Figure 1.-- This Shaw photo depicts a class on Canna, probably in the late 1930s or very early-1940s. Shaw recalled that when she first arrived, she expressed concern that many of the school children were barefoot and suggested to a local friend the idea of finding money to buy them shoes. The friend was not interested. She explakined that bare feet would dry out in front of the schoolroom fire, while boots would stay wet all day, and the children might fall ill. Source: National Trust for Scotland.

Margaret Fay Shaw was born in Glenshaw, Pennsylvania (1903). She was the youngest in a family of five sisters. She was interested in music from an early age, begiining with the piano. She lost her parents atb an early age. As a teenager she atternded St. Bride's School in Helensburgh, Scotland. She was introduced to Gaelic song and and folklore and began learning Gaelic. She was enchanted by a performance by song collector Marjory Kennedy-Fraser. After returning to America she decided to become a folklorist and returned to Scotland and came to the Hebrides. She settled on Lochboisdale on South Uist living with the Campbell family (1929). Shaw was struck by theb number of children going barefoot in a rather cool if not frigid environment. This was common in the Higland, but chanfing st gthe time. We notice children on South Uist in 1954. She married John Lorne Campbell and they lived on Barra, Outer Hebridies. They moved to Canna, in the Small Isles archipelago, Inner Hebrides. They lived there the rest of their lives. In addition to collecting and performing, Gaelic song, she took up photographing, leaving us a wonderful collection of images of life on the islands.

Created: 8:18 PM 2/2/2023
Last updated: 8:18 PM 2/2/2023