John Lorne Campbell and Margaret Fay Shaw had already spent years recording Gaelic songs, stories and traditions when they made the remote Isle of Canna their home in 1938.
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Isle → spend → 1938
The Scottish folklorists continued that work from the island for more than four decades before Campbell gifted Canna, their home, library, archives and sound recordings to the National Trust for Scotland.
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Campbell → continue → Scotland
According to the Trust, Campbell was born in Argyll on October 1, 1906.
uncertain
Campbell → accord → October
The eldest son of Colonel Duncan Campbell of Inverneill and his American wife, Ethel Waterbury of New Jersey, he was educated at Cargilfield School in Edinburgh and Rugby.
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he → educate → Edinburgh
He later studied Rural Economy at St John’s College, Oxford, as well as Celtic under Professor John Fraser of Jesus College.
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He → study → College
His interest in Gaelic had started in childhood and grew during his time at Oxford.
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interest → start → Oxford
With the help of Fraser, who became his mentor, Campbell began working on a Gaelic anthology.
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Campbell → become → anthology
His first published book, Highland Songs of the Forty-Five, appeared in 1933.
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book → publish → 1933
That same year, his work took him to the Outer Hebrides.
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work → take → Hebrides
He arrived on Barra on August 4, 1933, to study crofting conditions and colloquial Gaelic.
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He → arrive → conditions
The visit became the beginning of a long effort to collect and preserve Gaelic songs, stories and linguistic records.
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visit → become → songs
From Barra to Canna
On Barra, Campbell became involved with local people and explored the Gaelic traditions of the Hebrides.
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Campbell → become → Hebrides
He started with an Ediphone Recorder using wax cylinders and later moved to a Presto Disc Recorder.
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He → start → Recorder
He obtained both in New York and used equipment that was considered state-of-the-art at the time.
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that → obtain → time
Campbell also travelled to eastern Canada, particularly Cape Breton, to study Gaelic traditions among the descendants of 18th- and 19th-century emigrants.
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Campbell → travel → emigrants
He found that Gaelic oral traditions were still alive after more than 100 years of separation from Scotland.
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traditions → find → Scotland
In 1937, while in Nova Scotia, he also recorded the history and traditions of the Micmac Indians, the Indigenous people of the Maritime Provinces.
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he → record → Provinces
He described Cape Breton as 'a Highland Community where there are no lairds'.
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He → describe → Community
Canna House sits in a walled garden that slopes towards the south.
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that → sit → south
Campbell’s life took another major turn in 1938 when he bought the islands of Canna and Sanday.
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he → take → Canna
He and Margaret moved to Canna after spending three years living on Barra.
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He → move → Barra
Campbell had met Margaret Fay Shaw in South Uist in 1934, where she was collecting traditional Gaelic songs.
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she → meet → songs
Margaret’s musical talents and Campbell’s knowledge of words and language, built what became a major collection of Gaelic cultural material.
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what → build → material
The couple lived at Canna House, which had been built around 1863 by Donald Macneil, who owned the island at the time.
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who → live → time
The house and island were later sold to Greenock shipowner Robert Thom in 1881.
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house → sell → 1881
His family remained there until his death in 1911, after which the island was eventually bought by Campbell.
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island → remain → Campbell
Canna House became both their home and a place where they continued their research.
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they → become → research
Campbell spent long hours in its library transcribing and archiving his Gaelic recordings and writing academic works.
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Campbell → spend → works
Margaret continued her own work through photography and film.
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Margaret → continue → photography
In 1981, Campbell presented Canna to the National Trust for Scotland.
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Campbell → present → Scotland
The gift included Canna House, the island, his library, archives and sound recordings.
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gift → include → House
Campbell and Margaret continued living there and devoted their time to cataloguing and publishing their research.
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Campbell → continue → research
The National Trust for Scotland says the collection inside Canna House is of international importance.
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collection → say → importance
It includes material covering Gaelic folk songs and tales, Celtic and Norse studies, philology, music, literature and Scottish history.
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It → include → songs
The archives also preserve Margaret’s photographic collection of more than 6,000 images from the early 20th century in the Hebrides.
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archives → preserve → Hebrides
Campbell’s work includes 1,700 sound recordings, his Hebridean Lepidoptera collection and the research writings collected by the couple over about 60 years.
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work → include → years
The house also retains their furnishings, artworks and personal belongings, giving a record of the life they built around their research.
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they → retain → research
The house also shows how closely their work was tied to their everyday lives.
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work → show → lives
Their work continues
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work → continue → ?
Campbell died suddenly on April 25, 1996, while on holiday at Villa San Girolamo in Fiesole, Italy.
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Campbell → die → Fiesole
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
