history and traditions. In need of striking illustrations for the book, and having heard of Margaret’s photography, the young Campbell volunteered to go to meet her. The two were married a year later in 1935 and initially lived on Barra before buying Canna, a small Hebridean island to the south-west of Skye. In 1981 they gave the island to the National Trust for Scotland.
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May 30, 2021
Back in February 2020 my GR Friend Lori reviewed a book of photos covering Halloween in America in the past.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Commenting on her review, I sent a link to photos of Halloween in the 1930s on the Scottish island of South Uist, taken by the American -born folklorist Margaret Fay Shaw.
The exchange prompted me to look up Shaw’s wider collection of photos, and I ordered this book from my local library. Of course the library shut for the pandemic shortly after I placed the order. It’s only just re-opened and I was finally able to collect the book.
Margaret Fay Shaw (1903-2004) was an American-born folklorist who spent most of her life in the Scottish Hebrides, where she was fascinated by the language, song and culture. Incidentally the title “Eilean” is the Scottish Gaelic word for “island”.
(Portrait of Margaret Fay Shaw)
The book contains photos from the islands of Skye, South Uist, Mingulay, Barra, Eriskay, and Canna. I’ve visited all of these islands so in many cases I was able to compare the captured scenes with those of the present day. The book also has photos from St Kilda and from the Aran Isles of Ireland, which I haven’t personally been to. The St. Kildans lived off the flesh and eggs of seabirds caught on the island, and one of the photos shows a local man hooking a seabird on a sheer cliff, with the sea hundreds of feet below.
This is mainly just a book of photos, with limited text, although what there is often fun. The caption for the photo below was “The Hebrideans are full of music and they sing at work and play. My landlady’s cow, Dora, would not give milk without the accompaniment of a song.”
Not all the photos in the collection are a success by modern day standards, especially the landscape shots. The grainy black and white images don’t capture the landscapes. The photos that really stand out are the ones that capture the life and customs of the Hebrides a century ago.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Commenting on her review, I sent a link to photos of Halloween in the 1930s on the Scottish island of South Uist, taken by the American -born folklorist Margaret Fay Shaw.
The exchange prompted me to look up Shaw’s wider collection of photos, and I ordered this book from my local library. Of course the library shut for the pandemic shortly after I placed the order. It’s only just re-opened and I was finally able to collect the book.
Margaret Fay Shaw (1903-2004) was an American-born folklorist who spent most of her life in the Scottish Hebrides, where she was fascinated by the language, song and culture. Incidentally the title “Eilean” is the Scottish Gaelic word for “island”.
(Portrait of Margaret Fay Shaw)
The book contains photos from the islands of Skye, South Uist, Mingulay, Barra, Eriskay, and Canna. I’ve visited all of these islands so in many cases I was able to compare the captured scenes with those of the present day. The book also has photos from St Kilda and from the Aran Isles of Ireland, which I haven’t personally been to. The St. Kildans lived off the flesh and eggs of seabirds caught on the island, and one of the photos shows a local man hooking a seabird on a sheer cliff, with the sea hundreds of feet below.
This is mainly just a book of photos, with limited text, although what there is often fun. The caption for the photo below was “The Hebrideans are full of music and they sing at work and play. My landlady’s cow, Dora, would not give milk without the accompaniment of a song.”
Not all the photos in the collection are a success by modern day standards, especially the landscape shots. The grainy black and white images don’t capture the landscapes. The photos that really stand out are the ones that capture the life and customs of the Hebrides a century ago.
Displaying 1 of 1 review