Last night was the launch of the website of Tobar an Dualchais – Kist o Riches – always said with that doubled barreled name because it contains songs, stories, children’s rhymes and other information in Gaelic and Scots (and English too, for that matter). The Canna collection of original recordings made by John Lorne Campbell and Margaret Fay Shaw have been digitised and put online, along with many more from the archives of the School of Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University and BBC Scotland.
Author: Ray (page 7 of 8)
“The happy accumulation” of Canna House moved Kathleen Raine to poetry. In many ways the room her poem describes is still the same – ashtrays are empty and friendly bottles gone but books, pictures and owl lamp are still there, symbols of full lives and personal quirks. But this is not the kind of ‘visitor experience’ members of the National Trust for Scotland are used to. And indeed it poses a problem for the Trust.
Decades ahead of his time…he saw trawling as a threat to sustainability.
Change can be painfully slow. This week the Scottish Government condemned the waste that endangers recovery of cod in the North Sea: a third of fish caught are thrown back dead according to Richard Lochhead, Scotland’s Fisheries Secretary. Almost 80 years ago John was campaigning for sustainable fishery in Scottish waters.
He lost the use of one arm fighting Arab slave traders in central Africa. In later life that did not stop him joining the Killermount golf club in Glasgow where he played very badly but with great enthusiasm much to the dismay of caddies who had to chase after him. Fred Moir is now something of a legend in Malawi where he played an active part opening what was then British Central Africa to “trade and robust Christianity”. So what is his link with Canna?
Fred Pattison on his last visit to Canna in 2009
Sad news from Canna. One of John and Margaret’s oldest surviving friends, Fred Pattison, has died at the age of 87. He was a remarkable man, adventurous, creative, encouraging and kind. He was one of the first people to provide memories of early years on the island (including his first dram of whisky) so I am particularly sad that he died in August a month before the book was published.
Living history: the entrance to Canna House
John Lorne Campbell would have taken a keen interest in the storm over the (English) National Trust’s latest attempt to breathe new life into historic houses. He did not want the National Trust for Scotland to turn Canna into a tourist attraction and he would have been appalled at the thought of using actors and stage props to recreate the past for the benefit of visitors. Read more
In the latest review, the Daily Mail critic said I should have included more gossip. So here’s some. Read more
The name John Lorne Campbell provokes reminiscences in all sorts of people. Donald Macinnes, chief executive of Scotland Europa, mentioned the book at the members’ meeting in Glasgow and one of the participants approached me at lunchtime. Read more
My first real review from Roger Hutchinson in the Scotsman. A very thoughtful piece from another man who – like John Lorne Campbell – adopted the Hebrides as his home. Read more
Well, it didn’t make the Daily Mail (yet?) but I am told Roger Hutchinson is reviewing the book for The Scotsman. I have never met Roger, but admire his work, both on the West Highland Free Press, which he edited for many years, and his books, including the inspirational Calum’s Road, which has sold 40,000 copies. His biography of Fr Allan Macdonald is coming out in a couple of months. In my book I quote from Roger’s obituary of John, but he also played another part in the story.