Folklore Reminiscences' of John Lorne Campbell

Abstract

A leading Gaelic scholar and fieldworker of the twentieth century, the late John Lorne Campbell’s writings on traditional Gaelic song and his groundbreaking editions of the stories and reminiscences of islanders have become standard works. Describing himself as a ‘folklorist’ before that term was widely used, he formed a strong bond with Seumas Ó Duilearga, director of the Irish Folklore Commission, a relationship which inspired him to campaign for the creation of a similar institution that would record andconserve the songs, stories, and lore of Gaelic Scotland. Unaffiliated with a university, Campbell lamented the public neglect of the Gaelic language, and was fiercely critical of Scottish universities’ failure to record (or even teach) popular tradition.Eventually, his persistent campaign helped to build momentum for the founding of the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh in the 1950s. Campbell’s ‘Folklore Reminiscences’ –private notebooks held in the library at Canna House –offer rich background to his public life and legacy, from his early determination to learn Gaelic to his growing understanding of ‘folklore’ as a discipline, and ultimately to his many contributions to Gaelic scholarship as author, editor, technical innovator, indefatigable fieldworker, commentator and critic.